Our New BONGO...Teething or major problems...HELP

[ianandkate]

Had our Bongo for about a one month now (love her to bits) and have a few questions before we put here into a garage for a check over.

Here goes,

When driving, the steering goes really light and very woolly if the steering wheel is moved briskly, this happens at even quite low speeds. She holds the road okay, but just feels really odd and is definitely, somewhat disconcerting when turning.

It gets worse...

Theres a bit of dark smoke when accelerating hard and sometimes when she starts up. I thought this would clear once she gets going, but she is definitely a bit smokey..... emmm doesnt look good does it?

No Tea....

We plugged a mini kettle into the rear second battery socket (cigar lighter) and run the engine while trying to heat it. It got slightly warm, but not even hot, then tried in the front (cigar lighter) and again just seemed to warm the water. We thought ths sort of thing would either work or not, not just warm it a little! We did check the kettle on our other car and it boiled in 3 mins so it does work!

The interior front fan only works on the feet and we cannot get it to blow upwards onto us! works fine in the back though.

After reading through the forums , we took everyones advice and invested in a coolant alarm from Haydn (Many thanks Haydn for all your help and kind advice) and wondered if anyone else had found it fairly easy to fit DIY stylee! or should I get the garage to do it?

Any help and advice on the above would be great.

OH and we would like to put a picture of our beauty on our avatar, but after 20 minutes of trying, I have given up, so you can probably tell we are not the brightest cookies out there!

We do love our Bongo though, very much

Thanks,
Ian and Kate...

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[Gonzo]

The interior front fan only works on the feet and we cannot get it to blow upwards onto us! works fine in the back though.

I'm no expert but I had the same problem. In the driver's footwell by the centre console there is a cable/rod that comes down from the vent switch - if this has come away from the clip in the footwell then it doesn't matter where you turn the switch, air will always come out of the footwell. Sorry that this isn't a very technical reply but I'm not a technical person!! I'm sure someone more qualified than me can give you a better explanation!

[ianandkate]

Thanks Andy,

Thats agood start, I will have a look...

[missfixit70]

Ok
1 - Steering - have you checked the levels in the reservoir under the drivers seat? you may have a leak, not uncommon, usually the pinion seal on the steering rack just under the UJ where the steering column attatches to the rack. you can replace this seal in situ apparantly, if it is leaking, but some people have cured the problem with stop leak.
It could just be the fluid is old & needs replacing.

2 - Smoke - are you waiting for the glow plug light to go out before starting? is it a bit "lumpy" when you start? Pretty much any diesel will chuck out the odd lump of black smoke under hard acceleration, but it could be the egr - http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... 43&t=14463 not a big issue.

3 - Tea - get a gas stove the lighter socket wiring is feeble, & is probably melting as you try & boil your water, try upgrading the cabling, but those 12v heater things draw a big current, surprised they ever work on 12v.
You could get a 1000w inverter & then use a small 240v kettle, preferably with the engine running - this does work, one owner has been using it for years, not a cheap option though.

4 - Blower position - look in the drivers footwell the linkage is probably broken or missing, common problem - http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... 43&t=28727


5 - Haydn alarm - easy to fit , can you drill a hole?

6 - Photos - basically, open a free photobucket account, upload your photos to it having set the default size at 640 x 480 pixels, then copy the IMG link & paste it on the forum - easy - http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... m.php?f=42

[mister munkey]

KIRSTY!!!

[ianandkate]

Thanks Kirsty,

Seems like your in demand!

Many thanks for the quick reply,

The black smoke might not be too bad then? We do always wait for the coil light to go out.

I will check the fluids and give the fan and coolant alarm a go myself then.

Your probably right about getting a stove, I didnt realise the electrics from the battery werent so good and a common fault.

Thanks again

[apole]

Hi there,

Also check the tyre pressures and make/size of tyres. I changed my wheels a while back and they had pirelli p zeros' it drove very differently and I didn't like it. Changing the tyres made a huge difference.

Is your's 4WD, if so the tyre size if more important to prevent damaging the diff.

You can upgrade your wiring to the lighter sockets, worthwhile if you are running anything that pulls alot of power, however 12v heaters and kettles etc are not that good tbh, go with the gas cooker advise. You can buy a cannister one for around £14.

Andy

[missfixit70]

KIRSTY!!!

What?

Most of your issues there are reasonably common ones, nowt to worry about too much, although the steering one can cause you to have to carry a change of underwear Had it a few times when I first got mine, going from lock to lock pulling away on a busy roundabout

[missfixit70]

Hi there,

Also check the tyre pressures and make/size of tyres. I changed my wheels a while back and they had pirelli p zeros' it drove very differently and I didn't like it. Changing the tyres made a huge difference.

Is your's 4WD, if so the tyre size if more important to prevent damaging the diff.

You can upgrade your wiring to the lighter sockets, worthwhile if you are running anything that pulls alot of power, however 12v heaters and kettles etc are not that good tbh, go with the gas cooker advise. You can buy a cannister one for around £14.
Andy

£8 in Trago, gas cartridges only £399 for 4 too

[apole]

Wow, I guess with the end of the summer hols things like this are being discounted. The gas at £399 sounds a bit steep though ....

[missfixit70]

£3.99

[ianandkate]

Thanks Andy,

Ours is a 4WD,

I did read about having different size tyres back and front,

What would you recommend tyre make and size please?

Also do you know the the correct pressures please?

Thanks again...

[Alison01326]

Your probably right about getting a stove, I didnt realise the electrics from the battery werent so good and a common fault.

It's not so much that they're not so good/a common fault, it's more a case of what you can reasonably expect 12 volts to do. Just because manufacturers sell 12 volt versions of certain items, it doesn't always mean that they are going to work everywhere (although for some reason other people have also reported success plugging things into their cars!!) Asda had little gas stoves for a tenner not so long ago. I'm a huge fan of Trangia stoves (which run on meths), but they are more expensive to buy.

We have had our wiring to the rear beefed up as we run a coolbox and the tap in our removable kitchen from it and we were having electrical stuff done anyway (the wiring was fine, but we followed advice on here).

Don't dismiss your rear 12 volt socket though - as well as the coolbox and tap, if we haven't got the kitchen in we use it for charging up our torches and other chargeables as they are better off lying around in the boot than being trodden on by the passenger!!!!

[ianandkate]

Can you believe we are still trying to download a picture of our new Bongo onto here!



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I have had enough,

Thankyou to everyone for all your advice,

Goodnight.....

[ianandkate]

Oh and Thanks Alison, just read your post...