Coolant trails through Albania!

[helen&tony]

Hi
I'm sure there will be a happy ending on this one...don't let it spoil the moment
Cheers
Helen

[Cian]

Hi folks,

Thanks for all your imput; I'm well impressed with the speed and volume of your responses!

A few answers to your ponderings. We haven't been topping up with water (well, just once a month ago to get the van to a garage after the first leak was noticed). Since then, we've been topping up from a 5 litre tub of the same coolant fluid the garage used. It specifically advises against mixing with water.

Now, after a few thousand kilometres, we only have about a litre of that stuff left. We have a new tub of coolant that acts the same, without mixing in water, and says it can be mixed in with any other similiar type of coolant. It sounds like we could continue our topping up with this one.
What do you guys think?

Also, last time I checked, the coolant levels hadn't dropped during our last drive. It seems that most of the time it only leaks slowly (one or two cupfuls) or not at all but sometimes it does its best to regurgitate its entire contents (the aforementioned 750ml+ missing after our mountain stage).

I plan on having a good examination of the tubes and hoses shortly, and am familiarising myself with the 'Bleeding the Bongo' videos, but our current location (keeping rather discreet in a carpark in the heart of Sarande, an Albania town) does not really facilitate exploratory mechanics.

Regards and thanks from us both!
Cian and Marie

[widdowson2008]

Also, last time I checked, the coolant levels hadn't dropped during our last drive. It seems that most of the time it only leaks slowly (one or two cupfuls) or not at all but sometimes it does its best to regurgitate its entire contents (the aforementioned 750ml+ missing after our mountain stage).

Hi Cian (I'm assuming it's you who is dealing with this. Sorry to other half if I got this wrong).
From the above, it may be a very simple (and cheap) fix providing no damage has already been done.
Check the expansion tank - you may have a faulty cap.
From what you say,
- under normal driving conditions you have little coolant loss. This suggests a minor leak which should be identified AND rectified as soo as possible (cos it can only get worse).
- when the engine is put under load (going up mountains) the coolant gets hotter and the system pressure increases. If you have a faulty expansion tank cap which relieves at a pressure lower than 1.1bar, then coolant will escape. (The cap should be rated at 1.1bar.) If this has happened you will see evidence of the leak just below the expansion tank.

May be totally wrong here but it is certainly worth a look.

[Ian]

If it is the expansion cap, then we can send one to you, even in Albania, 2 to 3 working days delivery time.

[mikeonb4c]

If it is the expansion cap, then we can send one to you, even in Albania, 2 to 3 working days delivery time.

Probably worth the relatively small £ to do it, even if it doesn't cure the problem (and I was starting to think along the same lines as Steve).

but sometimes it does its best to regurgitate its entire contents (the aforementioned 750ml+ missing after our mountain stage).

If it is seriously 'vomiting' coolant immediately upon engine stop and after a stressing run, then I always wonder where there is some inadequacy in the cooling system. This could be inefficient water pump, radiator, thermostat (not opening properly), or fans not coming on. The temp in the system overshoots (I imagine) upon engine stop, taking the coolant over boiling point, and causing volcanic eruption. Is a temporary cure (or at least palliative) to find a way of making the rad. fans come on at your command, and not just the temp sensors (which may in any case not be doing their job properly).

Any techies got thoughts on that?

[helen&tony]

Hi
If it's regurgitating the contents rather than leaking, it sure sounds like head gasket/ head...I think it needs recovering to somewhere where they can handle the job
Cheers
Helen

[scanner]

If it is really hot after a hard run DO NOT turn the engine off, just let it idle as that continues to circulate the coolant and stops it boiling due to "heat soak".
Leave the engine idling until it has cooled down a bit - in fact, a lot.
Just turning off after a hard run isn't good for the turbo either.

Turning the engine off when it is very hot after a hard run is one of the worst things you can do.

