Urgent advice required - temp gauge very high in France

[Northern Bongolow]

i would leave the stat till you get home unless you have to drain the system and make a repair, then you could have a peep.

theres this one, lower opening temp. never tested or fitted one.

http://www.mishimoto.co.uk/ford-ranger- ... wwod8ZEJLQ.

or this standard one. never tested or fitted one.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-RANGER-2 ... 487daa4bce.

this is a gen mazda part, and proven the best to buy, (note the rubber ring on the piston shaft).

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=h ... ages/%2524(KGrHqJ,!o4F!JCSBYqdBQdvDjSgO!~~60_35%25255B88%25255D.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.vospers.com/parts/mazda/genu ... 2wodyZ8KdQ.

this is one of several copies, some better than others.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=mazda ... 0CkoTmM%3A

[The Wanderer]

Thanks for the info. I was thinking if a pressure test proves OK and the system is bled OK, but there's still an overheating problem, would that not possibly point to the stat causing the problem?

[Northern Bongolow]

has it ever had a new front radiator and or water pump, or had a new stat, all of these are service items, or at least should be done if your keeping it.

[scanner]

If all else fails and you try a stat it has to be the right Ford Ranger - the Mazda B2500 based one, NOT the US made one.

Try to find a Mazda dealer and see if they have a stat for a B2500 pick-up with the WL-T engine

[The Wanderer]

has it ever had a new front radiator and or water pump, or had a new stat, all of these are service items, or at least should be done if your keeping it.

I have replaced all those in the last few years, and most hoses and clips.

If all else fails and you try a stat it has to be the right Ford Ranger - the Mazda B2500 based one, NOT the US made one.

Try to find a Mazda dealer and see if they have a stat for a B2500 pick-up with the WL-T engine

Thanks Scanner, that's good to know.

I've just arranged with the campsite owner to have a go at bleeding the system tomorrow morning with a election of funnels and rubber gloves. Wish me luck! I'll let you know what happens.

[Bob]

Best of luck.

[apapa]

I am not sure where in the Dordogne you are but there is a campsite in Limousin (next to Dordogne) called Camping Moulin de la Geneste 00 33 (0) 5 55 98 90 08. I would recommend it anyway as it is a brilliant campsite, however, it is owned by an English couple (Steve and Sharon) and they are some of the nicest, most helpful people you could ever wish to meet. They may be able to suggest a good, reliable garage in the area.

Bon chance.

a

[The Wanderer]

Thanks all.

Looks a great campsite apapa, cheers for the heads up.

[The Wanderer]

So, we bled the cooling system first thing this morning, armed only with the smallest funnel in the world and a pair of not very thick rubber gloves. There was a big burp of air when I removed the bung from the bleed tube, covering me in coolant (not hot yet fortunately) , but very little in the way of bubbles as we went through the 'Haden Callow' procedure. Very tricky with the small funnel and a trifle hot with the rubbish rubber gloves, especially replacing the bung at the end, but all went OK with the bottom hose definitely hot. Heaters blew very warm, but actually have never been hot in this van.

We successfully drove a few km to check all was OK and then returned to camp and packed down ready to move on, as it was our last day at the site. I left the ignition on first position and around 30mins after having stopped, the low coolant alarm sounded. I checked and the coolant level had dropped in the header tank so I topped it up again - I have read that this is normal behaviour.

Since leaving we drove to a supermarket for supplies then to our next campsite about 100km away with no sign of temperature problems. I left the engine to run for a good while on arrival, hopefully avoiding the introduction of air bubbles to the coolant again.

I aim to get a pressure test done when back in the UK. Obviously if we have any more problems in the next few days, we'll have to get to a garage, but we just want to enjoy the rest of our honeymoon without worrying about the van if possible, keeping our fingers crossed that all has settled down for the time being.

Cheers all,

Geoff and Sue

[Bob]

Well done, fingers crossed for you both.

[scanner]

Well done, fingers crossed for you both.

Yes well done and fingers crossed here as well.

[The Wanderer]

After my last post about successfully continuing our journey after bleeding the coolant system, we have have just suffered another episode. Everything's been fine, we had no problems for the week around Limousin and drove up to a campsite near Orleans yesterday as our Eurotunnel crossing home is tomorrow. the van was fine all the way and I let it idle for several minutes on arrival. However, as soon as we started up again to move our pitch, the temperature gauge zoomed up to the top of the scale

I bled the system this morning, there was a lot of air, but it settled down with the heaters getting hot (hotter than I've ever had before) and the bottom hose getting hot too. All good I thought. We drove to a local garage and got petrol, no problem, then on to a nearby town where we stopped for a look around, no problem. I let the van idle for a while each time we stopped by the way. Then on the return journey to the campsite, all looked normal but I heard some bubbling and then realised the temp gauge was right up again. I put the heaters on full and sat idling by the roadside, the temp gauge dropped back to normal so I tentatively drove back to the campsite. The gauge remained normal until we stopped at our pitch where it again climbed distressingly high.

I have to say we are pretty fed up after all this. It's probably the best weather we've had all holiday today, and here I am again mucking about with the cooling system and searching online for answers. So I'm about to call Britannia Rescue to get them to recover us. I still think a dodgy thermostat is the likely cause - any comments please? Obviously I aim to get back to the UK and have the van pressure tested, but I may change the stat myself first if that seems the likely culprit.

[scanner]

....... We drove to a local garage and got petrol, ............

I hope not.

[The Wanderer]

Yup, gazole of course

[helen&tony]

Hi
As stated....1/.Pressure test, 2/.fix problem, 3/.bleed
You have one of several problems, and having driven without finding where, could possibly have increased the likelihood of head damage...but I hope not. My view would be to get it home to a Bongo specialist where you can get some proper advice from hands-on attention
Cheers
Helen