Is your Bongo ready for winter ?

[M 80NGO]

Spent Sunday getting me Bongo ready for winter, checked all fluid levels and antifreeze mixture she's covered down to -35 and if it gets that cold i aint gonna be going out anyways, had all the wheels off re-copperslipped all exposed brake pipes and wheel hub faces cleaned all inner rims and wiped them over with some wd 40 sprayed on a rag checked tyre treads but tbh she's had all four tyres changed this year and all tracked up so all was good, checked brakepad thickness while wheels were off, next had it up in the air and re-copperslipped all brakepipes checked underside for corrosion, i found some very light corrosion starting in a couple of places on the underside so thats been flatted back undersealed and matt blacked also found some flakey paint on the o/s outer sill so that was ground back to bare metal under coated and top coated, she's now ready to take on the british winter.

Don't get caught out guys get ya mota sorted before the weather turns

[Doone]

Well done and good advice. Allans has a few jobs to do on ours, then he's going to Waxoyl it... hopefully before the salt hits the roads!

[mikexgough]

Just need to change my alloys over..... otherwise.....all sorted....

[M 80NGO]

Well done and good advice.

I spent 5 winters working as a roadside tech 3rd party contracting to most of the recovery organisations and most of the winter stuff we had to deal with could have been avoided by simple maintenance so i'd rather do all me checks on a warm sunday rather than face a freezing 2 hour wait for a recovery company to turn up.

I also regularly pump a couple of squirts or wd40 into all the door locks

[M 80NGO]

Just need to change my alloys over..... otherwise.....all sorted....

I leave me alloys on all year round just keep em well cleaned all year round

[Surface2air]

she's in the garage

[umbongocat]

What sort of checks and things should we do to make sure it's ready for winter?

[mikexgough]

Just need to change my alloys over..... otherwise.....all sorted....

I leave me alloys on all year round just keep em well cleaned all year round

I;m not leaving my new Alloys on in the winter.....putting my other old ones back on, besides......the tyres on the old alloys will cope better if we have snow.....

[M 80NGO]

What sort of checks and things should we do to make sure it's ready for winter?

Most importantly is the antifreeze cover, if your vehicle doesn't have the right mixture then the coolant could freeze and in worst cases crack the engine block, then its all other fluids tyre condition lights etc also a couple of squirts of wd40 in the locks will stop em freezing up on a frosty morning.

[umbongocat]

What sort of checks and things should we do to make sure it's ready for winter?

Most importantly is the antifreeze cover, if your vehicle doesn't have the right mixture then the coolant could freeze and in worst cases crack the engine block, then its all other fluids tyre condition lights etc also a couple of squirts of wd40 in the locks will stop em freezing up on a frosty morning.

eeeek! guessing it has the right antifreeze, but will check with the dealer we bought it from. Only had this one for about 5 months so assuming that was all done

[Harry]

If you do nowt else, make sure your anti freeze is up to scratch.

My very first overheat many moons ago was due to the coolant freezing in the bottom hose so when the engine warmed up and the thermostat was supposed to kick in nothing happened. Result = overheat.

Soon cleared with a few kettle fulls of hot water over the hose.

H

[bigdaddycain]

I tend to keep the fuel tank as full as possible during the winter, it tends to cut down on the amount of condensation that accumulates on the exposed areas of the tank.

[bongo frenzee]

On the subject of winter protection, mine will be outside 24/7 as it won't fit in the garage. Does anyone use the Vito van cover that's on sale in the club shop? How good is it and are there any disadvantages eg condensation?

[Doone]

I got a few packs of the moisture absorbing crystals to pop into the roof space for winter, it may help to keep things dry. I think people have also had good results with cat litter, as that's very absorbent too.
I had a pack of it in the boot of my car this summer, as our dog is often swimming, so is wet when in the boot. My car would pong of 'damp dog' for days, but now it doesn't!

[munroman]

With another cold winter forecast, it might be a good idea to treat the rubber door seals and those on the AFT too.

This stuff, which apparently can be found at MINI dealers, gets a good review, do not use anything with silicone or petroleum based as this will attack the rubber.

http://www.einszett.co.uk/Gummi-Pflege.php