Bongo friendy garage in Glasgow area

[Obi]

Hi folks, hope someone can help me. My coolant alarm sounded briefly the other day and I immediately drove it home. It was still dark when I checked the header tank so it was hard to see the level. It now appears to be completely empty - so have not tried topping it up. I couldn't see any sign of a leak in any of the hoses connecting the header tank - they all appear to be in relativley good nick - but then I have no mechanical knowledge at all.

Was hoping that someone may be able to point me in the direction of a Bongo friendly garage in the Glasgow area.

Thanks,

Kev.

[Driver+Passengers]

DO NOT DRIVE!

If your coolant tank emptied, then you've more than likely got air in the coolant system which tends to settle in the highest point (the cylinder head) and you will now risk overheating, blowing the head gasket and/or cracking the cylinder head or even damaging the block. Hence the "don't drive" directive - not even 50 yards!!!

Tough time of year for this to happen, but don't take shortcuts. Hopefully there will be some folk local to you who can offer more advice or support re: local garages.

If you can drop the plastic engine cover underneath, that can often soak up leaks without you knowing, so take that off and look for leaks or puddles developing over night. You'll just need to undo at least a dozen 10mm head bolts and it drops off. It may be that you have a leak that worsens with heat, but I'd not advise you to run the engine at all. The coolant system is complex and though I don't remember the exact figure, there are something like 15 different hoses or joints, all of which may leak! There's a front and rear heater matrix - the rear is directly opposite the back sliding door footwell (ie the other side) and you should be able to find two coolant hoses and two AC pipes coming down out of there on the driver's side. That's an easy place to check for a weep, because you can get at it without going all the way under. But if you can get the undertray off, worth doing that.

Good luck!
Matt

[Obi]

Thanks for the advice Matt - will take your advice on not driving it at all. A mate had said to try topping up the header tank and running the engine and then maybe find the leak but I have been far too paranoid to even contemplate that!

Having just been looking under the bonnet(in the dark, with a torch), there seems to be a slight discolouration on the front of the radiator(hard to tell in the dark). Will have a proper look tomorrow in the daylight. Radiators seem very expensive, can they be repaired?

Hopefully someone will be able to point me in the right direction of a good garage.

Thanks again,

Kev

[Driver+Passengers]

I believe you can run an engine with no coolant in it at all (eg to get it up or down off ramps) - the water pump is belt driven so there's no issue with no-load speed, etc... But certainly don't drive it to the garage!

Check the factsheets in the members' area of bongofury.co.uk, and read up at the wiki. I think with radiators, you can repair them - one technique is to get it hot, apply whatever compound it is to a joint and then as it cools the pressure drops and it gets sucked into the joint. If you know the history of your radiator you might consider this approach, but if not you'd probably be better off with a replacement. That said, if you've air in the system, you'd need to fill and bleed before getting it hot.

You basically need to identify source(s) of leak(s), fix, refill, bleed, and possible repeat.

[MountainGoat]

You could try a PM to Steviebongo who is a Glasgow based Bongo owning Ford Mechanic to see if he can offer you any advice. But Stevie has not been on the forum very often recently.

Tony

[Obi]

Thanks Tony - have sent Steviebongo a pm.

[teenmal]

Hi Obi,

This is a previouse post by Morag....

Hhc I'm in Mingavie and the garage I use is

McGarry Hogg
Unit 43
Annesland Business Park
Glasgow
tel 0141 954 3888
07734108602

Paul McGarry is the guy who has worked on my Bongo. I buy the bits from the Bongo shop and take them to Paul, it saves him trying to get Bongo parts from auto factors who don't know what a Bongo is!

I think a few peeps now use this garage

http://www.goodgarage.biz/garages/glasg ... -hogg-666/

[Obi]

Thanks teenmal - this garage was also recommended by Steviebongo - will give them a call .