Please help! Bongo overheating.

[haydn callow]

Go to a reputable garage. Bell Hill springs to mind...they are near you.
DIY if you can £800 to £1000
Garage £1000 up
just guessing really but I'm sure somone will be along to tell you.
First job is to get it properly diagnosed by somone who knows what they are doing.

[Master Bate]

I've updated my profile with my location now. I do find it quite staggering that a garage can't resolve the problem, when amateurs (pardon the term - no slight meant to anyone) out there have done it. And I've passed on all the hints/fact sheets. Concern is that they will damage my cylinder head with constant testing and overheating. The original reason for having the gasket replaced was because of a minor oil leak, based on their advisory note post MOT/service. When I asked if the head itself was ok, I was assured that it was - at that time!

[haydn callow]

Was the slight oil leak under the drivers seat towards the front of the engine?? They all have that and it has nothing to do with the head. This is gunge associated with the EGR system. I doub't you were topping up with oil !!
Sounds as though they have done totally unnecessery work and at the same time cocked up.
If this is the case they have done the damage and should fix it. Or better still get somone who knows what they are doing to fix it.

[scanner]

Was the slight oil leak under the drivers seat towards the front of the engine?? They all have that and it has nothing to do with the head. This is gunge associated with the EGR system. I doub't you were topping up with oil !!
Sounds as though they have done totally unnecessery work and at the same time cocked up.
If this is the case they have done the damage and should fix it. Or better still get somone who knows what they are doing to fix it.

The responsibility is totally their's for doing what was probably unnecessary work (if the "leak" was on the front offside of the head) in the first place and should now put it right - I'd also be tempted to go for a refund of all the unnecessary expenditure.
I would guess it is a garage that hasn't worked on many Bongos? That makes THEM the amateurs I'm afraid.

Time for a stiff letter I think, it could be worth printing all this out and having a word with Trading Standards about how to word it.

[coco bongo]

soooo sorry to hear of your troubles mate , hope you manage to find a good garage in your local area to put the problem right for you.

When mine went wrong i spent £850 the first time of overheating, this was for radiator, water pump, and thermostat.
Second time round i paid the same for a new cylinder head, gaskets, bolts, egr blanked, and a new pipe off of flippa on the forum.

I was really lucky to get the head done at a reasonable price, as a family member did it for us. Was told by a garage for a cylinder head job, would be about £1300. But this is with a new head included.

When all your problems are solved, treat yourself to a Haydn low coolant alarm. Well worth it.

Hope things get sorted soon for you.
Darren.

[Master Bate]

An update on my situation. I finally got my bongo back, but the resolution seems to have been to drill thr thermostat to release built up air through. Looking at other posts on the site, it seems that others have done this, but opinion mixed. It doesn't seem to be necessary if bleeding done correctly. Anyway, I've taken it out on a few small trips, and today done my first 48 mile drive to work in it. Didn't look promising when Bongo didn't start immediately - first time that has happened. Eventually got it going when I hit the cold start switch to bring in second battery (I believe). So I started out cautiously, and in fairness the Bongo did the journey without any horrible bubbling or detectable coolant loss. However, most of the time the temp gauge barely got past the 'C' mark - nowhere near the 11 o'clock position. It did rise in between those 2 marks when in traffic or if I booted it a bit.

You'd think I'd be happy with that, but - would the drilling of a hole in thermostat compomised the efficiency of it, and actually just be hiding potential problems?

I've lost confidence in garage and vehicle. From the "bongo friendly" garage list I know there are 3 recommended garages in the area of Pewsey/Devizes, Wiltshire. One of these is the one I've been using. Can anyone recommend one in the area, particularly if they have done a successful coolant change please?