prevention better than cure?

Technical questions and answers about the Mazda Bongo

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mikeonb4c
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Re: prevention better than cure?

Post by mikeonb4c » Wed Dec 23, 2009 9:53 am

falcoron wrote:Now working and showing far more than i thought! =D>
hope its not stuck in the half full position :(
When i got her i put in £60 which filled her to the neck, did 500km on the way home.
put £20 in her on Saturday and did a lot of running around, then put £20 in on Monday morning to see me to and fro work. There is now 700km on her and she is showing half full, Hope its correct. [-o<
Cor - that sounds like one of those maths questions they give you at school :lol:

If the fuel was £1.08 per litre then on the figures you've given, it would work out at almost 22mpg, which sounds quite feasible. My 2WD has v. rarely given 34mpg on a run, more commonly 30-32mpg. Around town, on short runs, in this weather, it is probably doing about 21mpg tops. The 4WD Bongo is usually 2-4mpg down on the 2WD (....awaits howls of protest from 4WD owners).

The fuel consumption of the 2WD scores massively over the 4WD in this weather as the former stays parked outside your house while the 4WD is being driven (....awaits howls of protest from 2WD owners) :lol: :lol: :lol:
falcoron

Re: prevention better than cure?

Post by falcoron » Mon Dec 28, 2009 10:34 am

LOL,
Never a strong point, maths.
Now nearly 1000km on the clock and still on the original £100's worth of fuel first 500 was all motorway cruising at 70mph or so. rest is running all over the place for Christmas, all short runs and to and from work (10 miles each way) just hovering above the E mark now and will refill today, so not sure what mileage im getting overall but quite good for a big motor i would have thought.

One more thing, I dont fancy doing the drain and refill bleed thing just yet ( till i get used to the car) just wondered can i top up the antifreeze with some fresh stuff without getting air into the system?
Can i drain slowly somewhere and top up with neat antifreeze and let the mixing comence in the system?
Thanks
Ron
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mikexgough
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Re: prevention better than cure?

Post by mikexgough » Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:00 am

to check your mpg use the the Bongo calculator in the members area..... free to access in December... :D ...
You enter the figures Km/Miles plus your amount of fuel .......into the boxes press the button and voila your mpg is given.....
Just make sure you brim the tank and then after another brimmed tank..............apply the figures.......
Just had a new diesel pump on my Bongo as the other was breaking up internally and dumped metal swarf in the injectors....
Last calculation for my 4wd on mixed running (1/3 m way.....the rest in town and between towns) 29.77 mpg... :D ...
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mikeonb4c
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Re: prevention better than cure?

Post by mikeonb4c » Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:19 am

mikexgough wrote:to check your mpg use the the Bongo calculator in the members area..... free to access in December... :D ...
You enter the figures Km/Miles plus your amount of fuel .......into the boxes press the button and voila your mpg is given.....
Just make sure you brim the tank and then after another brimmed tank..............apply the figures.......
Just had a new diesel pump on my Bongo as the other was breaking up internally and dumped metal swarf in the injectors....
Last calculation for my 4wd on mixed running (1/3 m way.....the rest in town and between towns) 29.77 mpg... :D ...
That's a remarkably good figure Mike, even allowing for your part of the world where (I'm guessing) landscape is pretty flat and you can get good runs in top gear at around 50mph between towns. I wonder what the official Mazda figures are for the Bongo - maybe there are a lot of v. poor mpg Bongos about amongst our membership. :?

On the anti-freeze top up thing falcoron, can you clarify what you have in mind. Do you mean topping up with pure anti-freeze? Also, I assume you are saying the Bongo doesn't need top ups as its not losing any coolant, so you want to drain a bit off to make space for the stuff you are adding. There's been a similar discussion involving adding Motormax coolant enhancer to the system. The method used by other people has been to syphon some out of the header tank (but don't go below the level of the rubber hose points on the tank), and then replenishing. You then have to run the engine for a while (normal running around) to get the stuff in the header tank to mix. I personally would try a method involving draining from the radiator draincock, as I think it is simpler, but you'd be on your own if you tried that. 8)
falcoron

Re: prevention better than cure?

Post by falcoron » Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:50 am

Yes just to make sure the antifreeze is ok for this cold snap. I dont know when or with what its been done with.
Not losing any water or overheating or stuff like that, just wanted to make sure for peace of mind that it wont freeze up some night. What is the recommended antifreeze for these anyway?
Cheers
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Re: prevention better than cure?

Post by missfixit70 » Mon Dec 28, 2009 12:59 pm

It all depends what's already in there, you don't want to be mixing coolant, it can be disastrous, as discussed frequently on here. If you're not sure what's in there, to be honest, the only way of knowing isd to drain, flush fully & refill. May be worth checking the strength, it may be alright, but if it hasn't been changed in the last couple of years, it'll need changing anyway, it's not just the antifreeze properties you need to worry about, but the anti-corrosion too.
Here's one recent/ongoing thread that may help - http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... it=coolant
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falcoron

Re: prevention better than cure?

Post by falcoron » Mon Dec 28, 2009 1:45 pm

Thanks Kirsty,
I was trawling through all the old coolant posts and to be honest it was -4 here last night and no frozen hoses or ice in the tank so i guess its fine. as you stated before;
"if its not broke" ect ect Think i'll leave it for now and do in the spring before any serious travelling commences. Thanks everyone who answered.
Have a nice Christmas ( what's left ) and a happy new year.
Ron
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