coolant alarm

[Barley 1981]

Hi,
I have hear a few people talk about a mason alarm or a coolant alarm, I don't think I have one on my Bongo and can someone explain what they are, how easy they are to fit yourself, cost and benefits?
My Bongo temp guage never rises very high but I am concious that these things must be worth having if other people in the know have them!
thanks
Tanya

[mikexgough]

I fitted a low coolant alarm soon after I got the bongo and after reading posts on here.
The merit to them is that it can warn you of low coolant before serious damage is done to your engine due to the engine getting too hot due to coolant loss. With the Bongo having 2 heaters and some long pipes as well as a lot of hoses it is a worthwhile investment, especially as some of the heater/cooling system hoses could be quite old.
As for the Mason alarm, I have just fitted one, it removed the "damping" effect of my temperature gauge so it moves past the "11 o'clock" position to just after 12.......the alarm for that has not yet gone off so I must be running at a good temperature.

Both the coolant alarm and the Mason alarm are easy to fit , if you can fit a mains plug then you can fit these alarms...

[Barley 1981]

thanks...where can I buy one from and how much are they? who can fit it too?

[mikexgough]

Mason alarm....... http://www.townace.plus.com/ie/ietemga2.htm

Coolant Alarms..... http://www.enginesaver.com.au/Bongo.html

As for fitting, a local Bongo owner might be able to assist you in fitting the alarms and most garages SHOULD, be able to fit them with no bother.....

[Action Ali-bongo]

I can only too recently hail the pros off the low coolant alarm. Mine flashed up on Friday, i stopped and checked the water level to find it was sat about half way between max and min, so dropped bus down to garage who said my water pump was leaking, pump changed bongo fine no further damage. Cannot recommend one strongly enough.

[widdowson2008]

Fitted a TM-2 (with a BMW clock) in mine recently
See http://www.coolantalarm.co.uk/index.php ... roductId=7 for details and prices.
I chose the TM-2 combo unit, even though its a bit more expensive, because it gives an actual temperature reading of the cylinder head (not the coolant). Its the cylinder head that needs protecting. (I think)
It screams at you when the temperature exceeds a level (which you set yourself - a temperature you are comfortable with)
It also screams when your coolant level in the header tank begins to drop. You have plenty of time to pull over and investigate the problem before it developes into something more serious.
And when I say screams, I mean it - you can have the radio as loud as you like but the scream wins through.
You will find, as I did, that the unit is very easy to fit (with the telephone help of Haydn). I am not very savvy with fitting this sort of thing but was helped by Haydn (supplier) over the 'phone.

Whichever unit you choose, its got to be an investment, and certainly a lot cheaper than a bust engine.

[wanderingscotsman]

If you do fit a mason alarm if you can get one, then don’t be toooo worried if your temp gauge sits higher than the 1 o’clock others talk of. I had one fitted, temperature gauge sits far higher than 1 o’clock so I went into panic mode thinking I had to try and change the thermostat etc….

Just talked through the option of doing some of this with a garage but their temp sensor suggested it was running at a good temperature….so the main difference my mason alarm gives me is actually seeing the needle move (even higher!) but coming down again when the fan kicks in….so it would still give me some warnings if the fan stopped kicking in etc. It did still help though as my last minute checkout by dandywarhol before a big trip did warrant some of my fears – the fan didn’t appear to kick in initially and I’d never have noticed that before fitting a mason alarm (and I’m sure it helped my trip go smoothly with all the alpine passes I went over!).