aghh water leek

[mayk19]

Just took my Bongo for a spin, parked up back at home and noticed water dripping onto the drive... Opened up the engine and there is a tiny jet of water leaking from a tiny hole in a metal pip just underneath the large Turbo plastic pipe.... Would Rad weld or simular fix this..
I'm gutted supposed to be going away in him this weekend.... not sure if it will make it to the garage to have it looked at

[francophile1947]

It may work as a temporary measure, but Bongo heating systems seem a little prone to blocking anyway, so not a particularly good idea - how far are you going and have you got a coolant alarm fitted?

[apole]

Hi,

I'd refrain from using radweld if possible. Best bet is to get the pipe changed and whilst you are at it check all the others too. Metail pipe will probably have to be a breakers job and remember they can rust from inside as well as outside so you may not easily be able to spot a problem.

Good news is you know there's a problem without having cooked your engine first.

Andy

[mayk19]

no coolant alarm fitted, got to go about 20 miles. At the moment Gaffer tape is stopping it shooting out !

[mayk19]

This is a tiny diameter pipe, would a garage be able to weld it ?

[francophile1947]

This is a tiny diameter pipe, would a garage be able to weld it ?

Probably a better idea than Radweld but, if the pipe is thin, it may not weld easily.
As you're only going such a short distance, try putting something like Leak-Fix around it and reinforce it with tape (it got me back from the South of France once ).
You've been very lucky to spot your leak - £80 for a low coolant alarm may seem a lot, but think how much it could have cost you if you were travelling on a long trip

[mikeonb4c]

I tend to agree with Franco. Some suitable bandage concsisting of tape and suitable glue ought to get you through with luck (I've used things like nylon smeared through with 5 minute araldite then wrapped in an overlap around the pipe with good result - allow sufficient time to harden as aral dite softens with heat). But as franco says, this kind of experiment is so much easier if you have a low coolant alarm to warn you if the repair has failed.

Good luck anyhows. A blithering nuisance but at least it was spotted before the dreaded meltdown thingie

[bigdaddycain]

As apole rightly mentioned,the pipe can corrode from the inside, (chances are it did just that), if that's the case, this pipe could be the tip of the iceberg...The reason it corroded needs to be addressed. Was the coolant strength/age/condition up to the job? The rust inhibitors in the coolant need to be in the correct ratio with the water to be fully effective.

[mayk19]

thanks for all your tips... Got the bongo loaded with Water, hopefully make it to the garage tomorrow.
Good point on checking whats going on whith that engine... come on scooby you can make it !

[lizard]

Bit of luck there

[mayk19]

coolant alarm on order...

[dobby]

Hopefully not too late but a good temp fix is to cut a piece of rubber hose to fit over and around the leak and then undo completely a jubilee clip and then screw it on to hold the piece of rubber hose in place - a saddle repair.

Best of luck!!

[mayk19]

made it to the garage !! yehaa !

[mayk19]

Scoobys back and all ready to roll They cut part of the metal pipe off and replaced the rubber one with a longer pipe, looks like a great job when I checked it..... Good proper old fashioned engineers at my local garage
He said, as someone said above, that at some point there was no - or very little - anti freeze in the system and the pipes have caroded inside. He's put an addative inside that should prevent the smaller holes opening up..not radweld but something else.

Think I'm going to price up replacing all the pipes on the engine to be sure.

thanks for support / help all.

[bigdaddycain]

Glad its sorted simon..just out of curiosity, is it possible for you to see the level of coolant in the header/expansion/de-gassing tank without removing the cap and peering inside?

I have noticed that a lot of bongo's with coolant problems, especially bad/none antifreeze related issues, have a brown/orange discolouration of the plastic tank,making judgement of the level difficult.