Bongo Fury

I agree the above Big E. 'Slipping' autobox sounds a weird concept on its own, but combined with refusal to rev sounds distinctly odd (not that I am a mechanic!). I seem to recall we have had a few tales on BF of garages saying this and that, doing this and that, charging for doing this and that, and it turns out to be something other which would have been simpler or cheaper to do in the first place.

Mike

When pulling away - at what RPM should it go up a gear - mine is getting to about 3500 RPM before changing gear.

The harder you accelerate, the higher the revs will be before gears change. Are you accelerating hard to get 3500rpm?

Not really. The RPM just goes up and when you expect the gear change to happen - nothing happens

Drain fluid, clean mesh filter, replace with clean fluid...................for a start

So your Bongo is not changing gear and won't rev over 3500rpm - is that right?

In neutral - it revs all the way up. Put it in drive and the rpm goes up very slowly - getting to about 3500rpm before changing gear. It sounds as though the engine is trying to accelerate the car along, but it is not responding.
Went out with the garage mechanic - the engine is great in neutral - but shows little pulling power in drive. Its the only Bongo I have driven, so I can't compare it to other Bongo's.
When accelerating, you roughly expect when a gear change is going to occur, but the rpm just carries on increasing with no gear change. Is that normal?

Not normal Big E..............there's the possibility that the torque convertor is foobared........get a competant autobox specialist to check it out.

The torque convertor, as the name implies, multiplies the engine torque from idle (up to twice what the engine produces - that's why the Bongo's quick off it's mark)....if it isn't multiplying cos the internal stator has seized then the van will be really slow to pick up in gear, you'll use a lot more throttle to compensate, and therefore the changeup speed will be higher than normal.

Hope that all makes sense..........

As dandywarhol said, it would be worth checking your gearbox fluid for level and condition.
Does the "hold" light come on at all, other than when you push the button?

The hold light does not come on