Temp gauge reading with Mason alarm.

[dandywarhol]

Curious thing about the temp gauge position on mine. I fitted a Mason alarm and like all the others the gauge moved from 11 o'clock to 1 o'clock at normal running temperature.
On the way to south Poland/Slovakia the alarm beeped once after a long motorway uphill haul when stopped at a service station and the radiator fans and scavenger fan came on. The ambient temperature was around 34 deg.C

Bottom hose was warm.

Another couple of days of long autobahn driving and things settled down. On the way home, in equally hot weather, the gauge settled at 11 o'clock at all times except on long hills when it climbed to around 1 o'clock.

All the way back to Zeebrugge and still,it sits happily at 11 o'clock nw.

I can only assume the continous all day running at speed and in the heat may have loosened some gunge in the radiator matrix and made the system a bit more efficient........any thoughts?

[waycar8]

i have the same my old bongo it read at 1 o clock from the time i put the masons alarm on and it fluctuated between 2 o clock (hard slog) to 1 o clock at normal driving

my new bongo i put the same masons alarm on and it reads 11 at normal driving then up to 1 to 2 o clock on hard slogs ,

old bongo= 95 n reg 130000, had a brand new rad, collant
new bongo= 97 r reg, 76000, new thermostat and temperature sender, coollant

i was talking to jamie a forum member the other day and we was talking and looking at the different types of coolant and stuff you can put in with the antifreeze such as water wetter ect, that claim to make you coolant system run 10 to 20 degrees lower ect, which got me thinking because i fitted his mason alarm in at the same time and took it for a run, his bongo read the same as my old one in regards to the same readings.

i was talking to the brother in law today who did the service on both bongos and told him that i think something isnt right as to the temperature readings and he couldnt give me an answer as to what could be wrong , i mentioned about the different types of antifreeze temperatures and ne did say that they are using a different brand of antifreeze now

[bigdaddycain]

I have a mason alarm fitted, set at 4.5. Once up to temp,normal type of conditions, i have around 1 o' clock showing on my temp gauge,iif i push it a bit up a long slope on the motorway, it moves a bit further up the scale,on the way back down the slope, it will revert back to the 1 o clock position...

[Rhod]

I don't think it ties in with your symtoms, but I've got an ongoing issue with my Mason alarm which Dave & I are trying to get to the bottom of. Most of the time the temperature guage sits at 1 o'clock & moves up the scale in line with hills etc. Occasionaly however it reverts to 11 o'clock & normal Mazda operation. When it does this, the warning bleeps stop working (unit moved to a location where I can turn the setting down to check this), and the unit emits a faint whine. The change in operation never happens while driving, but only when the engine is switched on - if there is no bleep when ignition is turned to ON then I know that it's reverted to Mazda Mode. Dave suspected a poor earth at the PCB, but I've relocated the earth to the earth point by the steering column & still have the problem. Next step is to check the other two connections at the PCB. If that doesn't solve the problem then we may try swapping the unit. Will post results.
Rhod

[Mike Jill and Emily]

Hi Rhod,

I have the same issue and Dave Mason has been ace with his help and advice. I have tried another unit he sent me and the problem still crops up now and then. I find that if I turn the ign off and back on I can get the unit to work normally so I suspect I have an electrical fault on the Bongo. I have also noticed that I get a funny noise from the coolant alarm when this happens - sort of a weak beep that builds to normal. The only Mods I have done are: Mason and Haydn alarms, white dial set and leisure battery. I need to get some time to play about with a dvm sometime - but time seems to be in short supply at the moment.

Mike

[Doone]

looking at the different types of coolant and stuff you can put in with the antifreeze such as water wetter ect, that claim to make you coolant system run 10 to 20 degrees lower

Our standard (not mason) temperature gauge used to always sit at 11 o'clock. The last time Allan flushed our cooling system, he added a coolant conditioning treatment (one of the products, that claim to do the above). After that, the temperature gauge always sat at 10.30.

[daveblueozzie]

the coolant mix is deffo important, a fellow bongoer (no names) had a new engine /head, not sure but they did not put any coolant in just water, this was found when he had flippas silicon hoses changed, the garage told him its just water, that also explains why his coolant alarm kept going off as well, since the hoses have been done with the correct amount of coolant in he has had no problems with the coolant alarm or the engine running hot.