[mikeonb4c]

Hi
If it's regurgitating the contents rather than leaking, it sure sounds like head gasket/ head...I think it needs recovering to somewhere where they can handle the job
Cheers
Helen

Woa - steady now Helen! It's never (as far as I can recall) been ruled out that thermal lag could not cause a coolant boil post engine stop if the engine has been working very hard and the cooling system is not performing properly (this is also exactly where a poor header tank cap might show its weakness by not holding coolant at 100+ degrees under pressure adequately). Are we saying that there is no such phenomenon? Also, if were suggesting it was a bust gasket allowing cylinder gas pressurisation of the system, wouldn't we see it causing a volcano effect on all runs and not just mountain ones. Interesting too that in mountains (i.e. at high altitudes) the pressure differential from tank to ambient will be greater due to lower atmospheric pressure, so cap might leak/blow more readily (though its hard ot see that the magnitude of the differential would be of the right order to make a difference). I'm no expert on all this, but I feel the questions need asking. Don't want to cause panic unnecessarily etc. It might just be a faulty header tank cap, when all is said and done.

PS - scanners advice seems very sensible.

[helen&tony]

Hi
Mike...in nearly every case of throwing out water i've read on here, it's head or gasket...many Bongos have encountered mountains without heating...or nobody would buy one...It needs some serious checking in this case...It could even be a crack in the aged header tank blowing water out the bottom. It could be a radiator leak as I described...BUT...I wouldn't use it until it's had a good looking at.
Scanner's advice is most definitely right..always cool the turbo...one exception...if it's blowing water out the tank...then it's just pot luck...head or turbo kaput...
Heat soak...From my sensor readings, it continues to heat for 10- 15 minutes after leaving, and soon after that , it cools off...How do I know?...half a dozen gauges, time logged on sheet after sheet of results, and indicators showing when the fans work...and never over 100 degrees , even in 40+ degrees C...
Mountains?...I've only done Switzerland, France, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria...AND towing a caravan
Cheers
Helen

[mikeonb4c]

Hi
Mike...in nearly every case of throwing out water i've read on here, it's head or gasket...many Bongos have encountered mountains without heating...or nobody would buy one...

Yup, agree with all that. But we are of course discussing a sick Bongo here, and trying to work out what might be causing it. The thermal lag thing is just a theory of mine, as I remember reading about one or two Bongos spewing out coolant shortly after engine-off for no obvious reason, and the question was why. One explanation could be that they were running v. hot (but not critically so) before engine stop, and the loss of any cooling plus heat build up in the upturned dome of the engine compartment, and the wave of heat passing out from hot spots in the engine block, could have caused localised boiling of coolant. But its only a theory (unless anyone can confirm this is known to happen).

[helen&tony]

Hi
Mike...
It's all guesswork until you can see it in the flesh...If Mr. & Mrs. Cian (good luck to them)...have no Bongo expertise and a lack of tools, I'd hate to see a local garage fiddle with their investment!...It might be saved if they could get it home...
In some of the Balkan Countries, you can find a mechanic who will fix anything...but it's pretty rare...and I'm afraid it's pot luck...but there again there are plenty of bodgers anywhere. Just guessing, but I favour a radiator leak, an air lock and an overheat....Head / gasket may be a problem, BUT....if it's serious, what about some Steel Seal to get them closer to home!
Cheers
Helen

[mikeonb4c]

BUT....if it's serious, what about some Steel Seal to get them closer to home!
Helen

Well I wondered about that, and raised it in an earlier post, though Radweld was the one I was thinking of (for radiators rather than a cracked head or whatever though can Steelseal be used for either?). But noone else has expressed a view

[helen&tony]

Hi
Mike...
I wouldn't recommend using anything like a "fix in a bottle" for a suspected head or gasket...it just won't work in the long run...and , by 'eck , it's a long run home. If they have rescue, then get it back to UK...OR...shipped to Italy...closer than UK, and plenty of competent engineers...BUT...steel seal might get them closer to home.
It MAY NOT be that serious, but risking such a long journey home would be just that...a risk
If a pipe next to the radiator, (as suggested in the first post) had leaked, resulted in an airlock, and it eventually got shifted out of the head, where it is likely to settle, and it released with a violent expulsion of coolant, they MAY just have been lucky, but we can only hope
Cheers
Helen

[haydn callow]

PM me a forwarding address and I will send you a Low Coolant Alarm as a wedding present........any garage can fit one in 40 mins and it may help untill you fix the leak and be insurance after.

Have a nice honymoon

[mikeonb4c]

PM me a forwarding address and I will send you a Low Coolant Alarm as a wedding present........any garage can fit one in 40 mins and it may help untill you fix the leak and be insurance after.

Have a nice honymoon

Nice idea