bongo despair :-(

Technical questions and answers about the Mazda Bongo

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teenmal
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Re: bongo despair :-(

Post by teenmal » Fri Feb 19, 2016 10:58 am

char , before you start chucking money at this vehicle it would be advisable to contact the Seller in the first instance .

It would also be advisable to have the vehicle Properly tested for the overheating fault (any qualified motor engineer/mechanic) should be able to carry out necessary tests and inspections to confirm whether its a coolant/flow or combustion gas problem .

Good Luck
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jimmo62
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Re: bongo despair :-(

Post by jimmo62 » Fri Feb 19, 2016 11:04 am

I had a similar problem with mine a bit after I got it. Did a long motorway run and when I slowed down through the town at the end, the alarm went off and it dumped all the coolant via the expansion bottle cap.

I took it to ADS in Bristol how had a good look and replaced the radiator and pump and did a thorough bleed. It has been fine ever since (over a year of regular use). Not sure if it was down to a blocked rad or if there was just some air in the system form somewhere - probably the rad as there has been no evidence of air in the system since.

Worst case if you did this and still needed a new head you already have the new rad in place.

So you may be OK, don't despair just yet!
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Re: bongo despair :-(

Post by char » Fri Feb 19, 2016 3:34 pm

thanks everyone who has commented so far.
Still a bit confused. the overall consensus seems to be to go with simon and get it all done?
It was a bit of an impulsive buy, and I was a bit disappointed that I can only sleep in the roof bit (as the middle seats have not been removed and no bed on this layer). So I was considering selling it and buying one that has been converted with a bed downstairs. i wouldn't want to sell anyone anything dud though, so would still get the work done before doing it of course. Would I be able to get the money back through the sale if I went with the expensive option of replacing everything I wonder?
Or another option would be to take middle seats out and put in a bed and I keep the van for the next 9 years or whatever(!), but this would be an extra expense of money I do not have... No idea how much conversions like that cost...
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Re: bongo despair :-(

Post by char » Fri Feb 19, 2016 3:37 pm

teenmal wrote:char , before you start chucking money at this vehicle it would be advisable to contact the Seller in the first instance .

It would also be advisable to have the vehicle Properly tested for the overheating fault (any qualified motor engineer/mechanic) should be able to carry out necessary tests and inspections to confirm whether its a coolant/flow or combustion gas problem .

Good Luck

Hello I just saw this. What should I ask the seller?? I know she'll say there was nothing wrong with it when she had it... that's what she said before I bought it. Is there anything specific I should ask her? I'm very happy to do this.

Please could you tell me what these two things are (coolant/flow or combustion gas problem?) Sorry if it's a stupid question!!

The car is still at the local mechanic... I can call them and ask them. Perhaps they know.. I'll do that now.......
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cmm303
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Re: bongo despair :-(

Post by cmm303 » Fri Feb 19, 2016 3:46 pm

Good call from teenmal to locate the current problem before wading in with fixing stuff that might not be broke.

Char, The cylinder head is notoriously intolerant to overheating but you could be amongst the lucky few. It is also very rare on Bongos for only the head gasket to fail and the head to be ok; I think there are only two such examples amongst members of this forum. Hence the overwhelming advice to fix the cylinder head however, as teenmal infers, it could have boiled for a different reason and you might be lucky with the head.

Whatever repair you have I would have the mechanic check the condition of all your rubber hoses and metal coolant pipes. The little ones are equally important in keeping coolant in and air out!

Got any receipts from the seller for recent work or did they tell you of recent work?

Really important, only get the cooling system done by somebody recommended on Bongos. Looks like you've found that person.

A low coolant alarm (LCA) (a bleeper and light) checks for coolant in the expansion tank. With coolant being squirted out through the tank the LCA would not have triggered until it ran out of coolant. That isn't a faulty LCA, but a weakness of that type of warning device. Despite that shortcoming it is still a valuable warning device. Many supplement it with an additional temperature monitor that is more responsive than the standard gauge.
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cmm303
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Re: bongo despair :-(

Post by cmm303 » Fri Feb 19, 2016 4:29 pm

char wrote:Hello I just saw this. What should I ask the seller?? I know she'll say there was nothing wrong with it when she had it... that's what she said before I bought it. Is there anything specific I should ask her? I'm very happy to do this.

Please could you tell me what these two things are (coolant/flow or combustion gas problem?) Sorry if it's a stupid question!!

The car is still at the local mechanic... I can call them and ask them. Perhaps they know.. I'll do that now.......
Asking the seller: Could be cheeky and try the "its broken". Alternatively try to ascertain any background, any work done in the last 2,000 miles.

1. Coolant/flow problem
If the coolant is not circulating properly (blockage, air lock, failed thermostat, lack of coolant) it does not cool the engine properly. The coolant gets too hot and boils in hotspots, which pushes the coolant out of the expansion tank. Also old coolant is less effective and be more susceptible overheating/boiling. A dodgy cap on the expansion tank can cause coolant to boil prematurely. Thrashing down a motorway puts the cooling system under stress so everything needs to be tip top.

2. Combustion Gas problem
If a cylinder head is cracked or head gasket is leaking, it can allow gases from burning fuel to be forced into a coolant channel. I'm not sure about the exact process that follows (i.e. whether the gas boils the coolant, or prevents the coolant circulating or over-pressurises the cooling system) but it results in coolant squirting out of the expansion tank.

