Bongo Fury

As some of you might remember a couple of months ago I had the big head gasket job done. Big investment of over €2000. Parts shipped to Ireland from UK €1000 and work to strip and fit €1000.

So you can imagine how I feel when even before getting 1000km out of the new work, I am pulled over on the side of the road with steam PUMPING out and the sound of a cement block in a washing machine coming from under my seat.

Garage that did the work have towed it home and opened it up...and here is what they found!

They are saying it was the fault of the parts supplied. What do any of you guys think. What am I looking at here. I have lost trust and hope and do not know who to chase up on this. The garage fitter or the company supplied? Or is this just an act of an angry God?

Any help or advice please

OUCH!! dropped a valve!! worst case scenario, new piston, head and at least 1 valve, its parts suppliers problem, was the head supplied as complete/built?
Julian

Aw gawd no! Often in cases like this the parts supplier takes the bits away for "analysis" and then yourself or the garage have to spend months chasing them up... In the meanwhile, you are without your bongo, the garage has a vehicle taking up ramp space etc etc.... I really do hope the parts supplier does the right thing and doesn't try to blame the garage to get out of obligation The best of luck... Worth chancing sticking a second hand complete engine in do you reckon?

I agree with BDC, another engine and then get this one up and running with a view as a spare or to sell on and get some cash back.


Daz

That looks like mine did, I am still waiting for mine but thinking of sourcing another engine, best of luck with yours.

i know nothing me but, in pic 1 of the head it looks to me like the area betwwen the valves has got really hot and melted towards the piston/chamber,this has damaged the seat,and snapped the valve.
looks like the heat came first then the damage was done.
like i say-----i know nowt me, .

Northern Bongolow wrote:i know nothing me but, in pic 1 of the head it looks to me like the area betwwen the valves has got really hot and melted towards the piston/chamber,this has damaged the seat,and snapped the valve.
looks like the heat came first then the damage was done.
like i say-----i know nowt me, .

Wouldn't there be a water way between the exhaust valves? If so it could be a casting fault to fail so quickly. Bu**er anyway.

Thanks for comments and advice so far.

Yes it was supplied as a fully dressed cylinder head, so it sounds like my mechanic really just might have fitted a faulty part i.e. fault of the supplier

I suspect that it will be a night mare getting full and speedy satisfaction out of either supplier or mechanic.
It might be worth me splitting this into two different scenarios now.
Firstly get the engine out and let the fun for the search for responsibility start.
Secondly, see if I can get another engine put in so that I can get my bongo back on the road.

The body is well looked after and the last year has had new wishbones, shocks, exhaust and full kitchen revamped..
The problem is that I am in the Republic of Ireland and you do not see many secondhand Bongo engines for sale. It is a lot extra to try and import such a bit of kit from the UK.

Is there such a thing as putting a non-Mazda Bongo engine in?
Would it be wort trying to get my Bongo taken to the UK for recovery and new life?
Is it time to retire my beauty for something else?

I really just am tired of this now.
I miss my Bongo (although I am starting to get fitter - walked to the shops yesterday!!!!)

damn bad luck, Irealy feel for you.


I am trying to think of a way to get you up and running like hire a trailer and drag it over here but thats probably not the way.

now, is it possible to drop the driveshafts and tow it or front end lift?

Its a bit late to say this but this is the trouble with sourcing parts yourself and gettinga garage to fit them as you then get in the situation of each blaming each other.
Also as the garage will say they have done nothing wrong, will want paying for any work done to put the faulty part right when, if they had supplied it they would have to cover that cost. hopefully the supplier will cover that but they may say they cover the cost of the parts only.

I know you don't want to hear that last bit but may serve as a warning to others




Where as if the garage had supplied and fitted they are your only point of call and For what its worth I think you should get a second car or even a dirt cheap bongo and use that for now until the situation gets sorted

Northern Bongolow wrote:i know nothing me but, in pic 1 of the head it looks to me like the area betwwen the valves has got really hot and melted towards the piston/chamber,this has damaged the seat,and snapped the valve.
looks like the heat came first then the damage was done.
like i say-----i know nowt me, .

I thought thats where the snapped valve head had been pushed up and 'punched' a hole in the head, given the close tolerances i'm amazed it hasn't smashed the piston to bits, you'll probably find you have a bent con-rod, its the only thing that can 'give', (that said just looked at pics again and piston 2 is coming up flush with the deck?? assuming the bores aren't destroyed or damaged then the engine isn't written off by a long shot, i've seen and rebuilt one (and i'm not a mechanic) that suffered similar damage.

Julian

Did the garage fit a new cambelt when replacing the head, because I don't think they should ever be re-used - maybe that failed

francophile1947 wrote:Did the garage fit a new cambelt when replacing the head, because I don't think they should ever be re-used - maybe that failed

I'd have expected the other valve in the same cylinder to have been damaged as well John.................

Looks like a faulty component to me - I feel for you (not that that's much of a comfort!)

I wonder if the glow plug in that cylinder is still intact - I've seen one fail and the centre part drop into the pre-combustion chamber - it could go from there into the cylinder - it's right below the pre-combustion chamber hole.............

dandywarhol wrote:

francophile1947 wrote:Did the garage fit a new cambelt when replacing the head, because I don't think they should ever be re-used - maybe that failed

I'd have expected the other valve in the same cylinder to have been damaged as well John................/quote]

Ah yes - never thought about that

Yep the big mistake that I think I made in this story is that I put myself in the middle of the garage and parts supplier. Now it looks as if both parties could wash their hands of the situation and leave me banging my head of the wall in the middle.

I will not say anything against the parts supplier as I have not presented the case to them yet, and they may just realize the situation and come good!
They supplied a fully dressed unit with all the trimmings and recommended extra replacement parts for such a job - needless to say as the cost for parts alone came in at just under £1000.
I had opened a good discussion here on this forum when I was purchasing, regarding the choice of cheep parts over "normal" priced parts. Needless to say, at the end of the day I paid for the best service and parts from a good company at the end of the day.
I gave them a quick phone call the other day and they confirmed that their parts will have a year warranty. The little catch is going to be that they need an engineers report to send on to the manufacture who will then decide/confirm if they were at fault. (I can already see a couple of months passing in this process alone)
The next thing then to worry about is, even if the supplier/manufacture take responsibility for the faulty part, what compensation will they give me.
Are they going to be willing to sort out other parts of the engine now damaged through their faulty parts? Are they going to pay for the re-stripping and re-fitting of the new parts?

As I said I will not say anything against them as they have not had a chance to resolve my situation yet.

Has anyone else out there found themselves in this same situation and if so what were their chances of getting everything paid for by the party at fault?

Anyway, I know what ever happens now I am Bongo-less for a while (just coming into the summer as well)

You have 2 damaged valves, which says to me no fault on the parts. If the head has recently been fitted and on 1st run the damage happened I'd sugguest it has been re-assembled out of timing and on starting the valves have bashed the pistons. Either way it's unlikely you would have 2 faulty valves.