Urgent help needed, possible head gasket or worse problem

[Mcrdave]

Hi all,

If anyone has any advice what to do right now I'd be eternally grateful.

We're in France on holiday camping, the van started to overheat so pulled over on motorway, got towed and took to garage, they fixed a split pipe but now they are saying in broken english the head gasket has gone ie no compression.

So in summary we've had to come to a hotel, leave the van at the garage and decide what to do from here.

I'm panicking here, this is the worst case scenario, we're completely stuck right now. We have 4 days left of our holiday.

thanks in adavnce

Dave

[turbodave]

Hi, Sorry to hear about your issue! Do you have any recovery in place or will your insurance sort you out. If you don't have either of these things you will have to either pay for your vehicle to be towed to the UK or get the parts delivered and someone wait with the vehicle. Expensive!! There are liquid products that may temporarily fix the gasket, but possibly cause longer term damage. Good Luck! Dave.ps..http://www.mazdabongo.com/catalog/?cId=89 This link is for AVA leisure who delivered stuff to me in France last year very efficiently..highly recommended!!!

[Northern Bongolow]

show them the 3 bleed vids on youtube, they possibly are not bleeding it correctly so are assuming----.

[Mcrdave]

Thankyou guys, my post was a result of a bit of a blind panic so now I'm thinking straight, I have a bit of a plan.

I rang Adrian at Japan Direct because the garage here in France assumed it was the head gasket that was gone but I know from reading on here that it's 9 times out of 10 the cylinder head.

So now the garage is closed, the van is there, we (gf and I) are at a hotel fairly near by. Plus we have our cover with ADAC which hopefully should mean that we can get a hire car and the van recovered. I would rather try and deal with it back home than struggle to translate the problem here.

ADAC have been good so far, tomorrow they are going to call and start the ball rolling to getting us back on the road.

On the plus side, the hotel is pleasant enough and had steak for tea.

Will report back tomorrow all being well.

[Mcrdave]

A slightly delayed update from me.

We made it home, but the van didn't.

It should (fingers crossed) be making it's way back on a transporter from mid France, no idea of time scale yet. I'm going to ring ADAC tomorrow for an update.

It's been a very stressful 3 days or so, this was the start of the problem, see the pin hole circled in blue, thats the T-junction on the coolant pipe, rusted through:


I didn't have an alarm but pulled over as soon as i saw the gauge rise but in the 30+ degree heat it can't have been very long before the head went.

The french garage were really helpful they re-welded the pipework and things were looking up until they did a compression test and in broken english explained what they thought was the problem and I instantly knew the outcome.

So after 2 hire cars, a ferry and a lot of waiting around we made it home. ADAC are hopefully going to cover the costs and transport the bongo home. There was a half day of waiting to find out whether they were going to do anything at all. The best possible outcome for us was this as we didn't want it repaired in france with inexperienced mechanics (albeit really keen guys). So it's going straight to Adrian at Japan Direct hopefully.

A couple more pics, the Gendarmerie, helped us at the side of the road. My gf's face says it all!


The last I saw of the van, up on the ramp in the garage:


So will update on the progress and hopefully more positive news once bongo returns home.

[the laird]

Good luck mate

[mikeonb4c]

Really bad luck and of course you'll fit a coolant alarm for next time

I assume yr North West based if you're taking it to Adrian? He's very good and if you ask him, i'm sure he'll give you his view on any other parts looking tired. I have to remind myself my old Bongo is 18 years old and needs careful watching for wear and tear.

[Mcrdave]

Yeah Mike, I certainly am taking it to Adrian. Have been told by ADAC that it will be a minimum of 3 weeks, that can't come soon enough.

Yep, a coolant alarm will definitely be fitted too.

I have been looking on bongobits for replacement coolant pipe work, I want piece of mind that it won't happen again.

[mikeonb4c]

Yeah Mike, I certainly am taking it to Adrian. Have been told by ADAC that it will be a minimum of 3 weeks, that can't come soon enough.

Yep, a coolant alarm will definitely be fitted too.

I have been looking on bongobits for replacement coolant pipe work, I want piece of mind that it won't happen again.

Adrian got me replacement shockers at same price as I'd have got them myself. I get the impression he can get most things so could be worth checking with him. Even with the best efforts cars (especially ageing ones) are a bill waiting to happen. I'm budgeting money to one side in case mine decides to remind me it is old!