Sloooow

[Badmiker]

Disaster!

Well, a worry at least; the Bongo seems to be losing power. The engine wont rev freely above 3k so when accelerating, if the box drops a gear, the engine just roars and we start slowing down. It takes a real effort to nurse her up to speed.

There's no smoke, white black or blue, there fluids seem fine, I've cleaned the banjo filter (the ball end of the allen key is ideal for extracting it BTW), and the fuel consumption doesnt appear dramatically terrible.

Help?!

[jaylee]

Check to see if the big wide bore (turbo?) hose hasn't come lose to the right of the picture...? (Not my engine pic.) I had something similar...

[Badmiker]

The dirty black one behind the blue (samco?) hoses?

[jaylee]

Yep! On the elbow... Mine came off & was hard to spot.. Quick re-afix & it was sorted for me!

[jaylee]

I'm no expert.. But the turbo bit in this thread may help too....
http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... urbo+clamp

Which is what i thought may have happened to mine initially, that's why i didn't spot the lose hose on the front in the first picture when i first lifted the seats in a lay-by.. (That, & on the second inspection the hose may have dropped down a little further making the disconnection more prominent.)

... Well that & praying it wasn't gonna set me back a new turbo..

It can really feel the weight when disconnected!

[waycar8]

might sound dumb but....you havent got the hold button pressed in??

if not that check the level in the autobox, dip stick under drivers seat?


Then start looking for engine/turbo problems, good luck

[springer]

Mine had a go sloooooow after going in for new cylinder head

Turns out it was just a vacuum hose ? 2 minute fix, worked a treat.

[Badmiker]

Great advice, thanks. Finally got a chance to have a proper look under the seats. I thought I had noticed some wetness around the hose mentioned and, sure enough, it's damp around that connection and around the turbo-intercooler connection.

For future searchers, this page:
http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/fox_archives7.htm
identifies the problem.

I tightened the clamps up and it's running better; revving to around 3.5/4 and holding 55ish uphill but it's still a bit erratic; sometimes it loses power when it drops a gear. What kind of performance can I expect; what's a typical top speed, and what's a typical up-hill speed?

I checked again this morning and thought I could get a bit more on the clamps. Unfortunately I couldnt; I now need a couple more clamps. Doh! 'Mikalor W4' are the strongest I can find.

It's going back to MVM, where I bought it, this weekend for a look over. I'm pretty sure it's the clamps; I suspect they were replaced when it had it's belts changed but it's still under warranty so I'll let Charlie have a look. I might be tempting fate but I've got nothing but good things to say about MVM (Manse Vehicle Management). Charlie is very straightforward to deal with and seems very fair and honest. He normally has a couple of Bongos in stock too.

[Badmiker]

Dont want to seem to be talking to myself, but...

Gotta recommend MVM to anyone in the area looking for a Bongo. They have been an absolute pleasure to deal with and have gone out of their way to make sure that everything has been good for me. As soon as I said there was some problem the Bongo was booked into the workshop with parts waiting, despite them having more than enough paying work on! End result of above problem was a replaced fuel filter and problem solved, (Dougie, mechanic at MVM, didnt seem to think much of 'loose hoses' as an issue.)

[gmaczbongo]

I think it will be the fuel filter that is causing the problem.
Oops you have already done this.

[dandywarhol]

You sure you haven't been playing with the engine quick warmup switch to the right of the steering column? Or cut of your nippers fingers if they've been mucking about - you were warned y'know!

[Badmiker]

They're quite quick when they can get enough fuel, arent they?

Oddly enough, inspite of the fuel effectively having a 'gastric band', I didnt notice it drinking any less fuel. Suggests that the engine is equally (in)efficient throughout the rev range.

[munroman]

They're quite quick when they can get enough fuel, arent they?

Oddly enough, inspite of the fuel effectively having a 'gastric band', I didnt notice it drinking any less fuel. Suggests that the engine is equally (in)efficient throughout the rev range.

The engine was likely out of the zone where the turbo gives boost, so it was operating outside of its most efficient band, so you had less performance but the same fuel consumption.

[dandywarhol]

They're quite quick when they can get enough fuel, arent they?

Oddly enough, inspite of the fuel effectively having a 'gastric band', I didnt notice it drinking any less fuel. Suggests that the engine is equally (in)efficient throughout the rev range.

Did you check the engine warm up switch wasn't inadvertently flicked on?????

They've been known to stick closed even if the switch is turned off - a partially closed exhaust flap (which the switch operates) will give performance issues - best check it out...........

[Badmiker]

Switch was definitely not on, and has been left well alone!

I'm confident that the problem was with the fuel filter. The car must have been getting gradually worse, slow enough not to be noticeable; the change in performance when the filter was replaced was quite dramatic! Felt like a damn ferrari... well, it is mid-engined....