Vacuum Bleeding

[dave_aber]

I'm happy to lend out my kit to anyone local to Elgin - and lend a hand if required. Of course, you need a compressor too.

[dave_aber]

Dave-aber - I was going to say why didn't you give me a shout so I could pop round and watch you do it, thinking you was up the road from me in Aberdare = did not realise you was in blinking Elgin !!!! That would have been quite some run for me.....

Aye, that would be a bit of a trek to see some coolant!

[Alacrity]

Well, I went and bought the kit and used it at the start of the week. Swapped the rad and the stat. Reconnected / resealed everything, and used the vac filling kit (It isn't really accurate to call it a vac bleed kit, as it doesn't bleed anything).

So, first of all I had a concern that the kit standard bung was too big to fit the Bongo tank. It isn't. Fits in fine. You do have to block off the overflow pipe though.

So, pumped it down to a good vacuum, and left it for 10 mins. No leaks. Then swapped the venturi block for a filling pipe which I'd sucked concentrated coolant up almost to the top. Open the valve, and in went 5 litres of coolant. Topped up the new coolant bottle with a further litre before it got too low (don't want to suck air in!).

Then added approx. 5 or 6 litres of water to the bottle, whilst the van was sucking in the last of the concentrated coolant. It took around 11-12 litres in total, so obviously some of the old stuff was left behind. I think I'll do another drain / refill soon to make sure I don't have any "mixed coolants" issues.

Ran the engine, and within a couple of mins both heaters were blowing warm. Once the (modified) gauge started to move, both were blowing hot. So far, so good. 10 - 20 mins or so of revving and idling, and the stat opened, bottom hose properly hot too.

Had to go out, so left it at that for the night. Next morning - coolant level fine. Ran up to over 82° with no issues, both heaters and the bottom hose plenty hot.

Went for a wee spin on the road, and everything behaved. Since then it's done a 400 mile round trip to Edinburgh.

So to answer my initial questions - Yes, it can be done, and without further bleeding. And the kits yo can get do fit a Bongo.

Of course, the usual disclaimers apply - The cost of failure with the Bongo cooling system is very high, so I can only pass on the fact that it worked for me. This can't be taken as a recommendation that vac filling is right for you, or in any way 'better' than the tried & tested see-saw method as well documented. For me I'd struggle to find one willing assistant most of the time, never mind 2 so it was simply more convenient for me to be able to just get on with it on my own.