I think what I'm trying to say is should I expect to factor in all the work done to the price or is it just an indication of bad history? My inclination is that all vehicles over 20 years old are problem cases - "rust never sleeps"

I have a '98 2.5 diesel autotop with fitted kitchen and hookup socket. Alloy wheels and fairly new tyres. However, it was severely neglected until I bought it. Since then I have had front and rear members replaced, rear wheel arches replaced, sills done (for MOT this year), reconditioned gearbox and ...

No, not at all. It was well-fried. The girl driving it just kept going when the van was full of smoke.

However if the only thing wrong with what you already have is a blown head I would consider just having a new head fitted to your own engine....that must be the cheaper option.


Hmmm, except I've been advised if the engine stalled (which it did) there's a risk of hidden damage below the head ...

Yes, BongoSpares fit the head before delivery. What i was querying was the need for a new head if there's been no damage to the existing one. (IE passed all tests) . Is this a needless expense? They can deliver me a used engine (original head) which has been tested, £500 cheaper. But I can see there ...

Sorry to push on this. I'm making a decision tomorrow. Is it worth paying £500 for a new cylinder head on a used engine which has already passed all tests? Is it likely to prolong the engine's life? Grateful for anyone's opinion!

I got in touch with BongoSpares, and they can do me a 2nd hand engine with ancillaries that has been thoroughly tested. For £500 more I can get a new cylinder head, once again thoroughly tested. Apologies for what might seem to be obvious questions, but I'm not technical at all. Can anyone clarify ...

Actually green indicates faulty diesel, yellow a faulty petrol engine. The same company DR HeadGasket offer a ' permanent' solution. Anyone tried it?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DrH-Super-Se ... 2711296494

Carried out the block combustion test and can't work out if the results were yellow or green! (Yellow being unhealthy). Anyone used the Dr HeadGasket kit? I did a standard test with it plugged into the expansion tank, also the recommended method of using a syringe to transfer the gases to the tester ...

My cylinder head got fried last week and everyone says I should just replace the engine as who knows what damage has been done below. It so happens a neighbour has a Bongo he's selling for scrap (TD 2.5) so I have a chance of a second-hand engine which he claims hasn't ever over-heated. Only thing ...

Doesn't include fitting :( Yeah, it's a '98 Bongo which to date has cost me about £5k, including welding and various repairs. So another £2k for a camper that has all the major stuff done is reasonable I suppose. The engine is second-hand not reconditioned. If it's bench-tested how much should I be ...

The garage is recommending me to obtain a complete engine with all ancillary parts. They reckon its a false economy to replace the head alone as there may be hidden damage if the van was driven after the catastrophic loss of coolant (apparently there was grey smoke everywhere and we suspect the girl ...

Going off topic a bit, but interested to know how long a Bongo can be kept on the road? IE. if all the 'camper' bells and whistles continue to work - what would induce you to scrap it? Are there repairs to the framework which be prohibitively costly? People say 'it's more than the van's worth', but ...

It was a young friend driving it and she was so shocked she can't remember exactly what happened. I'm not sure if it has a coolant alarm (never checked and its in the garage now) , but if I'll be ordering one if we continue with the Bongo.

The van came to a sudden halt, spewing great clouds of white smoke last night. Coolant hose had burst and preliminary inspection suggests head gasket gone. Trying to weigh up if its worth continuing. Just had £500+ worth of welding for MOT (it's a 1998 diesel). I guess around £1k for a reconditioned ...