Both end up with water/steam being ejected out of the expansion tank. In (2), the coolant will be contaminated

So if the test identifies combustion gases then you have a cylinder head problem. You may also have, or had, a coolant/flow problem which caused the damage to the head in the first place.
If combustion gases tests negative, the head may have had a lucky escape.
The quality of the coolant can be tested but probably not much good if you've lost all yours.
Various parts of the cooling system can be tested or checked.
Last edited by cmm303 on Fri Feb 19, 2016 4:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: bongo despair :-(

Post by g8dhe » Fri Feb 19, 2016 4:54 pm

With regard to the sleeping arrangements for the downstairs seats see this diagram- righthand side for possibilities!
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Bob
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Re: bongo despair :-(

Post by Bob » Fri Feb 19, 2016 6:38 pm

To sleep downstairs you can make two singles from the front and middle seats.

Move the fronts full forward, remove headrests, recline back. Bring middle seat forward and recline backs.

We use a couple of the foam kneeling mats from Poundland cut to size to fill the 'Dips'. Others have come up with other methods of making this fairly comfy.

This leaves room for changing and a loo behind the middle seat in our unconverted Bongo.
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Re: bongo despair :-(

Post by mountainmummy » Fri Feb 19, 2016 7:36 pm

Hi

Sorry to hear of your problems, can't help with the Techie stuff, but if you're already £4500 in, spending another £1500 and getting a van with a sound cooling system is probably worth it.

With regards to sleeping downstairs, as the guys have said above, all seats fold flat to make a massive (if slightly bumpy) bed.

Good luck

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char
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Re: bongo despair :-(

Post by char » Fri Feb 19, 2016 9:24 pm

teenmal wrote:char , before you start chucking money at this vehicle it would be advisable to contact the Seller in the first instance .

It would also be advisable to have the vehicle Properly tested for the overheating fault (any qualified motor engineer/mechanic) should be able to carry out necessary tests and inspections to confirm whether its a coolant/flow or combustion gas problem .

Good Luck

Sent (what I thought was a polite nice) message to seller earlier. She sent back a rather furious reply and told me not to contact her again regarding this issue!! Didn't expect much more to be honest.

Spoke to the garage earlier and they said they couldn't confirm what the caused the overheating until they'd replaced the gasket.
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Re: bongo despair :-(

Post by char » Fri Feb 19, 2016 9:29 pm

Spoke to Simon again today and I've decided to go with him to get the job done properly. He's been recommended by lots of people and just seems like a nice guy. Think I'm just going to have to go on my gut instinct and hope for best (though I did that re purchasing the vehicle from someone I thought seemed trustworthy, and not sure that was the best plan!)

Hope Bongo will recover soon. I'm missing him.
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Re: bongo despair :-(

Post by char » Fri Feb 19, 2016 9:33 pm

Bob wrote:To sleep downstairs you can make two singles from the front and middle seats.

Move the fronts full forward, remove headrests, recline back. Bring middle seat forward and recline backs.

We use a couple of the foam kneeling mats from Poundland cut to size to fill the 'Dips'. Others have come up with other methods of making this fairly comfy.

This leaves room for changing and a loo behind the middle seat in our unconverted Bongo.

Really? I did try this, but it was so bumpy and uncomfortable. I didn't try the mats though. Could you signpost me to the places people have talked about how to sleep on the seats more comfortably by any chance?
Also - do you leave the seats down as a bed all day or put them up? Where do you chill out /sit down in the van? There's not really a social chill out area with the middle seats left in. I do like the design where you have the makeshift seats facing one another and then can have a little table between. No table or seating area with the middle seats in really. I did try folding back and sitting on those funny little stools, but it wasn't very comfortable. Be great to hear from anyone who has made this work for them!
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Re: bongo despair :-(

Post by Bob » Fri Feb 19, 2016 10:30 pm

Yes, really.
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cmm303
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Re: bongo despair :-(

Post by cmm303 » Fri Feb 19, 2016 11:14 pm

char wrote:Spoke to Simon again today and I've decided to go with him to get the job done properly. He's been recommended by lots of people and just seems like a nice guy. Think I'm just going to have to go on my gut instinct and hope for best (though I did that re purchasing the vehicle from someone I thought seemed trustworthy, and not sure that was the best plan!)

Hope Bongo will recover soon. I'm missing him.
I'm sure that's a good decision. Just make sure you get stuff checked over as suggested in this thread.
It may be a tough intro to the Bongo world but at least you'll have Bongo's biggest vulnerabity sorted.

We use self inflating Thermarests on the seats for sleeping. We sleep on the middle seat and front seats fully reclined which leave some space at the back. If you sleep downstairs then lounging and bedding require shuffling stuff around. Sleep upstairs to retain lounging downstairs.
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Re: bongo despair :-(

Post by mikeonb4c » Sat Feb 20, 2016 12:59 am

By all accounts you should do well with Simon. Hopefully you'll end up with a great companion for many adventures. Sleeping downstairs i take the headrests out of the middle sest and push them babk in back to front to reduce tbe bump there. Alternatively, leave them out and put towels/ clothes in tbe voids. Nights are super comfortable now we use a comfortzleisure memory foam mattress designed to go over the flattened seats. Bulky to carry but there's only 2 of us.
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