seemingly over heating bongo but COLD engine coolant. advice and help please!

[Carys]

Hi
I've been trawling through these forums for about a year now looking for topics I had problems with with my bongo to help me out, such as changing the fuel filter, working out if there was an alternator problem (sediment and charge light on) conversion ideas, replacing the tail gate panel etc.

However, now I have a problem that I cant find similar threads to so here I am. I hope this is okay to do.

My bongo on a recent drive to get some fuel and test what warning lights if any were going to come on for my mechanic to service/ check over (after being sat still majority of the winter) seemingly over heated - the temp gauge on the dash hit high almost immediately. however, on opening the bonnet and inspecting, nothing was hot, no pipes, not the radiator, even the engine coolant was still really cold but exploded out on opening the cap (a mechanic did this for me). he therefore thinks the head gasket will have gone, or if I am lucky the thermostat, as he said it is a pressure build up not over heating necessarily. he doesn't have a lot of knowledge of Bongos and I have even less, so he suggested asking you Bongo Fury lot and seeing If any of you have experienced anything similar?

I have seen on similar posts stuff about having to get specialists to bleed the coolant and things?
if it is a head gasket job I think my best bet would be to cut my losses and sell up for spares? there seems to be issue after issue with this van sadly, I've only used it about twice. It's got a really neat (but old) conversion in it but mechanically seems to be a money pit.

cheers, Carys

[g8dhe]

You don't say which engine but I would presume a diesel ?

If nothing was hot outside of the engine then it could be the water pump isn't circulating the coolant, hence it overheats and pressurises inside the engine but due to the lack of flow everything else seems cool ?

Are you near any of the respected garages at all or there are some mobile mechanics well versed in Bongo's in the south of the country ?

[Carys]

Hi Geoff, yes sorry its a 2.5 diesel.

okay that's a good suggestion and makes sense! but yeh nothing was hot despite this lack of flow or build up.

I'm on the Wirral so unfortunately getting down south is a no go which to my knowledge is where most of the garages suggested on here seem to be.

[Bob]

Wheelquick, in Wigan, are very good.

Hopefully someone closer may have a suggestion.

[Carys]

awesome I'll check them out, cheers!

[Bob]

Japan Direct, in Bury, have great recommendations, too.

[gilly99]

You might be lucky. I had similar issue after a couple of months laid-up. It seems the coolant system + expansion tank produces a slight vacuum after normal engine stop. If the van is parked up, after a couple of months this vacuum bleeds away to ambient pressure and some coolant begins to drain (slight drip) from the pump area - it can be hard to spot. When starting, all appears normal, but after just a few minutes driving, coolant temp shoots up and the drops to blue, as you have effectively introduced an air-lock. If you spot it and shut down straight away, likely no damage, but yes you will nowbneed to have it bleed properly.

I was roadside, 2mins from home so had to rig up a one-man bleed system - I used the bongo fury data sheets and forum for guidance - but would advise far easier to get a bongo specialist out.

The above was my conclusion after sorting the problem and scratching my head for an hour - I too wrongly suspected the water pump had seized.

[maxi_77]

The case that the temp gauge went hot and back down again suggests either a fault or an occasional lack of coolant in the area, could be a gas bubble or a blockage. The pressure bubble on opening the cap suggests some gas in the system, could be exhaust gas indicating a gasket leak, or steam. An expert is required to identify the problem, you could have had a blockage caused by debris in the system settling whilst laid up. It may be worth trying to recreate the incident under controlled circumstances which may help.

[Carys]

Doesn’t sound like it’s gonna be a simple fix or a certain answer does it ! Thank you all for the input and stories. Will be things I can suggest to my mechanic now and if he’s out of his depth (which luckily he is willing to admit when he is) I can call a respected garage suggested

[Bob]

Where the Bongo cooling system is concerned I would recommend using a garage familiar with the beast.

I've heard far too many stories of damaged heads where advice has been offered and the reply has been, "Yeah, yeah, I've been a mechanic for decades, seen it all, no need to tell me my job...".

Not saying your mechanic would do that, but it has happened.

Hope you're all sorted soon.

[rita]

Where the Bongo cooling system is concerned I would recommend using a garage familiar with the beast.

I've heard far too many stories of damaged heads where advice has been offered and the reply has been, "Yeah, yeah, I've been a mechanic for decades, seen it all, no need to tell me my job...".

Not saying your mechanic would do that, but it has happened.

Hope you're all sorted soon.

I agree with that, but any mechanic worth their salt should be able to work on these old bread and butter engines, its the new vehicles that can be a nightmare .Used to go to a breakdown with some spares to get it going , now its take it to the computer.

[Bob]

So true.

[haydn callow]

Where the Bongo cooling system is concerned I would recommend using a garage familiar with the beast.

I've heard far too many stories of damaged heads where advice has been offered and the reply has been, "Yeah, yeah, I've been a mechanic for decades, seen it all, no need to tell me my job...".

Not saying your mechanic would do that, but it has happened.

Hope you're all sorted soon.

I agree with that, but any mechanic worth their salt should be able to work on these old bread and butter engines, its the new vehicles that can be a nightmare .Used to go to a breakdown with some spares to get it going , now its take it to the computer.

Agreed but they don’t seem able to get their head round the cooling system,