Roof issue

[bongowight]

Ok so I bought my bongo a month ago, I bought it from a local car dealer whom has taken as part ex, at the time he said they were waiting for a part for the roof but it would be about a week so I could either leave picking it up till then or drop it back when the part was in, I opted for the latter. 4 weeks on and several calls and visits back the part still apparently is not in problem is he can't tell me what the part is or a guaranteed date for it, I've told him now that if its not in shortly I will look to fix myself and claim the monies back via small claims, i part exed my car for the bongo and apparently they have had issue with it needing new parts before being sold on so not sure if it's a case of sour grapes and they now don't want to do the works but really need to start looking at maybe fixing the roof myself. So with engine running and handbrake on roof works, slowly (not sure how fast one should raise) lifts up about a foot then stops, motors still turning and alarm still going off but roof won't raise any further. The guy said it was some sort of pump they thought that had been ordered (apparently they took it to some local whizz with bongos who knew what to do can't tell me who this whizz is though!) ? Any clues what the issue is, how easy to repair and likely costs?

[g8dhe]

Sounds like one motor or the drive isn't working There are no pumps, its a pair of electric motors one each side driving a pair of flexible rods.
These are fiddly to replace if you can't get the roof up at all, but might be doable seeing as you can raise it a bit. There are several threads on the subject if you do a search.

[mikeonb4c]

Whereabouts are you based?

[bongowight]

Isle of Wight

[mikeonb4c]

Isle of Wight

Ah OK, so not a lot of Bongo specialists nearby. Hmmmm, you could use one really, or at least find a good garage and set it up so they can speak with a Bongo specialist to get guidance. Adrian at Japandirect in Bury has done a lot of roofs and is usually very good about giving a little time to help another mechanic on the phone. But the dealer should not be allowed to delay things any more

[cmm303]

Southern Bongos near Southampton? If not to repair but to recommend somebody maybe?

[Simon Jones]

Kevin at Southern Bongos can get you any spares you need although he tends to sell the AFTs as a complete unit. He uses Master Tech Autos in Eastleigh for the mechanical stuff & they always have a couple of Bongos in the workshop every time I go past so they will probably be well versed on the common issues.

http://www.mastertechautos.com/MazdaBongoSpecialist.php

[bongowight]

Thanks Simon, good news the garage I bought from have now sorted it, they are not bongo specialists by their own admission but have replaced one of the motors, roof now fully lifts and locks in place, does seem to take a long time to get up there and you can almost feel the battery draining but does get there and come back down again fine, never having had a bongo an automatic roof is a novelty lol! I guess it took about a minute and half to fully raise does that sound like the norm?

[g8dhe]

The engine needs to be running! Don't do it just on battery alone.

[bongowight]

Lol yeah sorry the engine was running and handbrake was on

[cmm303]

.... I guess it took about a minute and half to fully raise does that sound like the norm?

Mine takes <25s up, 15s down. Yours seems slow.

Assuming your battery condition and alternator are good there are several things to check.

• Clean and lube runners (sticking runners sometimes make noises. It's a cheap and common bit of maintenance )
  Gas struts (sometimes noisy when ageing and needs a helping hand to lock out fully up. With new struts my roof seemed to speed up past half way on the up, whereas with old struts it sounded laboured all the way)
  Motors: Perhaps the old "good" motor isn't that good. Could it have been damaged by the failure of the other motor?
  Wiring: some users have found that there is too much voltage drop in the supply, resulting in a severely reduced voltage at the motors when under load.

[bongowight]

.... I guess it took about a minute and half to fully raise does that sound like the norm?

Mine takes <25s up, 15s down. Yours seems slow.

Assuming your battery condition and alternator are good there are several things to check.

• Clean and lube runners (sticking runners sometimes make noises. It's a cheap and common bit of maintenance )
  Gas struts (sometimes noisy when ageing and needs a helping hand to lock out fully up. With new struts my roof seemed to speed up past half way on the up, whereas with old struts it sounded laboured all the way)
  Motors: Perhaps the old "good" motor isn't that good. Could it have been damaged by the failure of the other motor?
  Wiring: some users have found that there is too much voltage drop in the supply, resulting in a severely reduced voltage at the motors when under load.

Was probably only about 15 seconds down but definitely a lot longer than 25s going up, the roof hasn't been put up in 2 years so I'll try and clean and lube the runners as a first potentially cheap fix, I did wonder if the gas struts were the issue as that would make sense for it taking a lot longer on the way up, any ideas where I can get new gas struts for it?

[Simon Jones]

SGS can re-gas existing or supply new struts. Double check the part number with them as this link is for roof strut but description mentions tailgate. After 1999, the roof struts are also slightly longer.

http://www.sgs-engineering.com/gsc1639- ... roof-strut

[cmm303]

Definitely worth giving the runners some tlc. There is variation in preferred lube for runners, from silicone grease to bike chain lube. Whatever your preference, avoid WD40.

[bongowight]

Gave the runners a little clean and grease up, now taking exactly 30 seconds up and about 15 down, perfect and didn't cost me anything lol thanks for the advice guys