Bongo Fury

Well, checked the auto gear oil level (auto gear box oil leaking from a tube which was fixed and new oil put in) after the engine had been runing for over on hour. I still could not get any movement in reverse,. It will move in Drive and it creeps forward in Neutral.Any ideas! Pauline

If it goes forwards in neutral then is sounds like it has been driven whilst slipping & the forward clutch is seized/partially seized on so when you engage reverse it is driving in fwd & reverse at the same time, hence no movement. Sorry but this is serious & will need major surgery to the gearbox, probably a rebuild.

This is a guess as my bongo is manual and I have never looked at the bongo auto lever.
When in Neutral, it is still in gear because the lever is not adjusted properly and you are still in gear. Put the lever in the position either side of neutral and see if it is now in the neutral position. Same with reverse but you might run out of lever position with this one.

I have made some progress in that the Bongo now will go into reverse and forward and no longer pulls forward in neutral. This was done by reving the engine while in neutral with handbrake on. After rocking it a few times the forward clutch has come free and it will now reverse. However. it now does not go into the higher gears. As you pull away forward it makes one gear change up but then does not change up again when the next change should happen. Instead the revs climb without it changing. I have checked the oil level numerous times with it warm and in park and it looks ok. Any final suggestions before I take it to a gearbox specialist?

Whatever the problem might be its gonna cost an arm and a leg just to get a diagnosis.

Somewhere like Bell Hill will ship you a checked out replacement for about £350, could be cheaper in the long run . . . .

mister munkey wrote:Whatever the problem might be its gonna cost an arm and a leg just to get a diagnosis.

Somewhere like Bell Hill will ship you a checked out replacement for about £350, could be cheaper in the long run . . . .

Don't know where that idea of expensive diagnosis comes from. We charge £45.00 + vat to diagnose including scanning. As we can't scan a Bongo diagnosis is foc. Personally I don't call that expensive. Unless by diagnosing you mean removing & stripping the gearbox. That isn't necessary in this case as any gearbox specialist worth his salt will know that the gearbox in this thread has sadly had it, even if it was to start driving properly again it won't last for very long.

Bell Hill's replacement at £350.00 is, I take it, a second hand one? No way could you recondition on for this price, the parts alone to do it properly could cost at least that.

Alacrity wrote: Don't know where that idea of expensive diagnosis comes from. We charge £45.00 + vat to diagnose including scanning. As we can't scan a Bongo diagnosis is foc. Personally I don't call that expensive. Unless by diagnosing you mean removing & stripping the gearbox. That isn't necessary in this case as any gearbox specialist worth his salt will know that the gearbox in this thread has sadly had it, even if it was to start driving properly again it won't last for very long.

Bell Hill's replacement at £350.00 is, I take it, a second hand one? No way could you recondition on for this price, the parts alone to do it properly could cost at least that.

I did indeed mean labour time for stripping.

Bell Hills (Other sources are available) are 2nd hand but they do their best to make sure that all goods supplied are in a serviceable condition & they have a pretty good reputation for making good if things were to go wrong.


Obviously a rebuild would be the ideal way to go but a used box from a reliable source could save half the cost & a fair bit of time, I'm just sticking a budget option into the pot . . .

Thanks for your help so far. Can anyone suggest a auto gearbox specialist in the North East, Newcastle upon Tyne area. Or a supplier of used/reconditioned gearboxes.
Pauline