a leak? help!

[Barley 1981]

Hi people,
Where I park my Bongo on the road outside I have noticed a few dots on the road, location around mid way between the wheels and centre...not a lot and I have only just started to notice it.
Any ideas, I know it's not coming from the engine area as that would be further forward.
Thanks for reading.

Tanya

[Dabs]

If its drivers side mid it could be from rear heater matrix !! Some metal pipes around there that can corrode !

Dabs

[Barley 1981]

Thanks for that, I will have a look tomorrow morning, I think it is that side more, is this something that needs attention? is it water? and if so why has it stayed on the road and not dried? sorry -I am useless!

[Dabs]

Monitor the situation every day but do have it checked out.It will be coolant if it is the rear heater pipes!
Good luck
Dabs

[missfixit70]

Has your coolant level dropped?

[mikeonb4c]

Not evaporating eh? Might be a diesel leak from the fuel pump/injector. See my thread on cheap fixes if so:

http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... 42&start=0

[Barley 1981]

I have been to my trusty local garage and the nice men had a quick look today before I go away for the weekend to make sure it's nothing to major.
They say it's very small amounts coming from the lowest point, hence being on the middle of the vehicle......they want it in on thursday to steam the engine and locate the leak, so will report back when they fix it.
Thanks for the advice.
Tanya

[mikeonb4c]

I have been to my trusty local garage and the nice men had a quick look today before I go away for the weekend to make sure it's nothing to major.
They say it's very small amounts coming from the lowest point, hence being on the middle of the vehicle......they want it in on thursday to steam the engine and locate the leak, so will report back when they fix it.
Thanks for the advice.
Tanya

Steam the engine? Hmmmmm - be careful there. Not sure but steaming might do more harm than good if they start steaming the wrong bits. But I'm no expert - anyone else on here got a view?

If its a coolant leak, then watch the header tank level like a hawk and carry some spare top up water with you.

[Rhod]

Is the drain for the rear heater air-con not around that point? Kirsty?

[missfixit70]

Still not sure where you mean, but why the hell would they want to steam it? It's easy to check what it is that's leaking if you know what your doing, I'd be wary of this garage TBH.
Check all your levels, it could just be condensate from either front or rear air con, if it's the front, it's approximately midway between the front wheels, if it's the rear it's under the sill about 2/3rds of the way between the drivers side wheels towards the rear.

[Barley 1981]

Thanks for all the comments.....the garage said it is an oil leak that is finding the lowest point to drip from, not much, but a few drops on road....they say to locate the place of leak they were going to clean it,im sure they said steam clean the bottom of engine.....so the oil looks like it comes from behind front wheels in centre but is actually dripping off lowest point which i think is that big cover.
thanks all again.
Tanya

[missfixit70]

Just make sure they don't steam the alternator, personally I'd be happier just wiping it over, or at most a bit of gunk/degreaser & a quick, careful rinse, but as long as they're confident in what they're doing.

[mikeonb4c]

Just make sure they don't steam the alternator, personally I'd be happier just wiping it over, or at most a bit of gunk/degreaser & a quick, careful rinse, but as long as they're confident in what they're doing.

I agree. Gunk is much better I think. I actually gunked mine using a paraffin spray gun and then used the same gun to remove the results. Worked pretty well. Whichever method you use, it is a good idea to give a a little thought about where not to spray more than you have to. I get nervous when I hear a garage talk about steam cleaning an engine, in case they are one of those places that thinks 'looks good' = 'is good', which aint' necessarily so with machinery.

[mick]

I had a similar oil leak, which seemed to get progressively worse. I decided to completely remove that bottom engine cove to have a closer look.

In the end, I discovered the oil filter had worked loose. Now tightened again, and no more leaks. I've left that bottom cover off, by the way.

[francophile1947]

What's the problem with steam cleaning? I've had many old leaky engines steam cleaned with no problems - and they were petrol ones, which started straight away after the steam residue had evaporated. Was I just lucky?