Bongo Fury

ive had a search and drawn a bit of a blank on this one. our 96 4wd tdi has been making some odd noises on the n/s/f. it has just come back from my tame mechanic having had a new outer cv (knocking) and wheel bearing (tired) and brakes/suspension checked over but the noise persists. it is a rotational creak/groan/squeak that is most noticeable when slowing to a halt. at one point it was so loud that pedestrians would swivel-head at it but had since tamed down a bit. any suggestions as to what we should be looking at next??

Novastrike, who I assume is a distant relation of yours , posted this back in February:

http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... haft+noise

There have been a few instances reported of grinding problems on 4WD Bongos, caused by propshaft wear due to incorrect tyre sizes being fitted.

hi ian , I don't think I have any rellys in that area! ours isn't a grinding noise , it is definitely more of a creak. my initial thought was the ribs on the cv boot rubbing on each other , that kind of thing? it has suffered no accident damage. tyre sizes are correct , though rears are more worn than fronts by a margin.

Had similar type noise years ago ,hard when you don't hear it but mines was a wheel bearing when going slow or just about stopping you could hear a creaking /groaning type noise,when suspended and spun no noises were heard also no play turned out to be the ball bearings in the bearing assy .
Good luck
Ps was the noise there prior to new bring?

Hi
There's a huge chocolate-box selection of noises from the front of the Bongo...I don't like chocolates, and I don't like noises
Here's some:-
Clonking: well...you don't have that
groaning: Could be noises in the steering
Scraping...could be the shield for the discs catching, or the brakes getting low on lining
Squeaky grinding...springs rubbing in their seating, when the rubber seats have worn through
Whining/ grumbling....bearings
Squishy squeaky...shockers
First check is to put your hands on components near the noise and get someone to rock the car (take care of fingers)....you can find out roughly how high or low the noise is....give it a whirl and report back
Next step, jack it up and pull the wheel off, and lever moving parts around with a crowbar and have a look and listen
You might have play in the ball joints or bushes...report back
I'm afraid it's try and look!
Cheers
Helen

you say the front tyres are better than the rears.
the 4wd is rear ward bias so your bongo is trying to be front bias.

if my theory is correct try swapping the fronts and the rears over then see if the noise stops, if it does then buy some new rear tyres.

the link below shows fronts and rears, note the larger rears (or should be). well worn rears and new fronts would alter the radius of both to the extent that the fronts may be fighting for control of the drive causing transmission wind up.

http://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp

Hi
You might be right there, Ady...I missed the second post re: tyres ...I had some strange noises from my Bongo when I bought it, ....so long back I'd forgotten.... ....and swapping tyres round with Tony walking (running , actually ), we found the culprits!!!
Cheers
Helen

some food for thought now!

the laird; noise was there pre new bearing/cv and remains.

helen & tony; it definitely is a rotational noise not component movement. my initial thoughts were bearing/cv/brakes but these have all either been changed or stripped and inspected , as have ball joints/bushes etc.

northern bongolow; certainly sounds plausible , thinking about it , the noise doesn't always show itself straight from the off , so the wind up theory sounds entirely possible.... certainly cheaper than randomly changing components out! if it stays dry enough for long enough i'll swap them over.

helen & tony #2; looking like and idiot in Tesco's car park being circled by a sqeaky bongo isn't top of my bucket list....but that was going to be the next thing to try!!

thanks for the suggestions all.

wheels now swapped front to rear...test drive in the morning...fingers crossed for a quiet trip!

oh well...back to the drawing board! at least I've ruled out the trans wind up theory. all was lovely and quiet for 12-14 miles , then off we go again...but only under braking. I think I need to get it back to the garage , the n/s wheel is getting hot too , so I can only think that the caliper is binding after a while prompting the noise.

Sounds now as if possibly the calipers slides are sticking or even the piston seizing.have you tried after running and the noise is evident to suspend that side and spun the wheel ?

tight bearing.

the laird wrote:Sounds now as if possibly the calipers slides are sticking or even the piston seizing.have you tried after running and the noise is evident to suspend that side and spun the wheel ?

thatll be a job for the garage that told me brakes are ok I think.

Northern Bongolow wrote:tight bearing.

replaced by above garage!

on the face of it , the fact that still have the problem suggests otherwise ...but I do trust 'em!!

You won't be able to jack one corner to spin a single wheel (unless the front diff is nadgered). You may be able to jack the front but the only sure way is to get all 4 wheels off the deck. I would check the wear on the pads and discs (both sides) and check for discolouration of the disc which is a sign of binding or seized calipers.

its such a pain to get the thing right up in the air , its going back to the garage (wish I had a 4 poster!). I am fairly confident now that it has to be a caliper issue as that wheel is getting hot and the noise only now shows itself under braking.