Bongo towing in the heat

[djunjon]

Hi Folks

I've done a bit of searching on the site and most people who tow don't report any problems.

Having had a replacement head and hose I'm just being cautious....

I was towing a 650/700kg boat the other day - up Haldon Hill - and the temp gauge started to wander up from it's usual 11 o'clock up to around 1 o'clock. I was just getting nervous when I crested the hill and the temp flew back to 'normal'.

I can't hear the fans when I'm driving but they do come on when I stop or if I put the ignition on after a brief stop.

Does anyone else get a rise in displayed temp when towing up hills and, if so, does it basically look after itself?

Any reports - including negatives - would be welcome. This has only happened once but then I usually tow with the Landy.

Cheers

Jon

[Ian]

I am an old man and my memory is failing, but I'm sure somebody at one of the very first Bongo bashes (in the 1930s) told me that towing wasn't a problem with an automatic Bongo because there was an oil cooled radiator. Now, if this is true, then it stands to reason that if the radiator was no longer being cooled by the oil, a temperature fluctuation could occur when pulling a load uphill.

Ofcourse, this could all be bullsh*t and I might have been out in the sun too long.

[StevieC]

I have always though that Holden hill has its own weather system and now I think it is affecting vehicle instruments. Coming up it on the Ashburton side the oil pressure gauge in my Golf always flashes once as I go past the slow down signs. Doesn't happen anywhere else. Tis weird round there tis boy !

[2sticks]

On Tuesday of this week, We travelled back from Fort William -
Scotland, to Essex, a total of some 520 miles. The air
temperature in Scotland was around 28 degrees and well above
30 degrees in England.

We Left Fort William at 10:30 and arrived home at 21:01 with
48 minutes stop for fuel and lunch. We managed to maintain
60 - 70 MPH on dual carriage and motor ways and the overall
average was around 50 MPH. Fuel consumption was 24.70 MPG.

We towed a small caravan which weighs about 800 Kgs, but does
have almost negligible wind resistance. We had the air conditioning
set at 18 degrees with front and rear operating continuously for
the whole journey.

In Scotland and over Brough we climbed some pretty steep hills
with many kick down changes to maintain a respectable speed.
In all this time the water temperature gauge remained exactly
where it always runs normally and everything else behaved
impeccably.

When we stopped for lunch, (Penrith) the outside temperature
almost bowled me over, but inside the bongo the temperature
was similar to a nice spring day. I crawled underneath and
couldn't smell any nasties and everything appeared to be
normal. So we carried on, eager to be home before it got dark.

Some Bongos, if not all, are fitted with a gearbox oil cooler and
auxilliary fan wich runs when the gearbox oil exceeds about 70
degrees, well mine does, I suspect this is the cooler that Ian has
mentioned above. As this only cools the gearbox oil, I would
be suprised if it had any adverse effect on the engine water
temperature.

Our Bongo is 4WD Auto 2.5 Diesel with Freetop which has done
around 45,000 miles and I have owned for about 2 years.

[Seeker]

Useful information 2sticks as I intend towing a horse and trailer with the Bongo close to its braked limit off 1630kg.

What towbar do you have?

[2sticks]

Hi Seeker,

I have a TOWSURE towbar which I have always found to be
good quality. For peace of mind, I wouln't consider anything
else other than the TOWSURE or WITTER.

Early in the year I had to tow my granddaughter's horse to
a show while their Discovery was out of action. This was
about 70 miles each way and I don't suppose I did more than
45 mph. I don't know what the weight was but it certainly
effected the acceleration more than my caravan does.

Other than that it was a breeze.

Best Regards.

[Seeker]

Thanks for that 2sticks. Its just that I have just fitted the Towsure bar and while the Bar itself would be sufficient to rplace a gider in the Forth Bridge the places where it is fitted, brackets that hold the bumper, seem flimsey!!

I am just a cautious guy.

[2sticks]

When it comes to cautious, you can't be any worse than me.
If I had to fit another wireless aerial I would probably
use 16 mm bolts.

After having popped my head underneath and having a good look,
it appears that all the fixing brackets are made specifically
by Towsure, mostly welded to the towing bar and fixed to the
chassis with generous bolts. Most of the bracketing is done
with 6 mm shaped plate and I was quite surprised by the
quality and neat fitting.

If you can stick the jockey wheel on a set of bathroom scales
and make sure the nose weight is between 50 and 70 kilograms
then even I wouldn't be worried.

[Seeker]

Cheers mate.