Bongo Fury

Hi all

We have had our bongo for about five years without any problems. Until now ...

A couple of months ago the engine died about a mile from home for no apparent reason and refused to restart. So I called the breakdown people who arrived about an hour later. The mechanic had a quick look under the bonnet and then asked me to try starting the bongo. It fired first time and was fine for the rest of day.

Since then it has become increasingly difficult to start the bongo but the symptoms are always the same. The issue arises if the air is damp and only when the bongo has been stood overnight. I can hear the engine turning over but does not fire. Repeated attempts to start either results in success or a flat battery. If it does start it runs as expected and I can stop and restart without any issue for the rest of the day.

So I changed the obvious ... spark plugs - HT leads - rotator arm and distributer cap. Its was time they were changed anyway. This did not resolve the problem.

Now our bongo was due a new timing belt so I got the necessary parts and booked the bongo in. When I dropped of the bongo of I told the mechanic about the starting issue in the hope they could sort it. However the following morning was bright and sunny and so the starting issue didn't occur.

I've had a good read around but seem to be going around in circles hence this post. Has anyone any suggestions as to where to look next?

Any help or thoughts on the matter would be much appreciated

Pete

Have you considered changing the distributor body ? It has a sensor in which may be the cause of your problems, possibly heat related, which tells the coil etc when to generate the spark, if this fails then no spark. You will notice that there is a 7-way connector on the side of the distributor housing for its connections.

Hi g8dhe

Thanks for the quick response. I've been wondering if it could be the body of the distributor or even the power module on top. Is it possible to test or prove either is the cause? Or is it a case of swapping one or both and hoping for the best?

I've been out this morning to have another look at the issue. The bongo refused to start first thing but has just started (about an hour later) at the first turn of the key.

Pete

I don't have any useful details to hand on the actual construction of the distributor on the 2l internally,
http://www.lushprojects.com/bongopartsm ... mgno=.html
it might be worth looking at some of the images for the part number https://www.google.com/search?q=FEMJ18200A
see if anything helps.
But yes like you I prefer to actually identify the source of the failure, before replacing adhoc on chance that the problem goes away!

You can sometimes find internal parts available on eBay rather than replacing the whole thing, but can be a bit fraught checking that the pieces are precisely right!

I have a '98 2 litre bongo, which had the same problem that you are describing. The part you are looking at in an ignition module, but I got advice from wheel quick in Wigan and bongo spares in Halifax to just change the whole distributor. Mine was the non king lead type distributor as there are 2 types. which sorted the problem straight away, new distributor was around £180.
Hope this helps. Dave

I'd be looking to confirm if there is a spark & injector switching when the fault occurs.
Im not familiar with the 2.0 Bongo at all but does it have a separate crank sensor or just the pickup in the distributor?

If its a non king pin distributor it is something to do with the ignition module which is part of the distributor which can be changed but good luck just easier to change the whole thing and know its going to be right

Good morning all

Many thanks for all the replys. Its good to know I'm thinking along the right lines. The distributer is the non king lead (four wire) version. So it looks like three options are available ...

1. Take the bongo to the local garage and see what they suggest.
2. Replace the ignition module
3. Replace the whole distributor.

I'm thinking option three makes the most sense so will go with that and see what happens.

As an aside ... when I had the engine covers off and the engine running yesterday I noticed an odd smell. It might sound daft but the smell was sort of almondy. Turn the engine off and the smell disappears. I guess it could just be an oddity but it might point to something more serious. Any thoughts?

Anyway once again thanks for all the responses

Pete

Hi all

I was thinking it might be useful to others to add an update to this issue.

I can confirm that replacing the distributer resolved the starting problem.

ounce again many thanks for the replies ...

pete

Thankyou

It's a real help for the future when peeps let us know how things went.

Glad you're sorted.