High Mason Gauge reading

[jaylee]

mines sits at 70 most of the time, downhill it drops to 50 when theres no engine loading.however i have got a large area on the rad thats cold so im putting a new one in this weekend to see if it drops down as towing the caravan causes it to sit a lot round the 90 mark which is too high for me.

Dreamwarrior.. Check this.. (my post & the reply under it.) Thought it may be relevant..? http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... t=radiator

[daveblueozzie]

going off the gauge mine is about 75 to 80,(which does go nearly to the red when pulling my little caravan up steep hills) and that's why in the next couple of weeks putting new stat in and radiator flush.

[dreamwarrioruk]

jay,
my radiator is cold at the sides and that was after a 100 mile run towing the caravan so its pretty much blocked up, only using around 75% at a guess. i have had a problem earlier this year with it at a bongo meet where the mason bleeped its head off and i had no coolant left after it.
what im trying to guess is that when the engine overheats the pump is trying to shove hot water through a restricted radiator causing a pressure build up somewhere. ive no external leaks( uv dye in), had the system pressure tested (not gas tested yet) but everything was ok, ive no steam out of the exhaust but when it heats up i loose the coolant so could it be coming out of the expansion vessel pressure cap. no evidence of that either.
new stat going in and radiator.
sorry for a bit of a thread hijac.

[jaylee]

jay,
my radiator is cold at the sides and that was after a 100 mile run towing the caravan so its pretty much blocked up, only using around 75% at a guess. i have had a problem earlier this year with it at a bongo meet where the mason bleeped its head off and i had no coolant left after it.
what im trying to guess is that when the engine overheats the pump is trying to shove hot water through a restricted radiator causing a pressure build up somewhere. ive no external leaks( uv dye in), had the system pressure tested (not gas tested yet) but everything was ok, ive no steam out of the exhaust but when it heats up i loose the coolant so could it be coming out of the expansion vessel pressure cap. no evidence of that either.
new stat going in and radiator.
sorry for a bit of a thread hijac.

Ahh, i see! The thread diversion fault is all mine... Good luck with yer rad & stat fit, & let us know how you got on...

[mister munkey]

Mine sits at 60% pretty much all the time. Highest I've seen it climb was about 80, that was fully loaded & dragging a trailer over the steep & winding road to Applecross.

[Dave Mason]

Thanks for these initial ten responses. I've taken the liberty of tabulating them below and repeating the image as a reminder of what they mean. Given that they are rough estimates taken in difficult circumstances they are remarkably consistent. Some variation will be due to driving style and some due to the condition of the cooling system. So on the basis of these initial results I'm pleased that the Bongo Mason Alarm is delivering what it's supposed to - it's making good use of the right-hand half of the gauge to show variation of the engine/head/coolant temperature and with it fitted the real "danger zone" appears to begin, sensibly, where the curved line ends (at 90%) - though I cannot claim this to be anything other than a happy coincidence (not so happy if your gauge gets there).

I know it's a bit disconcerting driving with your temp gauge reading so high, but it's only a gauge. When the car was young the car was in tip-top condition and the driver was reassured to see the pointer in the conventional position just below he middle. For the M-alarm to properly sensitise the gauge and still have "normal" near the middle would have destroyed the simplicity of fitting it - because the wire to the sensor would have to be disconnected from the gauge/panel and become a fourth connection into the M-alarm.

I'm interested that some owners refer to it going into "the red". Do some gauges actually have a red zone? This may mean there is a different version of the gauge.

The other question is whether any M-alarm customers having driven for 1000 miles or so with the gauge above 90% - which would suggest their engine is fine in that condition and it is the gauge behaves differently, and they might benefit from a different, "Lite" version of the M-alarm.

Results........
55-80% missfixit70
55-75% bigdaddycain
55-80% mikexgough
70-85% telemalc
70-85% nfn
70-75% dobby (With new head, rad and hoses)
60-85% jaylee (90% when top hose went)
50-70% dreamwarrioruk (worrying 90% with caravan and suspect radiator)
75-80% daveblueozzie
60-80% mister munkey

[dobby]

I've just done a few short runs today and it stayed closer to the 50% mark. The extra temp gauge I've fitted to a sensor at the back of the block was showing 85 deg.

Before the new head and rad etc. it often moved up to the 90% mark. I strongly suspect that the rad previously was blocked and it was running too hot.

[jaylee]

I'm interested that some owners refer to it going into "the red". Do some gauges actually have a red zone? This may mean there is a different version of the gauge.

The other question is whether any M-alarm customers having driven for 1000 miles or so with the gauge above 90% - which would suggest their engine is fine in that condition and it is the gauge behaves differently, and they might benefit from a different, "Lite" version of the M-alarm.

Dave, some Bongo owners have a white dial kit fitted, which is a carbon copy of the original..
Daveblueozzy, Bigdaddycain & i think Mikexgough have em fitted too!
I fitted mine about two years ago?, along with your alarm to my N reg 4X4 tintop!
My reference to the red or "hot box" is just that.. (plipping at 90, & going mental at the leading edge of the box when the top hose went.)

My van has done countless trips to Germany & Holland, plus the Poland trip & the North Italy thing,
& just come back from Switzerland gigging loaded up in all seasons. All at the 85 mark with no worries about that from my point.
I have recently noticed (& i'm not one to have the heat on full, even in winter) that the normal running temp on the gauge will drop by about 5% if the heats on..

Hope this helps!

[dreamwarrioruk]

changed the rad and stat today.stripped the old one down which was very blocked up
wa only around 60% of the cores clear
now the mason reads a steady 55' and even straining the engine it only got up to 80 before the fans kicked in and the temp dropped like a stone
thermostats on a 4wd are a pain in the a**re
when bleeding i noticed a bulging hose so thats getting changed when ian delivers it
time will tell when i get some shed dragging in but it looks promising so far