Bongo Fury

well if Wayne (waycar) can fit it then ive no problem,

Dave Mason wrote:Wayne: There should be a self-test bip from the Mason alarm when you turn the key. I expect that's it. Once you know what it is most owners find it re-assuring rather than annoying.

Bongo Mason alarms are currently available on http://www.townace.plus.com/ie/ietemga2.htm but I'm having difficulty making them fast enough!

Cheers Dave , thought i had knackered sumat

well actually i did , i have broke my fog light switch, the alarm box itself look like it would fit where the the 3 rows off switches are either side of the steering wheel so i thought i would see if it would fit (after i had wired it up and the alarm box was through the top of the dash) so it would only reach where the fog lamp switches were so it went ahead and tried poping the swithes out , bloody thing dropped to bits and the internal metal bits went everywhere

Ah... that's how you broke it...

you may also get a blip when indicator on ,i know we do on the estimas can't remember if it does on the bongo,more reassuring than annoying

fitted the mason alarm and all is well.... bit scared watching the temp gauge.... you have to remind yourself the first few times....


just wondering what they are set too....

I'll start a new thread, with mason dial settings.

John

had a thought,

will the masons alarm need changing in the summer?

I reckon theoretically no, because it measures internal engine temps, but will a higher ambient affect the temp??

John

OK - 911 miles later.

Most of these miles were done at 60 - 70 mph on dual carriageways & motorways and the A90 (M90) & A68. So I had a range of driving conditions, mostly flat but the M90 has a fairly steep hill south from Perth and the A68 has a lot of short steep hills.

The alarm was set at 5 and never come on.

The gauge ranged from 60% to 90% of the gauge indicating arc (i.e. between the 2 box's at either end). Most of the time it stayed between 70 & 80%.
Down long hills it dropped to about 60% but going up long hills it would rise and on the road south of Perth I pushed it at 75mph all the way up and the gauge showed 90% or more for a short time before dropping back (fans coming on?) and I managed this reading a couple of times over the week. I was not aware of anything out of the ordinary on therse occasions.

In preference I would like to have seen this working at 50% to 80% as hitting 90% at times does not leave much room to show an 'abnormal' tempeature. Having said that it is still way better than having it stuck at the '11 o'clock' position.

So what range does yours give

(it may be worth mentioning that I have disabled my EGR and the commom idea is that this may increase the operating temperature)

My next step would be to put an indicator in to show when the fans are coming on.

regards Grahame

Grahame at work wrote: ... In preference I would like to have seen this working at 50% to 80% as hitting 90% at times does not leave much room to show an 'abnormal' tempeature. Having said that it is still way better than having it stuck at the '11 o'clock' position ...

Agreed. One component could be altered to bring down that 90% and I'm happy to supply instructions to any customer who wants to do that themselves, or to do it for you, free of charge, if you arrange it with me and post the alarm box back to me. The problem with going that route is that you then can't make simple comparisons between Bongos, it would depend whether you have a version 1 or version 2 Mason alarm.

Scary as it may be at first, personally I like to make use of most of the dial and a working range 50-90% sounds about right. My Townace cruises at 75% and can rise to the edge of the red line before I get concerned. I suggest accumulating more results before spawning "version 2".

I now have a stock of Mason alarms for Bongos again and am accepting orders at http://www.townace.plus.com/ie/ietemga2.htm. I will acknowledge orders promptly, despatch according to Royal Mail advice regarding posting packets in view of the current postal strike(s), and inform again when I have despatched. So there will be some delay, sorry.

I hope this helps.

Fitted this today:-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0170195269
and fitted it here:-

It is not fixed solid, I will just blu-tack it. I drilled a small hole in the bottom corner of the cubby, dropped the probe down, and grabbed it from underneath. The probe is stuck in one of the threaded holes on the side, and filled with copper-ease to hold it in place. I have left some spare cable in the engine compartment to allow for the shudder, when turning of engine.

Now for readings
Before starting engine.........................................10 deg
Start engine and reverse onto road......................12 deg
10 minutes down the road at 60MPH.....................87 deg
This must be when the Fan kicks in as drops to......63 deg
Stays around 63 deg for length of journey. Driving between 50-60 mph
Stop engine for 5 minutes temp shouts up...............90 deg
Drive off again, temp soon drops back to................63 deg
Put heating on full blast, quickly drops to................59 deg
Switch heating off, quickly rises back to .................63 deg
Slow down, and drive through village rises to...........70 deg
Photo taken around 4 hours after stopping...............45 deg

I did not realise that the engine temperature would shout up so high once switched off I understand why, but still!!

