Cooling system service

[Bongolia]

It pretty much looks like the manual method then, a technique worth mastering that would be helpful at the roadside no doubt.
Have a search thru Helens (I think) posts. You will see a bleeding jug set up that would help you when doing the manual bleed.
There was another post from Northern Bongolow that gave a succinct description of the manual method.

[Bongolia]

Do you have the model number or serial of your compressor?

[teenmal]

Hi
A pela pump won't suck the ash out of a perishing ash-tray....That's a case of "my mate dahn the pub sez"....The old adage "believe none of what you hear , and only half what you see" applies to a huge amount of what's on t'internet
"Free air delivery" is what you must look for, and no, your compressor is only a domestic type...sorry, and possibly delivering half what a vac-fill needs. They vac. fillers) work like an old scent-spray bottle, as Bongolia said, so they require a colossal amount of air as most of it's wasted....much like the hot air in the UK Parliament building....now THERE'S a place to go...LOL
Not sure that hire shops carry the larger compressors for hire?....The best bet is to buy a very large one if you think you'll use it over your lifetime...12 CFM free air delivery is the absolute minimum required, for a vac. fill, but I'd say bigger....any kit that says it needs less is fibbing....believe me I've looked at dozens
You can use your small compressor to fill the system , but you'll need to bleed it afterwards, as it won't dispose of the air-locks....Mr. Kerr's son Wayne down at the pub, who's always quoted won't cough up for a SECOND new head if you follow his advice...bleed it "Bongo old school" and know you've achieved the best result.
Cheers
Helen

Your probably correct as usual, cant understand why peeps buy theses pumps to change Engine Oil and Automatic transmission fluid, you have probably saved a lot of people a lot of dosh now.

[mikeonb4c]

Why would you say that teenmal? I absolutely cannot agree that the Pela is useless for engine oil changes. I've used one for 10 years on the Bongo and it has saved me no end of potential aggravation as well as being very effective at removing engine oil. For an ageing non mechanic like me it is a godsend. To anyone reading this, I can HIGHLY recommend a Pela. The only caveats are:

1) Make sure engine is warmed so oil thins and can be easily sucked up
2) Be careful to feel for the slight clunk as the probe hits sump bottom and stop there. Push it in carelessly and too far and the tubing could snag and get stuck. Thats never happened to me. You could put a marker on the tubing to remind you how far is the limit.

[Bob]

I have to agree.

The Pela Pump won't suck the muck from an ash tray - simply because it isn't designed to.

Also agree with Mike, I've had on as long as I've had the Bongo and always use it for the 3000 mile change.

As said, the engine must be up to running temp, a spin round the block won't do it, and I insert the tube until I feel the 'Clonk' then pull back 1/4".

Does ok for me.

[teenmal]

Why would you say that teenmal? I absolutely cannot agree that the Pela is useless for engine oil changes. I've used one for 10 years on the Bongo and it has saved me no end of potential aggravation as well as being very effective at removing engine oil. For an ageing non mechanic like me it is a godsend. To anyone reading this, I can HIGHLY recommend a Pela. The only caveats are:

1) Make sure engine is warmed so oil thins and can be easily sucked up
2) Be careful to feel for the slight clunk as the probe hits sump bottom and stop there. Push it in carelessly and too far and the tubing could snag and get stuck. Thats never happened to me. You could put a marker on the tubing to remind you how far is the limit.

If quote from h&t

A pela pump won't suck the ash out of a perishing ash-tray.

That would say (in my book) that they are pretty useless suckers.

[mikeonb4c]

Well trust me (as one who's used them) - they're not (useless).

I think Helen was just being her usual humorous self.

And they're definitely not a way of generating and maintaining a powerful large volume vacuum by using the venturi principle. That job they were indeed never intended for. In fact i'd venture that the vacuum bleeding kit was only designed the way it was because it was expected they'd only be used by professional garages, who will generally have a high capacity compressor on site for all their various pneumatic needs.

[Bongolia]

Merlot man
As the link you gave was to a more efficient two stage compressor of 3HP I thought it might be worth ringing
Jeffersons technical.
After a lot of passing about I finally got to speak to someone other than the sales team, Their tech dept is helpful once you get through!

The question was whats the FAD the answer came back as 11cfm@100psi ISO something or other!
I asked the sales why they use the potentially misleading bare CFM figure and its because they all do which I suppose if your in competition is fair enough at least they all singing from the wrong hymn sheet
So it looks as though your one short,the story of my life right there!
Now,could you tandem that up with another smaller machine to give you the extra oomph you need.......?
Given that your existing compressor would be capable of running most of the stuff you are likely to use in a DIY mex environment then probably the best/cheapest option is to master that manual method.

Sorry if I got your hopes up I should have queried that CFM figure first.
Bad advice is worse than no advice. Thankfully Helen was hovering and picked it up.

