V6 losing power on hills

[The Wanderer]

Hi all

Does anyone have any suggestions about why my Bongo may be struggling a bit on steep hills?

The engine has only done 38k miles and generally feels fine but on any kind of steepish incline it needs my foot almost to the floor to sustain 60/65 mph. I've run this by a Bongo garage who agreed it feels maybe 25/30% underpowered compared to other V6 vans they know. Also the engine was compression tested and that was fine.

What should I look for? Anyone had similar issues? Someone suggested a partial blocked exhaust/catalytic converter might be the issue.

Any thoughts gratefully received.

[g8dhe]

Have you checked the gearbox oil level in the correct way ? See https://www.allansvehicleservices.co.uk ... +Check.pdf

[The Wanderer]

Hi Geoff

I haven't checked that but I will, thanks. I'm pretty sure the Bongo garage checked but I will take a look myself for peace of mind.

[PedroBongo]

Did this power problem in hills resolve itself or what did you have done ? I have similar worse problem.

[The Wanderer]

Hi PedroBongo

I had the cat replaced along with a couple of sections of exhaust, which was quite expensive but definitely improved performance. It's likely that the cat had become partially blocked through use of incorrect fuel, as in standard rather than super unleaded. It's probably best to get a trusted Bongo garage to take a look and give it a test run to see what they think. I had a few people test drive mine who were able to make a comparison with other V6 Bongos they serviced etc. There was nothing else that seemed likely to be causing the issue so eventually I had to take the plunge even though it was a bit of a financial hit, even for an aftermarket cat. Good luck with resolving it.