The thermometer is battery operated by a LR44/357 ( one of the most popular button cell, and it does come with one). You can not switch it off, but the battery is easily taken out.

Should I place it (probe) anywhere better, there is still a bit of wire to play with.

I am quite impressed with the repeatability of that set-up. It seems to be a cracking bit of information for 7 squids. Good thinking Brora.

You must have it in the right place because you are getting wide ranging consistent results. You know if it goes 5 degrees over what you expect you can give the Bongo a quick check over.

Thanks BUT, when I checked my oil before heading off on a long Journey, my probe was found dangling


Made a better job of securing it and now my standard reading is 101 degs rising to 115 deg when working hard. So above readings must of been air temp close to the engine. I think the new readings sounds more realistic?

One problem with it, is that it's not back lit, so no use in the dark

Which makes you wonder about the problem Pat McKenna was having when the 105 deg. wax discs fell off his newly fitted head and the engine builders wouldn't wear the claim..........

Hi Dandywarhol & all the gang

I've been following the thread with interest. For the sake of accuracy, the engine refurbishers set their pods to melt at 110 degrees.

As we have seen from recent posts, the bongo engine will happily work at this temperature when travelling in hilly country or towing etc. It is valid to point out that it will function successfully in these circumstances providing all aspects of the cooling system are in good working order. Forum members will single out the radiator as a main culprit for a system failure. Whilst there may be no external radiator leaks, it is believed that the accumulated crud of ten years eventually furs up the core, causing catastrophic failure. I tried to avoid any problems with the new engine by fitting a new radiator and water pump at the same time as the refurbished engine.

Dandywarhol's comment about the temperature sensor pods is a very important one. If you purchase a refurbished engine, it will have sensor pods which will melt out at 110 degrees. It has been established that the Bongo engine can cope well in this temperature range. If you are obliged to go back to your engine supplier with an engine difficulty within the warranty period, they will immediately look at the sensors - which will quite likely have melted out if you have been on a few long runs or live in hilly country. As far as they are concerned, you have cooked the engine and have subsequently voided the warranty.

I suspect this type of issue will only be resolved by Trading Standards taking a test case to court, armed with up to date technical information on safe working temperatures of modern engines. In the meantime, a warranty that is voided by taking the engine temperature above 110 degrees is not worth the paper it is printed on.

I have Hayden's Coolant alarm and I have the Mason Alarm. If someone invents an electronic device that vibrates my left buttock to tell me that there is a developing coolant problem, I'll buy it. I do daily visual checks on the Bongo - not on my left buttock, I haven'e seen that in years. In all my years of motoring, I've never had a more enjoyable vehicle - nor one that has frightened me so much or cost me so much in unexpected repairs. I intend to keep it in good working order for a long time to come...

Pat

Spot on Pat. Liked your last paragraph - I'm the same. The bongos juiciness on short runs, and my determination to keep it and run it within my budget (cos it is so lovely and so useful) has got me on an electric bike to work (saves £40 a month on fuel, halves my journey time, gives me exercise if I choose, and is great for fresh air and relaxation) so even there it has proved to the most fun car I ever had.

Someone ought to try bringing a test case on this issue. I cant remember how your situation was resolved - did they offer to pay anything? I presume Bongo is now back on the road and perfoming well - you ought to be safe with those alarms fitted (and you will be gathering evidence in support of that test case, when it comes)

Mike

PS - now here's a whacky thought than will have Ian putting his head in his hands. With the inceasingly healthy membership base, wouldn't it be great to have some way that the occasional Bongo owner who has trouble like you had could be supported (to a modest degree) if they needed to try and bring a case e.g. to the small claims court. The benefit of your winning your case would be available to other members. Probably a totally whacky idea but anyone got a thought on it?

Might get one of those four gauge 1600E look a like pods' quote


Far better to mount 52mm gauges in a neat alloy plate which replaces the cubby hole below the radio.

http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... hp?t=15514