my coolant is making me go bongo!

[mikeonb4c]

And safety glasses.

Worth refering to 'Little Johny Head in a Bongo'.

Not to mention that other miscreant - Shock Heater

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struwwelpeter

Woops i just did!

[fordmill]

Hi Ada, Where did you get the funnel from as I am having the same issue?

Thanks

[Bob]

What you need is a funnel with a smooth outside to the spout bit.

Lots have ribs on to allow air to exit when filling, say, a bottle.

What you want is a tight fit in the tube.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WScEJKNMdgI

The blonde one was married to Pete Waterman.

[Northern Bongolow]

The dark haired one was me.
I always wanted to be a backing singer, flicking my bits about. The old male soul groups were the best.

[Bob]

The one on the drums or the dancer?

[teenmal]

Hi Guys,

I recently purchased a 1996 bongo, it's old but its a lovely vehicle. I've just completed a 2300km trip to and around Scotland from Cornwall and I have had some strange coolant issues I am hoping someone might be able to help with. fyi it has a low coolant alarm.

So firstly, the bongo looses coolant. I know that because on cold days after the engine hasn't run for a few hours the coolant level drops in the expansion tank and the alarm starts. This is the first thing i don't understand. Why not on a hot day during use?!

Anyway, due to being in remote places I have had to top up with regular water quite often. on one short (3mile) drive we parked up for a cuppa and i noticed loads of coolant dripping out of the bottom left corner of the radiator. checked all over and couldnt see a leak. Assumed it was from behind a fan but it definitely was not the coolant tank. topped up with water, drove around for at least 50 miles and no leak after...

On our 12 hour drive back to Cornwall, around Manchester, we encountered the inevitable traffic jam, after a while of stop starts i saw steam coming from the front bonnet! oh no, engine is cooked i thought, but luckily it was at that moment we started moving again. drove to next services (5 miles ish) and there was evidence of water spraying out, but no leak visible and topped up coolant tanks and all way good. by rights the engine should have been toast! but still cruising along happily...

Drove all the way back and the last 5 miles the temperature gauge started fluctuating, going from 11 o'clock to cold and back... and still no visible leak. radiator is still full. expansion tank not so much...

Does anyone know what on earth is going on?

As a matter of interest did your coolant alarm warn you that the coolant was Low.

[mikeonb4c]

Hi teenmal. The OP wrote

So firstly, the bongo looses coolant. I know that because on cold days after the engine hasn't run for a few hours the coolant level drops in the expansion tank and the alarm starts. This is the first thing i don't understand. Why not on a hot day during use?!

So it looks like the LCA has at some point done its job. Later on the OP writes about steam from header tank, suggesting coolant could be boiling. I think this is a situation where a low coolant alarm may not detect level drop (maybe since boiling coolant is causing wetness throughout the header tank, masking the true situation?). Mind you, it seems to me its hardly needed by then as the 'steam alarm' has kicked in.

All this happened back in August so I'd hope by now the OP has managed to get the problem sorted.

[fordmill]

I had a similar issue, I found that the radiator cap was tired and was letting water drain from the leak off when parked up after use. Might be worth a cheap try?