Bongo Fury

Hello all, I am a relatively new Bongo owner and came to the Bongo Bash at Stourport. There I discovered that several owners used "bio" fuel and I have been trying it my self, putting in 10 ltrs bio then 10 ltrs diesel. I have to say the Bongo is getting very chuggy and smokey and I am just off to Austria in a couple of days. Can anyone suggest what I should do about it?

Many thanks and I look forward to your thoughts.

Oh no Bongo!

bio is very different to new tesco veg oil. it contains plant particles, these are ok until they start holding hands, and because its live with bacteria you can get some amazing growths under the right conditions .

i would filter it to a very fine level first. but as you have it in you would be wise to at least change your fuel filter and clean your banjo filter. then fill with good diesel.

the problem with (CHEAP ) bio is you dont know whats in it.

Oh sorry I was mixing terms, i told you I was a novice! : ) I am using oil from tesco etc not the recycled stuff. I will try and change the filter, not done that before, and investigate what a banjo thingy is then go and put more diesel in.

Thank you for the tip Northen Bongolow!

I entered into Bongoland at the beginning of the year and, with more pressing stuff to do on the Bongo and freezing temperatures, let the veg oil debate wash over me. Now our Bongo gets to go out 2-3 weekends each month, typically for 50-100 mile excursion. The prospect of hunting down a petrol station at the end of the journey, possibly to pay an extortionate rural price for fuel to make sure it starts in the morning still somewhat negates my enthusiasm for saving money with veg oil.

But we bought the Bongo to do a trip round the North of Scotland next year in spring, which will involve some very long journeys. Veg oil territory! But I don't want to ask for problems so I've obviously need to do some running in (faffing ?!) with veg oil beforehand. From this forum it seems that 300 miles 'ish and a fuel filter change should sort the filter problem. But ...

1) what about the leaky pump seals? How long do they take to manifest?
2) if i revert to pure diesel after my summer runs, will I still expose myself to clogging fuel filter if/when I use veg oil on the long run next Spring?

Well I took the veg oil plunge today. I only put 3 litres in bought from ASDA. It looks like the £10 offer has ended,
and I could only find 4 litres for £5 in Farm foods, so not that great value. Anyone spotte any cheap oil at the moment?
I have had a run around today, and got a 35 mile trip home so see how it goes before adding any more.

Our farm foods still does 10l for £10 (vouchers still applicable) not always visible ask for it

not had to change filter in 4k miles yet (well i've condemed the weekend.)
50/50 summer 20-30% veg in winter
1/4 full tank warm up then fill veg and 1 mile to diesel fill up.

But we bought the Bongo to do a trip round the North of Scotland next year in spring, which will involve some very long journeys. Veg oil territory!


Bear in ming petrol stations are few and far between in the north of Scotland, prices will be higher than supermarkets further south, and hours may well be 9-5ish, don't rely on getting fuel weekends.

I fill up when the gauge reads 1/2 when I find one open up there.

Fantastic touring, and fuel can be offset by a little 'Wild Camping'.

Slightly off topic as we've got a V6 but we made it from Wiltshire to the Outer Hebrides and back running on LPG. I think there was one LPG station in Stornoway which was out of action, so we had to resort to petrol until the other one opened the next morning. Many years ago (pre Bongo) we practically ran out of fuel up by Thurso on a Sunday afternoon and found absolutely nowhere was open anywhere. We just had to camp out by a pub in the strongest gale I've ever had the misfortune to pitch a tent in. Needless to say, we decided after that experience that we needed to get a campervan.

Tesco Veg oil is good stuff and only 90p per litre

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/ ... =272515844

Maybe it was just the branch of farm foods I visited. The Tesco one looks worth a go if not.
I started the van this morning, fearing the worst, however pleased to say it started perfectly
fine.

I always used 25% veg in the winter and 50% in the summer. If going on a long journey, I would run the Bongo for about 15mins, to warm it up, then fill up with neat veg oil, sometimes equating to nearly 100% veg oil - that is the only time it is necessary to top up with diesel near the end of the trip. Even then, you only need to put enough diesel in to bring the mix back to approx. 50%. Mine would start with almost 100% veg oil, but it would only tick over until the engine had run for a couple of minutes - it did belch out a lot of white smoke though

I use a 50/50 mix of veg oil from supermarkets most of the time
A few months after I started using this I
Had white smoke and loss of power
New filter and a clean of the banjo fuel pump filter
All been fine since

Once on about 60 /70 % veg got a few chugs on startup on a cold morning up in the lakes
But that was before filters cleaned

Used it and worse on me Landy for years no prob

Hello bongo comrades.

I’m interested in a professional vegetable oil conversion. Is it possible to mount the vegetable oil tank beneath the vehicle, rather than having it onboard? I’m not so keen of carrying the vegetable oil tank in the van, especially if you have a conversion, limited space etc.

Thanks as always,
Steve

Hi All, finding this intresting, having just bought by first Bongo - what veg oil are people using ? thanks

Hi.

I used to put in some rape seed, but haven't used it in a long while as we don't do a huge mileage and the savings don't add up for us.

I'm pretty sure modified soya rots the pump seals, but othres may well know better.