Bongo Fury

Right then, I've been away for a bit, but have bought a new Bongo, so I need you's again!
Bought a v6 petrol and it drives great, apart from it has a whirring noise which lags behind the revs a bit when accellerating (sounds a bit like a noisy fuel pump kind of noise) It seems to emanate from the dashboard/ drivers footwell area. Also, when driving for over an hour at motorway speeds it got the flashing hold light and went into limp mode. Let it cool down and it fixed it for a while.

My local garage referred me to a gearbox specialist who took a fortnight to tell me they don't know what it was. Left it with another recommended G/box specialist who was more helpful, and they suggested I needed a general repairers garage, and the codes they were getting suggested the air flow meter. Left it with a garage they recommended for a week, they're scratching their head a bit say they fixed a little air leak on the intake but that's made no difference. They've given me it back for the bank holiday period, and I can take it back for them to persevere with it if I want to.
It originally came from Steven Bell Motors in NL Willows, He assures me they fit the best chip for the speedo, so rule that one out. Both the G/Box people say its not the TPS.

Could it be the viscous coupling, can they make a whirry noise?

To be honest I'd just like to see my van a bit more, as we've got a busy summer planned, and I don't want to ruin my family's holidays.Somebody point me to some genius who can fix it for me please.
My guilt is compounded by the fact that I persuaded the family we needed to sell our Five year faithful green 2.5 aft freetop 95, which never put a foot wrong really!

Sorry, Don't know how my post got tripplicated?

Hmmm (sucks teeth). I have a classic green 95 aft that's never put a foot wrong, yet! You could really use a Bongo specialist, but all I can think of nearish to you are Wellhouse Leisure and Hillside Motors. You could try phoning either of them to see if they have a v6 specialist. Viscous coupling is only 4wd isn't it, and v6 was only ever 2wd? Good luck and keep us posted.

mikeonb4c wrote:Hmmm (sucks teeth). I have a classic green 95 aft that's never put a foot wrong, yet! You could really use a Bongo specialist, but all I can think of nearish to you are Wellhouse Leisure and Hillside Motors. You could try phoning either of them to see if they have a v6 specialist. Viscous coupling is only 4wd isn't it, and v6 was only ever 2wd? Good luck and keep us posted.

Sorry, was refering to whatever joins the gearbox to the engine, the round swishy thing , thought thats what it was called. Down the mines we used to call it a fluid coupling.

v6 are 2 wheel drive so dont have a vc. sounds like belt whip to me, have you checked they are tensioned correctly, or try removing/replacing/turning the belts, or cleaning the dust off the pulleys with a wire brush. while the belts are off try turning the alternator/waterpump by hand, it should be really smooth, if its noisey/knotchy or tight then maybe replace.

All V6's are 2 wheel drive but a minority have a limited slip differential on the rear axel, which I think has a viscous coupling. My V6 has LSD and feels quite like a 4wd with the back wheels scrabbling on tracks and poor surfaces. Anyone who has ever driven a 4wd would notice this type of axel immediately. I spotted mine on a test drive and confirmed it on the Russian owners club website that gives original specifacations.

No noticable noise from the back, but this type of failure is a possibility.

As regards the whirr/ tone. It only does it when the van is traveling, never whilst stationary.

johnnybongo wrote:As regards the whirr/ tone. It only does it when the van is traveling, never whilst stationary.

Hi,
It might be worth checking that the speedo trip meter has not Jammed,try resetting it.

Cheers.

rita wrote:

johnnybongo wrote:As regards the whirr/ tone. It only does it when the van is traveling, never whilst stationary.

It might be worth checking that the speedo trip meter has not Jammed,try resetting it.

Cheers.

That happened to me - and it took me ages to find where the ticking was coming from - I was convinced it was the split relay turning on and off.

inlet or exhaust manifold gasket maybe.

Update..
Being mainly a deaf git, we've all had a listen, and now are pretty sure the whining is coming from the petrol pump area, (the floor o/s under the middle seat) so it looks like the petrol pump for the noise.
Any advice on proceeding with this anyone?

As for the flashing hold light and limp mode, it did it again today after about 45 minutes at high motorway speeds. Something I've noticed while searching around is that although the expensive speedo chip is fitted, they havent joined the yellow wire (ecu) . Is this not needed or something. If it is, can I do it easily?
Petrol v6.

The petrol pump is powered all the time, from the moment the ignition is turned on, so it wouldn't be making a different noise dependent on speed on the petrol models.

johnnybongo wrote:Update..
Being mainly a deaf git, we've all had a listen, and now are pretty sure the whining is coming from the petrol pump area, (the floor o/s under the middle seat) so it looks like the petrol pump for the noise.
Any advice on proceeding with this anyone?

As for the flashing hold light and limp mode, it did it again today after about 45 minutes at high motorway speeds. Something I've noticed while searching around is that although the expensive speedo chip is fitted, they havent joined the yellow wire (ecu) . Is this not needed or something. If it is, can I do it easily?
Petrol v6.

Sorry, I meant GREY wire.

johnnybongo wrote: speedo chip is fitted, they havent joined the yellow wire (ecu) . Is this not needed or something. If it is, can I do it easily?
Petrol v6.

The units normally have 4 wires;
+12 volts
Earth
Two wires that intercept one leg of the sensor, so you break one of the two wires from the sensor and reconnect to the two wires from the unit - precise colours I don't have the details for.

Got the bongo back from the fifth, head - scratching garage. Drove to Cheshire yesterday (100 miles) at around 50-70 mph. no problems at all.
Came back today, drove for 45minutes at 70-80mph , got the flashing hold and limp mode. Re-started, and as soon as I reached 70ish, the fault returned. We then drove at 50 - 60mph for twenty minutes because of the"average speed" cameras. Came out of the camera area, resumed normal motorway speeds again for thirty minutes until I got home and no problems.
Its the fourth separate time that the problem has happened, and its virtually exactly 45 minutes in, at motorway driving speeds.
Makes me wonder if it might be the ecu?
Who on the forum can fix it, cause I'm running out of garages to take it to in the Doncaster area.
Fix it and I'll grant you your wildest dreams come true! or pay you, whichever is cheapest!

Did you ever get a resolution on this problem?

My V6 (2000 W reg) is doing the same thing. The whine is from the gearbox, my mechanic has checked out the gearbox and says the whine is due to a pipe on the gearbox vibrating which might indicate a blockage or blocked filter somewhere. I haven't checked the gearbox fault codes yet but plan to try it later today (we had flashing hold light on the way home from Birmingham yesterday). But my fault sounds a lot like yours - whine when moving, sometimes goes away, flashing hold light plus limp mode after about 45 minutes of motorway travel.