Coolant alarm sounding while not running ?

[mayk19]

Hi Can anyone help with this, I have a coolant alarm fitted. The Bongo has been stored inside for the winter, I've started it periodically to keep it in check and all was well. Recently when I've turned it over the coolant alarm sounds - at first a constant noise and then stuttery. I think its done this before and then after 10 mins stopped sounding but doesnt now.
The main issue at moment is that even when the engine is switched off, buy key in ignition and turned to switch on the electrics, the alarm is sounding. YES I HAVE CHECKED THE WATER LEVEL ! and its good. Do you think something could build up on the end of the screws in the water tank to stop the signal working ?

thanks for help.

[g8dhe]

I suspect Haydn will be along soon, but it sounds like your battery might be rather low, have you take it out for a (very) good run to charge the battery or stick the battery on a charger for 24 hours.

[Trouble at t'Mill]

Most likely is the connection between the spade terminals and the screws in the tank.

Or any other bullet connector in the line.

[mayk19]

ahhh, that could be it. The bongo has been laid up for several months.

Cheers.

[haydn callow]

Ah !! laid up......as I said in my email to you .....check the voltage at the battery,,,,,low battery can "alert" the alarm.
Give it a good charge and check the voltage with engine running. I would have thought that if you started it o.k. it should be o.k.
Send me your phone No and I will be in touch.
Haydn @ Brookerswood wedding bash.

[mayk19]

Cheers haydn, Will give you a call later next week. Bongo is at work in the warehouse and I'm on bussiness abroad until the end of the week.. Cheers.

[mayk19]

hey Haydn, massive thanks for working though the issue, was minor in the end, the longer screws you sent were spot on and its all working now.

Cheers,

[haydn callow]

If ther symptoms come back in a few weeks then I would suggest that all is not as it should be in the coolant department.......The sensor screws should not get "coated" if all is well...many Bongos have now had them fitted for 2 years and still fine ..even though some are laid up in the winter.
The last one we had with the same problem turned out to be some sort of "red" slime that had been added to the coolant at some stage and this had coated the whole of the internal of the cooling system....Mega flushing did not get rid of it....changing the sensors for new ones again fixed it but for how long ???

[mayk19]

thanks Haydn. Looks like the inside of my tank has had an overheating issue before I purchased the Bongo. Its all brown inside. The coolant has been changed several times since then with new Anti freeze etc. I think the garage may have put Radweld or simular in at one point after I had a leek on a metal tube from the Turbo, since then its been emptied and filled (without sealant) as I've replaced pretty much all the hoses in the system with new ones. I'm thinking of getting the tank changed as well if you can buy new ones.

ta.

[haydn callow]

It's the radweld that will be the problem...it lurks about forever, flushing helps but you will never get rid of it....Now you have a working alarm the dirty tank is not relivent as the alarm will let you know if the level drops

[mayk19]

ahh, cheers, thanks for that Haydn.

[Doone]

Looks like the inside of my tank has had an overheating issue before I purchased the Bongo. Its all brown inside.

It's a good indicator, but they can overheat and not go brown (which is not relevant to your battery problem, but worth mentioning so we are all aware of this. ) Our bongo recently had a major overheating episode and the expansion bottle is the same as it was, pale yellow, not brown.
We believe it was it's second overheating episode - the previous one happened before we bought it. As we suspected, it had weakened the head/head gasket resulting in the major problem we had, as often happens.

[mayk19]

mmm, never thought of that. If I've had a problem before I bought it, that the gasket could be weakend.