[waycar8]

I don't think it ties in with your symtoms, but I've got an ongoing issue with my Mason alarm which Dave & I are trying to get to the bottom of. Most of the time the temperature guage sits at 1 o'clock & moves up the scale in line with hills etc. Occasionaly however it reverts to 11 o'clock & normal Mazda operation. When it does this, the warning bleeps stop working (unit moved to a location where I can turn the setting down to check this), and the unit emits a faint whine. The change in operation never happens while driving, but only when the engine is switched on - if there is no bleep when ignition is turned to ON then I know that it's reverted to Mazda Mode. Dave suspected a poor earth at the PCB, but I've relocated the earth to the earth point by the steering column & still have the problem. Next step is to check the other two connections at the PCB. If that doesn't solve the problem then we may try swapping the unit. Will post results.
Rhod

Hi Rhod,

I have the same issue and Dave Mason has been ace with his help and advice. I have tried another unit he sent me and the problem still crops up now and then. I find that if I turn the ign off and back on I can get the unit to work normally so I suspect I have an electrical fault on the Bongo. I have also noticed that I get a funny noise from the coolant alarm when this happens - sort of a weak beep that builds to normal. The only Mods I have done are: Mason and Haydn alarms, white dial set and leisure battery. I need to get some time to play about with a dvm sometime - but time seems to be in short supply at the moment.

Mike

maybe worth writing if your vehicals have any jap tech aftermarket extras such as turbo timers, the light dimmers ect, maybe something to do with that , cant see it personally but you never know

[Aethelric]

Sounds to me like there is a fault in the mason alarm. At 11oclock with a mason system the thermostat would not be open, unless its stuck open of course. That may cause similar symptoms.

Dave

[waycar8]

Sounds to me like there is a fault in the mason alarm. At 11oclock with a mason system the thermostat would not be open, unless its stuck open of course. That may cause similar symptoms.

Dave

my new bongo had a new one fitted (see earlier post) and was tested before putting in to make sure it worked properly, which it did and the bongo has been giving the same mason alarm reading as it did before it was replaced, which is different to the old bongos readings

[Aethelric]

Sounds to me like there is a fault in the mason alarm. At 11oclock with a mason system the thermostat would not be open, unless its stuck open of course. That may cause similar symptoms.

Dave

my new bongo had a new one fitted (see earlier post) and was tested before putting in to make sure it worked properly, which it did and the bongo has been giving the same mason alarm reading as it did before it was replaced, which is different to the old bongos readings

Sorry W, I was replying to Dandy's original post - I should have quoted him.

Dave

[cheffy34]

I'm likimg this thread, the temp gauge on my v6 with the mason stays around 11.30/12 ish can't make my mind up which even though the v6 isn't as prone i decided to fit one cause it a decidingly easier job than the water pump on my puppy which i have doubts about. The only time i get substantial movement on the needle is when in traffic or idling a long time when it goes 2/3 way up. I've got it on a run next month down the m/way be interesting to see what that chucks up, maybe it not compatable with the v6 Anyone else got any results on the v6 with mason, is it just a v6 thing

[karen]

mine always sits at 1 o'clock

except last week went to 2pm just at the top of applecross road - beep'd for about 2 secs then stopped and went back to 1pm

really glad as not a road i would want to break down on - think someone would just push you over side

[Rhod]

Mike Jill and Emily wrote:

I have the same issue and Dave Mason has been ace with his help and advice. I have tried another unit he sent me and the problem still crops up now and then. I find that if I turn the ign off and back on I can get the unit to work normally so I suspect I have an electrical fault on the Bongo. I have also noticed that I get a funny noise from the coolant alarm when this happens - sort of a weak beep that builds to normal. The only Mods I have done are: Mason and Haydn alarms, white dial set and leisure battery. I need to get some time to play about with a dvm sometime - but time seems to be in short supply at the moment.

I haven't noticed any unusual noise from Hadyns alarm relating to the problem with the Mason one, but your experience with turning the ignition off & on sounds identical. I do occasionally get the same kind of rising bleep with Hadyns alarm, but this only seems to happen on my drive, which is on quite a steep slope, so I put it down to a slightly reduced coolant level at the front of the tank. I will keep a closer eye on that one now though & see if there's any correlation between the two issues. I did wonder if the Mason alarm issue is related to the ignition switch itself in some way, although everything else powered via the ignition switch works fine. When I get a chance I'll try to access the switch & see if I can get some contact cleaner in there. The only other modification to the electrics is the coolant alarm - everything else is standard.

One other point of interest. My fuel gauge started doing the usual Bongo under-reading trick a few weeks ago & I cleaned up the connector form the fuel solenoid, which restored normal service. Last week it seemed to be under-reading again when the tank was filled, but since I disturbed & retightened the earth connection beside the steering column it seems to be working normally once more. Maybe just coincidence, but is the dash PCB earthed to this point?
Rhod

[The Great Pretender]

I'm likimg this thread, the temp gauge on my v6 with the mason stays around 11.30/12 ish can't make my mind up which even though the v6 isn't as prone i decided to fit one cause it a decidingly easier job than the water pump on my puppy which i have doubts about. The only time i get substantial movement on the needle is when in traffic or idling a long time when it goes 2/3 way up. I've got it on a run next month down the m/way be interesting to see what that chucks up, maybe it not compatable with the v6 Anyone else got any results on the v6 with mason, is it just a v6 thing

How do you know it dosn't have problems? Its coolant pipes have the same inherent fault as all Bongos