Bongo Fury

missfixit70 wrote:What did they replace the coolant with? I hope they flushed it out thoroughly so there's no danger of mixing coolants that may cause problems further down the line. No good just going by colour.
It does sound like you need to find a bongo competent garage & put up with the inconvenience of it being a bit further away.

As above, turns out the didnt drop any coolant so didn't replace it (or, so i'm told). And, yes, you're right, will have to find someone bongo knowledgable. Database shows one in Biggleswade, which isn't TOO far, I guess, shame we've no 2nd car for the misses to follow me in and bring me back again (also a shame the misses can't drive...)

Mike Jill and Emily wrote: I carry the bleeding instructions in the glove box so "if" we ever have any need to bleed the system the info is at hand (I also have a printout of all the fuses - am I an anorak )

Snap, I've a print out of most of the fact-sheets which might come in handy for a roadside issue, so I can shove them at the AA man if necessary.

GICarey wrote:

missfixit70 wrote:What did they replace the coolant with? I hope they flushed it out thoroughly so there's no danger of mixing coolants that may cause problems further down the line. No good just going by colour.
It does sound like you need to find a bongo competent garage & put up with the inconvenience of it being a bit further away.

As above, turns out the didnt drop any coolant so didn't replace it (or, so i'm told). And, yes, you're right, will have to find someone bongo knowledgable. Database shows one in Biggleswade, which isn't TOO far, I guess, shame we've no 2nd car for the misses to follow me in and bring me back again (also a shame the misses can't drive...)[/quote]

Probably just as well you haven't got a secong car then
It does sound a bit like your garage are making it up as they go along. Of course it could have just been coincidence that it overheated after they'd worked on it Doubt it though

And the frustration continues.

Went along to collect as planned today, was told they'd bled it, and couldn't get it to overheat, having driven it about 20km or so.

Fine, i thought, i'll take it for a run and check it out. 3 miles later, it was steady at 11-o-clock and seemed fine; i hit a country road, moving from 20/30mph up to 40/45 and, 1 mile later, up goes the temp gague, on go the 4-ways and off goes the engine ASAP.

Call to the garage to whinge, and then nursed it back to them over the next 2 hours (NOT fun!)

Saw garage owner today, who is adamant they'll fix it (which is, at least, something), and seems confident its a failed thermostat not opening, although, I'm still of the opinion that it's probably an air-lock, as I noticed the bleed-pipe hadn't been moved, and when I queries this (annoyed, as I'd printed and provided the fact-sheets and relevant forum posts on HOW TO BLEED A BONGO), he said, oh, it's OK, i used the bigger pipe on the drivers side to bleed and backfill the system. I tried to explain to him why the bleed pipe method is important, and he's promised to use it this time round. We'll see.......

So, I may get the car back tomorrow, or else Monday/Tuesday. Hopefully working, but I'm not holding my breath.

Once again a case of "we are the experts, we don't need to be told how to do our job!"

Ask him "Why the hell do Mazda (who actually make the bl**dy thing) fit a bleed pipe and give explicit instructions on how to bleed the system if it isn't effing needed?"

scanner wrote:Ask him "Why the hell do Mazda (who actually make the bl**dy thing) fit a bleed pipe and give explicit instructions on how to bleed the system if it isn't effing needed?"

mmm, pretty much what I did say, whilst trying to keep my own coolant from boiling up!

missfixit70 wrote:...(also a shame the misses can't drive...)[/

Probably just as well you haven't got a secong car then
It does sound a bit like your garage are making it up as they go along. Of course it could have just been coincidence that it overheated after they'd worked on it Doubt it though

Well, actually, a 2nd car just for me would be handy right about now! Yes, it could be coincidence, and if swapping the 'stat over magically fixes anything, i'll be the first to apologise to him and offer to pay for the stat and their time.

GICarey wrote:

missfixit70 wrote:...(also a shame the misses can't drive...)[/

Probably just as well you haven't got a secong car then
It does sound a bit like your garage are making it up as they go along. Of course it could have just been coincidence that it overheated after they'd worked on it Doubt it though

Well, actually, a 2nd car just for me would be handy right about now! Yes, it could be coincidence, and if swapping the 'stat over magically fixes anything, i'll be the first to apologise to him and offer to pay for the stat and their time.

Why?

Get them to bleed it properly first - that will show whether the stat is opening.

Then change the stat if it doesn't.

I can't see how they think they are "bleeding it & backfilling" it from the large pipe on the drivers side, physically impossible IMO.

missfixit70 wrote:I can't see how they think they are "bleeding it & backfilling" it from the large pipe on the drivers side, physically impossible IMO.

