Advice on Breakdown and Cooling Issue

[apapa]

Hello,

I would be grateful for some advice.

We were on holiday in Switzerland when the bongo overheated. The needle went straight up to hot. I cooled the enhine and put 2 litres of coolant in. It went to hot again within 10 minutes. I called the RAC and they sent a local mechanic. He put 7 litres of water into the coolant and it went up again to hot after a short test drive. Even though the heating was on 32 degrees there was still cold air coming out of the vents. He towed me to his garage and carried out a test that involved checking the coolant for CO2. He found evidence of CO2 in the coolant.

His opinion was the following:

It may be a water pump that needs to be replaced (although this would not explain the CO2 in the water).
It may be a cylinder head gasket or a crack in the cylinder head.

He decided he would not be able to repair it and the RAC agreed to fly us home and send the bongo back to the UK on a transporter.

I would be grateful to know whether people agree with the mechanic's assessment of the damage. I am still waiting to hear from the RAC about when it will be returned but wanted to start some investigation.

If he is correct and I need a new head gasket or cylinder head does this mean it is the end of the vehicle or can it be repaired. If it can be repaired what would be a ball park figure to fix it?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Regards

Andy

[Bob]

Oh dear.

Which engine do you have?

If its the diesel you have probably damaged the head by overheating, this may or may not have been caused by the water pump failing.

It is repairable, you need to get it delivered to a Bongo Friendly garage, and the total bill will depend on the cause, pump, rad, hoses...

Probably in the region of £1500.

The cooling system has to be bled, topping up will leave air trapped in the system, hence the head fails. Also explains heaters not working.

[apapa]

Thanks bob. It is. 2.5 turbo diesel.

I have had a quote from 2 good bongo garages. It looks like an expensive repair. We had the conversion carried out by 321 Away. We know them and they are not too far away from us so I have asked them to repair it for us. I just need to wait for the RAC to send it back.

If I had carried out a sniff test before driving 1,490 km would it have identified a problem or is it something you can't do much about?

Regards

Andy

[Bob]

I doubt the sniff test would have shown up a problem before your trip as likely the coolant leak developed just before the overheating.

It is, of course, vital to find out why it overheated, not just repair the head.

321 Away are well thought of.

A low coolant alarm and after market, accurate, temp gauge are recommended.