Cooling system

[Landskerlad]

Hi all, long time lurker but didn't realise I hadn't registered a forum account when I purchased the bongo fury membership last year!

I've had a look at the fact sheet for bleeding the bongo, I've got 96/97 bongo 2.5td so the more cumbersome one to do.

My coolant is basically sludge, so in desperate need of a change - My train of thought is to change the radiator and water pump (thermostat too) at the same time, along with putting a new expansion tank on as it is badly discoloured and I don't think any amount of cleaning will ever get it usable again.

I'm not sure if I'm being blind, but whilst I can find the bleeding routine in the fact sheets, along with the radiator, I can't find anything to do with changing the expansion bottle, other than videos saying to not allow coolant to go to low inside of it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Nathan

[g8dhe]

That may well be because getting hold of good de-gassing tanks is a problem! Have you sourced one yet?
Doing the whole lot in one go sounds a very good idea!
There isn't anything special about changing the tank, undo the pipes remove the screws and away it should come.

[Landskerlad]

That may well be because getting hold of good de-gassing tanks is a problem! Have you sourced one yet?
Doing the whole lot in one go sounds a very good idea!
There isn't anything special about changing the tank, undo the pipes remove the screws and away it should come.

Sorry it's taken so long to reply, a lot has happened between then and now.

I managed to get a used one, in better condition than mine, that is now on the van, along with:

New radiator
4 main coolant pipes
New thermostat
New water pump
Reconditioned steering rack
Inner and outer tie rods
Rusty's Bleed kit fitted

On closer inspection of the cooling system, I realized that everything needed changing, so I'm in the process of buying all the remaining silicone pipes, along with the metal ones too.

Which reminds me, I also need to get some more lano-guard, once all the new stuff is on I'll underseal it all for some added protection.

[g8dhe]

Sounds good then!
Do be aware that the silicon based plastic pipes are to be avoided, they need a different style of compression clamp, the existing black rubber pipes use the constant pressure clips which means that that as the metal pipes expand and shrink with temperature the rubber and clip expand change as well. The Silicon based plastic pipes however don't expand in the same way and end up leaking when used with the simple constant pressure clips. There is a long and painful thread from many years ago where many people changed and then suffered badly with leaks after a short while. A search for "constant pressure clips" will find some info on the types to use.

[Landskerlad]

I've done the sensible thing and bit the bullet with the pipes, purchasing them all from the Mazda Bongo website, it does work out more expensive but I figured they will only sell the correct stuff, unlike going the cheaper route and buying the pipes made of subpar material.

The website also sells a clip set for the various pipes which I've been looking at, designed to go with the pipes they sell ... Should eliminate any risk of leaking doing it that way.

The existing clips are in good condition but as you've said, not the correct style to use with the new pipes - Might keep them as a spare though as I'm sure they could come in handy for something or another in the future.