Overheat coming home from garage

[haydn callow]

You are now in the best possible hands....you have overlooked a very competent Bongo specialist much nearer at Newbury.......no matter.....it will now be sorted

[BongoBongo123]

An update. This Bongo garage on the Bongo Fury "friendly" list has screwed the Bongo up properly. It is either the head gasket or the cylinder head according to my new mechanic so I am awaiting further news.

Do be careful who you use to maintain your Bongo. My experience could not be a more stark warning.
I (and my wife) am absolutely gutted. I will never be able to look at this vehicle in the same way again. Right now I consider ownership well and truly spoilt.

[callum]

Oh BB123, i'm so sorry to hear this. I assume there is no grounds or proof to get the first garage to compensate at all?
What a horrible situation.

[dobby]

I think the heads all go eventually, it just takes a stress incident to push them the final bit. I boiled ours in 2006, ran ok until a hose went in 2009 and popped the head. 80,000 miles seems to have been a magic number.

Can anyone office advice or the legal issues of bb123 getting recompense from the first garage?

[BongoBongo123]

In this situation you have hard decisions to make. Personal decisions, no advice required though thanks for thinking of us. I just hope the Bongo can be repaired for the least cost possible now and we can get on with the summer.

[Bongo Charlie]

While the capacity is somewhere in the region of 12 litres, you'd probably only get half of that in as the rest remains in the system within the engine and rear heater matrix. I drained and thoroughly flushed mine and I barely managed to get 6 litres back in again.

By the sounds of it, you've got a bit of an airlock as you've suggested and as it was a short journey you probably will just need a top up and rebleed. At least you have the correct alarm to warn you there was something awry and you've been able to stop in time. Plenty of folk don't see the benefit in fitting an alarm and you've proved the value of it.

In this situation you have hard decisions to make. Personal decisions, no advice required though


thanks for thinking of us. I just hope the Bongo can be repaired for the least cost possible now and we can get on with the summer.

Hi our 1997 2.5 diesel Bongo was loosing coolant last year, I drove it a few weeks ago and there was a gurgling & knocking noise from the front header tank & the temperature gauge went up to h, parked it up & haven't driven it since, I've bought a thermostat & water pump & a 1.1 header tank cap which I'm going to attempt myself, any advice would be very helpful, reading post on this site I'm thinking its the head gasket???

[Northern Bongolow]

if you let us know your rough location someone local may be able to help or steer you towards someone that knows bongo.s

[cmm303]

Hi our 1997 2.5 diesel Bongo was loosing coolant last year, I drove it a few weeks ago and there was a gurgling & knocking noise from the front header tank & the temperature gauge went up to h, parked it up & haven't driven it since, I've bought a thermostat & water pump & a 1.1 header tank cap which I'm going to attempt myself, any advice would be very helpful, reading post on this site I'm thinking its the head gasket???

There are fact sheets in the members area on changing the water pump and thermostat. There are youtube vids on the mandatory bleeding of the cooling system.

However, the cause of the coolant loss needs to be identified and, as you rightly suspect, there may be consequential damage to the head (not just the gasket). If the standard temp gauge hit H, unfortunately this is a real possibility.

So you are probably looking at options for getting it to a good Bongo garage. Queue Northern B's suggestion about posting your location. Also confirm if Bongo is 4WD and Auto.

[teenmal]

BongoBongo123,it would be very interesting if you could take and post some pictures of the "fault" in the head and or the gasket whatever is the case.

Thanks.

[BongoBongo123]

Worst case scenario realized. Just been informed head has failed pressure test in cylinder 3. I am afraid given the Bongo is 200+ miles away I am not in any position to photo the old head and I suspect with a hairline crack as I imagine it to be this would be impossible to see anyway.

Be careful people is all I can say, document your working vehicle on the way to the garage as best as you possibly can to be sure. It is the only way you are going to avoid a "Their word against yours" type situation in a small claims court.

Given the way I care for the vehicle and apply preventative means to give warning I could never have imagined this ever happening.

[mikeonb4c]

Same happened to me last year bb123. Depressing at the time but all forgotten now and Bongo running beautifully since done so hopefully all in the past. Hope you get her back soon and will be off on the road again

[Garry W]

A great post, OP.

No offence but now might be a good time to highlight (to any new or potential 2.0 ltr petrol owners) that the bleeding demonstration video (excellent though it undoubtedly is) does not apply to them as the 2.0 ltr petrol is self-bleeding. The method demonstrated in the video is only relevant to the diesel and V6 petrol models.

I'd hate to think that someone would go through all that, in good faith, unnecessarily.

As a 2.0 ltr petrol owner myself, I'm mighty glad that I don't have to go through that every time the coolant needs changing.

Wotcha.

Well I didn't know that.
What's the process with the 2.0 ltr . . . . just fill it up and everything's good to go ?

[BongoBongo123]

Thanks for the wishes Mike. It causes a head scratcher for servicing. I think I am going to leave well alone with the cooling system it certainly won't be going to garages for 2 yearly drain and refill anymore I will just check header tank on occasion and watch temps as I normally do. I can do oil and filters myself. But I will leave the coolant 4 years. Seems messing around with it can cause more problems than it solves (especially for dim wits masquerading as pro's). We may entertain an "MOT break" and check over once a year.

If we can get a few years of trouble free out of it it will make up for it.

Even though I can only do basics I pride myself on the Bongo re-kindling my interest in body treatment and basic checks and saving a bit of money. It is a fun quirky vehicle and needs an eye on it at this age. I suppose it has become a bit of a hobby as well as a nice vehicle for going out in. It's a bit of a slap in the face.

[Simon Jones]

A great post, OP.

No offence but now might be a good time to highlight (to any new or potential 2.0 ltr petrol owners) that the bleeding demonstration video (excellent though it undoubtedly is) does not apply to them as the 2.0 ltr petrol is self-bleeding. The method demonstrated in the video is only relevant to the diesel and V6 petrol models.

I'd hate to think that someone would go through all that, in good faith, unnecessarily.

As a 2.0 ltr petrol owner myself, I'm mighty glad that I don't have to go through that every time the coolant needs changing.

Wotcha.

Well I didn't know that.
What's the process with the 2.0 ltr . . . . just fill it up and everything's good to go ?

Yep, but check the level for a few days afterwards as it settles down.

[Garry W]

Yep, but check the level for a few days afterwards as it settles down.

Wotcha.

Thanks for that . . . I hope it will be some time before I need to change the coolant.