Coolant Leak - Drivers Side - 15-186?

[Eye Guy]

Thanks Haydn!

[Eye Guy]

Oh my word....what have i done...

New hose taken to garage. Fitted and Bongo bled. Garage made all the right noises and seemed to know what they were on about. I was advised to check levels regularly over next couple of days. All good.

But (big but)...

I was a total dufus and left the coolant tank cap off. Temp went up over 90 C which is unusual for my van. Usually runs at 89C on my alarm although have had 100+ on a steep climb.

I pulled over and realised what I had done. Coolant everywhere. I sat, cried, sat some more. Let her cool down and topped up the coolant with water and anti freeze (I had some in case of emergency- hah!)

I'm about to limp home. Will this have caused long term damage? I presume another bleed will be needed?

Thanks for any sympathy/ advice.

[Northern Bongolow]

check the level when its cooled down on the level, get it up to the full mark when cold, put the cap on then run the engine until warm but not hot, check the temp of both heaters front and back, if they both feel warm and most important, the same temp front and back then proceed to full warmed up temps check heaters are still hot and both the same temp, check the coolant level, it should be 5 -10 mm high now.
if the above doesnt happen you may be safer to bleed, if it does happen you should be fine. according to your temp indicator the loss of coolant wasnt a boil just a lack of coolant pressure in the system so just an overflow as the coolant expands during warm up,

[Eye Guy]

And breathe.....

So. Finally managed to get home, much later than anticipated and after a few Basil Fawlty esque moments of talking to myself and the van!

Here is a slightly more lucid debrief. There are still some bits I don't understand (thanks NB for your comments above, really helpful).

As I mentioned before, I was out for a short test run and realised the temp was going up. I pulled over with the temp at mid 90's on the gauge. Lifted the bonnet and realised the cap was off the coolant tank. There was plenty of coolant dripping out from under the engine and a nice splash all down the passenger side!

I waited for the engine to cool and topped the levels back up. This took two attempts, as the after the first time I got it to the FULL line, the level seemed to drop again and the coolant alarm sounded on return to the cockpit. I could hear some gurgling of fluid. I topped it up again with more water and the alarm went off and the level stayed. There was however, still lots of dripping from under the engine passenger side below the header tank.

I set off home and got a bit down the road and the temp started to rise again (low 90's). I pulled over and checked the level again once the engine had cooled a bit. I made sure it was topped up again. There was still dripping coming from the same area under the header tank and again a puddle underneath on the road. Coolant alarm didn't go off. Level stayed put.

I then managed to drive the last mile or so home with the engine temp in the low 80's and no coolant alarm going off. It just reached normal operating temp (89C) as I arrived home. It was well dark and well late and I was knackered so I just left it when I got home.

There does not seem to be a puddle underneath this morning but I am worried where all that dripping was coming from last night. Could I have damaged something during the drive without the cap on? Was it coming from the cap overflow pipe? Had I over filled it? Is that even possible?

I travelled less than 5 miles in total. Not a journey I wish to relive! You don't realise how much you love your Bongo 'til she's sick

[haydn callow]

If the tank ever actually got empty I would defo get it bled properly by someone who knows about bongos. If it always still had coolant in you may be o.k. If in doubt get it bled

[Bongolia]

Be safe and bleed it for peace of mind.

[Eye Guy]

Thanks guys. Back to the garage is currently my plan for Monday.

Where was all the coolant dripping from?

[Eye Guy]

Sounds like the coolant drips were just overspill. No more leaks hopefully

Garage re-bled and checked the coolant/ water mix.

All good.

Thanks for all your help.