Black smoke and chugging when starting

[rachel1]

Hi all

I realise there are numerous posts of this kind here and I have read them but I am none the wiser about our problem so I hope you acan help.

We have recently bought a 1997 Bongo, its a 2.5 litre diesel, 2WD with over 117000 miles on the clock but it has been loved dearly by the previous owner and has been extremely well looked after. It had new head gasket and all that jazz done about 8,000 miles ago and it runs perfectly.

We are mid way through a big road trip round Europe and as I say it has had no problems whatsoever so far. The only issue is that if we leave it at a campsite for more than 1 day when we go to start it up it kind of chugs a bit almost like it is going to conk out, then emits a fair bit of black smoke and then it is fine and rides around no problem.

Only thing is that it is quote embarassing really in campsites at 10am when people are having their breakfast and Seamus starts up and chugs some black smoke at them! So we would love to know whats going on and what it will cost to fix.

Some people mentioned the glowplugs in other posts, I'm not sure when these were done last so it may be these.

Is there anything else it could be?

[mister munkey]

Obvious first, glowplugs. If these are getting tired & not getting up to temp try leaving the ignition on a few seconds longer before cranking it over.

Other option might be a clogged up air filter, easy & cheap to change.

If either of those make no difference there might be a problem getting enough feed to the plugs or worn injectors but try the simple ones first.

[missfixit70]

Try giving it at least 2 blasts of the glowplugs, turn the key, wait until the light goes out & you hear the relay dropping out (a faint clunk from the drivers side wing behind the starter battery) , then turn it off & go again, wait about 5 seconds after the light goes out, then start it.
It could be the fusible link has gone if no voltage is getting to the glowplug rail, this is right next to the battery connected to the positive terminal & feeds the glow plugs, it can be replaced with a 30 amp fuse to get you going if it has gone.

[Northern Bongolow]

check both fast idle solenoids are working, and that the litle vac pipes are connected,they are known to snap off at the ends.

do a search for fast idle solenoids on here.

[missfixit70]

Link for glow plugs/fusible link etc -
http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... sible+link

Links for fast idle solenoids -
http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... e+solenoid

& http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... +fast+idle

[jaylee]

Only thing is that it is quote embarassing really in campsites at 10am when people are having their breakfast and Seamus starts up and chugs some black smoke at them! So we would love to know whats going on and what it will cost to fix.

Some people mentioned the glowplugs in other posts, I'm not sure when these were done last so it may be these.

Is there anything else it could be?

Seamus!??

Hold on.....! Planet of the apes...??!!!!

[rachel1]

Firstly, thank you all so much for the advice. I'm sorry to say I am not in the slight bit tech savy when it comes to cars and glow plugs etc...

Missfixit when you say:

Try giving it at least 2 blasts of the glowplugs, turn the key, wait until the light goes out & you hear the relay dropping out (a faint clunk from the drivers side wing behind the starter battery) , then turn it off & go again, wait about 5 seconds after the light goes out, then start it.
It could be the fusible link has gone if no voltage is getting to the glowplug rail, this is right next to the battery connected to the positive terminal & feeds the glow plugs, it can be replaced with a 30 amp fuse to get you going if it has gone.

What do you mean by "give it at least 2 blasts of the glowplugs"... how does one do this who has no idea about it...

Seamus!??

We always name our cars and anything else after the last owner who we buy it from. We bought this van from an English man named James. We then moved to Ireland and hence "Seamus" the Irish word for James!!

[haydn callow]

To give the Glow Plugs a bit of extra juice.....just keep the Ignition key in the same position as when the orange "glow" light is on and wait another 5 or 6 seconds.....this will "superheat" whichever plugs are working and make starting better.

The glow plugs still get electricty even after the warning light goes out as long as you don't move the position of the ignition key.

[missfixit70]

Missfixit when you say:

Try giving it at least 2 blasts of the glowplugs, turn the key, wait until the light goes out & you hear the relay dropping out (a faint clunk from the drivers side wing behind the starter battery) , then turn it off & go again, wait about 5 seconds after the light goes out, then start it.It could be the fusible link has gone if no voltage is getting to the glowplug rail, this is right next to the battery connected to the positive terminal & feeds the glow plugs, it can be replaced with a 30 amp fuse to get you going if it has gone.

What do you mean by "give it at least 2 blasts of the glowplugs"... how does one do this who has no idea about it...

By following the instructions
As Haydn says the glow plugs still get power for 10-15 seconds after the glowplug light goes out, but by doing it twice it gives more chance that there's enough heat in the glowplugs, if they are a bit iffy.
Not being funny, but if that's too techy for you, then you need to get it to a bongo savvy garage to have a look for you.

[rachel1]

Thanks, I see what you mean now... sorry! I will try that on Thursday when we leave this campsite.

[Mark Norton]

I had a bottle of antifreeze that was left in front of the battery by the previos owner. It took me a while to realize it had been restricting the airflow to the air filter.