Bongo Fury

rogrech wrote:Further bulletin!

The radiator has been removed and found to be badly blocked! A new one to be fitted tomorrow - guess we might trying towing the caravan this weekend to see if we can get further than 10 minutes from home? Fingers crossed anyway.

Aha! I did wonder. Lets keep fingers crossed that was indeed the problem. While they are at it, why not fit a new thermostat. Shouldn't add much to cost and could help the whole thing to swing properly with luck.

Keep us posted.

Make sure the rest of the system is flushed thoroughly before the new one is fitted, glad a cause has been found, lets hope that's it

Sounds like you are on the road to recovery then rogrech, i guess the original radiator check was with it still in situ?

I'd be interested to find out how they diagnosed 'badly blocked'. I've got a new rad to fit & I'm going to do a few tests first to see what the exact capacity is & then compare to the old one once its been removed.

Despite having the radiator and system flushed you may still have a problem with the rad. I've just had the head replaced on our bongo - traced to a partially blocked radiator - despite flushing and coolant change. Once some of the channels are blocked the only way to clear them is with roding. Get your bongo hot and then put your hand all over the radiator. There should be no cold spots - a cold spot = a blockage. Do the rad fans come on a lot? If they do it may be another indication of a blocked rad.

Careful with "rodding" - some radiators have flutes inside the cores to aid cooling

I'd like it if someone opened up an old radiator sometime to se einside the cores.............

If anyone wants to drive by and collect one (to cut open), Allan has several ready for scrap collection.

Drive By Radiating. The Bongo Maffia strike.

Doone wrote:If anyone wants to drive by and collect one (to cut open), Allan has several ready for scrap collection.

Hope someone takes up this interesting offer. If I wasn't miles away then I would!

If the fan resistors have blown again, it could be that the fan itself is struggling a bit, there are a few threads in techie at the moment on exactly that subject, be worth keeping an eye on this one http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... =3&t=27060 he had the same problem here http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... =3&t=27006
Lets hope the overheating is sorted

missfixit70 wrote:Make sure the rest of the system is flushed thoroughly ......

Is there a recommended technique for this?

I've noticed quite a bit of crud in my new coolant (less than a week old) and think I need a bit of a good clean out.

Has anyone tried a coolant flush additive - a bit like engine flush (which does work) that you add to your coolant and run it for a certain time before flushing out your system as usual?

Ok, I doubt it would unblock heavy sediment in the rad cores, but it might help to clear out light deposits, and be a help if you are planning a flush in any case.


Rogrech, a regularly blowing fuse must surely have a cause. Most blown fuses are down to short circuits, but I suspect in this case it could be a sticking fan motor - it might look as though it's spinning reasonably well, but if the bearings are contaminated or partially corroded then this will cause 'drag;' which will increase the current drawn by the motor. It might be that your fuse is doing a lot of 'glowing', and finally gives up after a few months.

Can you spin them freely with your fingers (with the battery connected, of course - you want to keep them fingers...)?

Even if it appears to spin freely, it is not necessarily giving a good indicator of it's condition. If it's not used for a while & it's inevitably got moisture in there & it's got gummed up, initial start up is going to draw a big current to overcome the inertia, thus causing the resistors to blow. It may be fine after that until the next period where it is not used as frequently. As I've said before, the design of the intake & fan motor is such that it is naturally going to draw moisture into the fan & allow it to settle as the fan is the lowest point in the intake.
Anyone that has resistors blowing should IMO remove the fan motor & overhaul it, maybe adding an extra drain hole, cause & effect & all that