Bongo Fury

The Auto Gearbox on my facelift model 2.5 4x4 Diesel Bongo has failed. The symptoms are exactly as stated in Bongo Recall notice RJ-1500-0 listed on the website below.

http://www.dogandlemon.com/safety/recal ... azda/bongo

If it's a recall I would think a visit to your friendly Mazda garage.

Hope you get it sorted.

Not sure where you stand taking it to a UK dealer when the vehicle was only intended for use in the Japanese domestic market. Worth a shot though as it could save a hefty garage bill.

Apparently to strip out the auto box and rebuild it then re-fit will cost £2300 plus a specialist recovery vehicle to transport it there because it will not move in either direction so needs to be put on skates £300.

I could buy a used Mazda MX5 for that, and disappear into the Sunset.

Plan B (& less romantic) would be to get a second hand gearbox although these are quite rare to find from the later models. You could try George at Bongospares as he's not a million miles from you, or Wheelquick in Wigan.

Yes, He has one for £350 which I may order and put it in the boot. Until I find someone willing to fit it for a reasonable fee. Just need to check that its not also one affected by the recall notice. They have a white paint mark on the left hand side of the oil pan when viewed from under the passenger side.

I would put some photo's on here if anyone can tell me how to.

http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... =42&t=9285

Basically resize to 1024 x 768 max, upload to PhotoBucket and paste the IMG tag into your post

Bongo Fil wrote:Yes, He has one for £350 which I may order and put it in the boot. Until I find someone willing to fit it for a reasonable fee. Just need to check that its not also one affected by the recall notice. They have a white paint mark on the left hand side of the oil pan when viewed from under the passenger side.

im prety sure george would recover it and fit the box.

Bongo Fil wrote:I would put some photo's on here if anyone can tell me how to.

Done it for you ..

mikeWalsall wrote:

Bongo Fil wrote:I would put some photo's on here if anyone can tell me how to.

Done it for you ..

Many Thanks

Did you have a rattley noise in 1st and 2nd when cold?
I hope I'm not heading for the same problem as you

No rattle noises at all, the gearbox was super smooth in summer and winter with no delays in shifting at all. I was completely amazed at its sudden demise. I had towed the caravan many times but on the recent trip to Hereford from Blackpool the gearbox became very hot and smelled of burning clutch material. Then the revs suddenly increased and the Mph decreased then some clangs then loss of reverse gear. I let it cool down then tried to start it again only for it to immediately stall and lunge forward in Park or Neutral. The worst thing was being the 4X4 version all the wheels where locked and it could not be pushed in either direction or winched onto a recovery lorry. The only way we could get it on a lorry was to jack it up and lower it on to skates under each wheel and then winch it on to the lorry. A very expensive and slow recovery. If you follow the link I posted to dogandlemons site they list all the Bongo recall notices amongst many other manufacturers vehicles. One of which concerns a Mazda Japan recall concerning the Bongo auto gearbox which states that an incorrectly tensioned gearbox solenoid pack (affecting 80,000+ vehicles in certain listed vin number ranges) will become deformed in certain hot conditions resulting a solenoid coil becoming detached and destruction of the gearbox due to unregulated internal pressures after which the gearbox should then be replaced with a none faulty version or words to that effect. I tried contacting Mazda which is very difficult as they take forever to answer the phone due to all there operators being busy with other calls. Basically they told me that the recall was only valid in Japan for domestic vehicles.

Does the White paint marke mean it has been recalled and fixed