Having re read your post ours is a 30+year old 3 phase Ingersoll Rand that lives in its own house in the yard dont know what the fad on that is but it ran our 2 booth bodyshop (mostly air powered tools) and the mex shop without any fall off It was over spec for our needs at that time.
We brought it over when we closed up our bodyshop,
Gets drained down each evening and serviced by us once a year, passes inspection each year,not had to replace anything and never let us down.A good investment.
Its having a restful partial retirement here.

[Merlot man]

Good evening everyone .
Bongolia you are a legend ! You went above and beyond the call there ,researching MY compressor
I did happen to talk to the shop a bought the machine from today and they are still to get back to me but 11 CFM was what they thought . I can only guess at the service you give your paying clients in the garage !
You are correct that most of the work I do in the garage is well served by this compressor but I've been looking at a sip airmate 3 HP 16 CFM 200 l capacity single phase 16 amp probibly 13/14 RAD around €900 , I might consider as a long term investment and sell on my oid one !
Either way it would be a good idea learning the manual method also , so we will see .
Helen might come back to advice us as to the wisdom of joining two small compressors together ?
As you can see I haven't given up on the vac method !
Please don't be sorry about getting my hopes up, I'm doing this to myself
Thanks again for all you invaluable help
Brian

[helen&tony]

Hi
Well...I reckon two small compressors would probably struggle...but I've never tried If you hunt round , you might find a reasonable single phase compressor a bit cheaper...but don't forget....FREE AIR DELIVERY...Yes, it's very misleading the way they all quote actual DISPLACEMENT linked to CFM, but investing in a decent compressor gives you access to plenty of tools that run on air...cheaper, quite often , than electric tools, as you haven't got to pay for the motor.Try SGS Engineering to see if they have anything. The big problem is the better compressors use 3 -phase....Like a twit, I had our 3-phase stripped out....we even had 3-phase switching to the shower room ....it ran the massive well-pump
If you find a bargain compressor , let me know...mines getting past it's use-by date
Cheers
Helen

[BongoBongo123]

I will just add to this, I was told by the "Bongo friendly listed" garage that my coolant change was performed using a vacuum method which "fills and bleeds" at the same time. It could just be that the bloke doing it or his incompetent trainee however is just a cretin, but it cracked my block.

Maybe it can be done but I suspect every safety check and precaution post job need be employed to ensure it is bled and not overheating.

This twat managed to screw the Bongo totally even with a temperature alarm, planks. My blood boils every time I recall it.

[teenmal]

I cant imagine Mazda bleeding the system other than vacuum, otherwise it would probably take longer to bleed the cooling systems than actually making the vehicle.

I can also imagine an army of wee Japanese guys at the end of the production line, up to their eye balls in Bongos, and up to their knees in antifreeze.

[Bongolia]

I will just add to this, I was told by the "Bongo friendly listed" garage that my coolant change was performed using a vacuum method which "fills and bleeds" at the same time. It could just be that the bloke doing it or his incompetent trainee however is just a cretin, but it cracked my block.

Maybe it can be done but I suspect every safety check and precaution post job need be employed to ensure it is bled and not overheating.

This twat managed to screw the Bongo totally even with a temperature alarm, planks. My blood boils every time I recall it.

That happens a lot (not with us ) post repair checks are not thoroughly carried out if at all.
Brake repairs are a good example, no road test or brake roller check after install is the most common,playing the odds here is not a good idea!

I think in your case this was an operator error.
After the foregoing posts I checked with our guys and we have done refills of 2.5D Bongos using this method without problems.
Providing the vac gauge shows into the correct section on the gauge and its holding the vacuum then there shouldn't be any issues.
I would guess the guy had allowed air into the system when refilling easy to do if you are not paying attention, pipe pulls out of refill container momentarily or there is not enough replacement fluid in the container other wise its pretty foolproof In our experience.
Out of interest and for my Bongo encyclopedia where did the crack occur?

ARE YOU THERE HELEN?

[rita]

Be very wary if one of theses vehicle turns up at your Garage/Workshop on a low loader with a bad coolant leak.

I know of some Garages that wont even touch them.

[Bongolia]

Be very wary if one of theses vehicle turns up at your Garage/Workshop on a low loader with a bad coolant leak.

I know of some Garages that wont even touch them.

Hi Rita
Yes I can understand that some vehicles have a fearsome rep but it all depends on how you approach the job.
We try not to reject any vehicle unless we were not equipped, its a basket case or its a boy/girl racer with the wheels on back to front and no tread on the tyres .
Our take is we have to sell a certain number of hours in a week to stay ahead so it doesn't matter if its 1 hour each on 10 jobs or 10 hours on 1 its all work at the end of the day and if the customers dont mind paying the bill we dont mind doing the work.


Watch that come back and bite me on the ?rse