Bongo Fury

Hello,

I’ve been a Bongo owner for 2 weeks now and have carried out my first oil change this morning! My bongo is W Reg (2000) Diesel 4WD Auto, and was imported late 2004. It has done 175,000km.

I have two issues that I am unsure of, firstly she seem a little slow climbing hills, with my foot hard down, she drops a gear and makes more noise, but still climbs slowly. I’ve checked the vacuum pipe to the turbo and the pipes to and from the intercooler and can’t see anything obviously wrong, I believe the turbo to be ok as she is not that low on power. The engine is dirty near on the inlet side near the front, my guess that there is an air leak causing the power loss, and the dirt is due to the EGR system. I’m hoping it not a head gasket problem. (No signs of mayonnaise and no water usage). Have attached a photo. I have read the EGR system can be blanked off so am going to order a kit. Last weekend I drove to south Wales, I achieved 22 mpg; I’m hoping fixing the leak will increase this a little. Has anyone had a similar problem? Is it easy to fix?

The other issue is rust. When purchasing the vehicle I had a good check, all the doors, bonnet and boot seemed ok, there was no signs of rust on the wheel arches. We felt the sills and they felt solid. I was told that the vehicle had been waxoiled. (5 years ago when imported) I’ve now been able to look underneath and have found identical rust holes in the front of both sills, photos attached. The rest of the sills show surface rust, but still feel solid. Generally the underside is a little rusty, but apart from the two holes seems ok. I’m guessing I will need to get the holes welded up for the MOT. What else is recommended; another waxoil treatment on the underside?

Finally I’m reasonably competent with a spanner and like to have a go at most jobs, but for the jobs I can’t do, such as the welding, can anyone recommend a bongo friendly garage in Somerset?

Thanks in advance for any help / advice.
Chris

Can't help with the welding, but the low power is a classic sign of a blocked fuel filter - do you know when it was last changed? There may also be a banjo filter (lots of info here, if you do a search) but I'm not sure they were still being fitted in 2000

I had localised rust-through around that area and Wheelquick made up and very neatly welded a repair patch on it for a modest fee. Might be worth phoning Bellhill Garage (excellent Bongo specialist) and seeing what they think (you could email pics to them for assessment)

Thanks,

Feeling a little better about the rust and have ordered a new fuel filter.

Chris

The engine is dirty near on the inlet side near the front,

Errrrr................. no it isn't, compared to mine that is spotlessly clean.

I too can recommend Bell Hill garage. its a 140 round trip for me and wouldnt use anyone else.