Hi folks. Not long to go til our Bongo is on the road, and was going to start it today but discovered the coolant level in the header tank was just below the minimum. Obviously there must be a small leak somewhere, so I'm planning to rig up a pressure testing kit like the one I've read about on here, and fit an LCA, but can I just top up the header tank in the meantime? I haven't run her up for a few weeks, and it really needs doing
Thanks
Toby
Slight coolant leak?
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Toby&Jules
- Bongonaut
- Posts: 63
- Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2012 7:41 pm
- Location: East Northants
Re: Slight coolant leak?
I am paranoid about coolant issues since replace cylinder head etc.
Personally, I think I would bleed the system to be on the safe side.
Obviously, you need to ascertain where if anywhere you have a leak.
Personally, I think I would bleed the system to be on the safe side.
Obviously, you need to ascertain where if anywhere you have a leak.
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Northern Bongolow
- Supreme Being
- Posts: 7713
- Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:33 pm
- Location: AKA Vanessa
Re: Slight coolant leak?
if its just been bled up again, usually when warm, the fixed amount of coolant in the system could have cooled and shrunk.
when i hot bleed them i leave the level 10mm-20mm high so that when the coolant cools it falls to the full mark.
pressure monitoring is the way forward---------------i dont care about temps any more, although i do have 3 systems in place to measure it, the main thing i go off now is a constant coolant pressure monitoring gauge.
or you could have a leak.
replace your exp tank cap regularly or test it,
i made a pressure cap tester as some of the caps fail to hold the ness 1.1 bar. if your low on pressure in the system you lower the boiling point of the coolant,and maybe loose coolant out through the cap. for this reason i use red coolant in the system as it has a higher boiling point than blue in general.
hard to find/diagnose coolant leaks are sometimes at the water pump, there are 2 holes it can leak from 1 at the passy side that is visible, the other is at the 6 oclock position and is real hard to see because of the crank pulley and belts. do a search for water pump on here some good pics will pop up.
when i hot bleed them i leave the level 10mm-20mm high so that when the coolant cools it falls to the full mark.
pressure monitoring is the way forward---------------i dont care about temps any more, although i do have 3 systems in place to measure it, the main thing i go off now is a constant coolant pressure monitoring gauge.
or you could have a leak.
replace your exp tank cap regularly or test it,
i made a pressure cap tester as some of the caps fail to hold the ness 1.1 bar. if your low on pressure in the system you lower the boiling point of the coolant,and maybe loose coolant out through the cap. for this reason i use red coolant in the system as it has a higher boiling point than blue in general.
hard to find/diagnose coolant leaks are sometimes at the water pump, there are 2 holes it can leak from 1 at the passy side that is visible, the other is at the 6 oclock position and is real hard to see because of the crank pulley and belts. do a search for water pump on here some good pics will pop up.
Re: Slight coolant leak?
pesure testing does work!..nb will remeber my experience..ok the outcome was not good but he is right,it would seem that presure=probs found slightly quicker than just on temps.
by the way thanks again nb
by the way thanks again nb