Ahhhh but you are forgetting MFI - they are the experts! they know everything about everything on the road better than the makers do.

Definitions of an "expert" -

Somebody who knows more and more about less and less until they know absolutely everything about bu66er all.
or
Somebody who knows less and less about more and more until they know absolutely bu66er all about everything.

Take your pick about which category these jokers fall into.

If the Bongo had an ordinary bleed screw in one (or more) of the hoses they might know what to do, but they haven't come across a bleed "hose" before, so just don't know (despite being told) what it's for.

Like too many "experts" they cannot handle being told what to do by the customer.

scanner wrote:

missfixit70 wrote:I can't see how they think they are "bleeding it & backfilling" it from the large pipe on the drivers side, physically impossible IMO.

Ahhhh but you are forgetting MFI - they are the experts! they know everything about everything on the road better than the makers do.

Definitions of an "expert" -

Somebody who knows more and more about less and less until they know absolutely everything about bu66er all.
or
Somebody who knows less and less about more and more until they know absolutely bu66er all about everything.

Take your pick about which category these jokers fall into.

If the Bongo had an ordinary bleed screw in one (or more) of the hoses they might know what to do, but they haven't come across a bleed "hose" before, so just don't know (despite being told) what it's for.

Like too many "experts" they cannot handle being told what to do by the customer.

Yup, and somehow, you must find a way to allow them to discover for themselves what actually needs doing, so their credibility remains undented and they can deliver you a lecture on what REALLY needed doing (which you won't care about as long as the d*mn car is fixed) and how they did it. Lets hope they find out what needs doing before the Bongo suffers much more punishment.

OK,

So, next step in this saga.

Thermostat changed, and Bongo bled as per the instructions posted by mikeon4bc in these forums and per the factsheets (had to stand and watch him do it....). And..... no change.

Top hose getting hot, bottom hose staying stone cold - although, this latter fact does take away from the "bled properly" statement I made just now, as obviously need the stat open to know it's been bled properly.

Mechanic is now saying "blocked radiator", as the bottom hose isn't getting hot, and asking for £180+vat for a radiator, pls 3/4 hours labour to fit, etc. Also tells me that it's passing hydrocarbon tests so head gasket is clearly fine.

Thoughts and comments please, specifically:

1) likelihood of radiator actually being blocked? - guess the test is to drop coolant, remove top and bottom hoses and feed water through it from a hosepipe, see what the flow is like?
2) if a radiator blocks, does it normally do it "overnight", such that car is fine one day, and overheating the next?
3) Other reasons for bottom hose not getting hot (other than stat which we now assume is fine).
4) Is 3/4 hours realistic for a rad-swap out and related work on a Bongo?

Thanks,

Gav.

I'm no expert generally, but there's more and more anecdotal evidence on here of kanckered radiators being found in Bongos. Doone posted recently about a radiator that weighed twice what a new one did, presumably due to weight of crud inside. You could flow test the rad or I recall someone got one 'cored' by a specialist, but the garage could be right on this esp. if they can now confirm they follwed full procedure in bleeding the Bongo

One other thought. Is everyone confident the rad. fan switch sensors are working OK as you'd think they wuld cut in and offset any inefficient rad. performance. It would be interesting to see if the car stayed cool if rad fans were on all the time.

How long did they take to bleed it? It can take a long time, especially if you leave the heater fans on as they act to cool the coolant.
As you say, do a flow test on the rad, take the bottom hose off, get someone to hold their hand over the connection at the bottom of the rad (not when it's hot obviously) fill up the rad, take your hand off & see how long it takes to drop out& how strong the flow is.
Was the stat checked for operation - old or new? stick them in a pan of water & boil it, should open before it boils.
3/4 hour isn't too bad for a rad swap, but then you've got to factor in up to an hour to refill & bleed it properly.

GICarey wrote: Thermostat changed, and Bongo bled as per the instructions posted by mikeon4bc in these forums and per the factsheets (had to stand and watch him do it....). And..... no change.

Top hose getting hot, bottom hose staying stone cold - although, this latter fact does take away from the "bled properly" statement I made just now, as obviously need the stat open to know it's been bled properly.

Well from what I've read if the bottom hose hasn't got hot (to show the thermostat has opened - IT HASN'T BEEN BLED PROPERLY.

Whatever they say and whatever you think.

I've not yet done it myself but the one thing that stick in my mind is "run engine until bottom hose gets hot to show the thermostat has opened" or words to that effect.