Bongo Fury

Well I have the water pump now. Eurocarparts were the best price but are rubbish at customer service so, having waited 24 hours for them to call back in half an hour (as the website had a 'soap' error whatever that means) I got the pump from our local car parts place for £50. It is the QH one.
Mel is booked into the garage next Tuesday. Chappy has worked on Bongos before, one of his mates used to run an import company and he had to sort out all the servicing, checking, and replacing that needed doing.
Thanks everyone for advice - I hope the actual job is straightforward now...

Sarah

Sar N Ade wrote:Well I have the water pump now. Eurocarparts were the best price but are rubbish at customer service so, having waited 24 hours for them to call back in half an hour (as the website had a 'soap' error whatever that means) I got the pump from our local car parts place for £50. It is the QH one.
Mel is booked into the garage next Tuesday. Chappy has worked on Bongos before, one of his mates used to run an import company and he had to sort out all the servicing, checking, and replacing that needed doing.
Thanks everyone for advice - I hope the actual job is straightforward now...

Sarah

Hi Sarah, Just seen this thread(been away) I hope all goes well and not too expensive You really should get an alarm fitted. It's well worth the peace of mind

Sar N Ade wrote:Well I have the water pump now. Eurocarparts were the best price but are rubbish at customer service so, having waited 24 hours for them to call back in half an hour (as the website had a 'soap' error whatever that means) I got the pump from our local car parts place for £50. It is the QH one.
Mel is booked into the garage next Tuesday. Chappy has worked on Bongos before, one of his mates used to run an import company and he had to sort out all the servicing, checking, and replacing that needed doing.
Thanks everyone for advice - I hope the actual job is straightforward now...

Sarah

Can you let me know how you get on once the work is complete as I'm trying to find a decent/reliable garage in the area.

Cheers

Neil

No problem Neil.
We have used this mechanic before - he grew up in the house opposite Adrian and his parents still live there! This is the first 'big' Bongo job though - it has only been MOTs and services before.

I'll keep you informed

Sarah

Let's hope he's one of the rare one's that's willing to listen to the customer, Make sure he bleeds it PROPERLY, not just how he thinks

I agree Kirsty! He says he has done them before and has allowed extra time on his labour quote to do the job.
We'll just have to wait and see I suppose. He has always done an excellent job with our 'ordinary' cars.

Sarah

Well I am eating my words

Took the van to the in laws tonight (about a mile away) and on the way back the temp shot up (about 200 yards from home) so we stopped. Loud hissing noise and steam.

I'll be phoning the mechanic on Tuesday. Do you think he didn't bleed it right??
("Oh, I've replaced the coolant and bled 3 or 4 of these a week when my mate had his import business....")




Sarah

Sar N Ade wrote:Well I am eating my words

Took the van to the in laws tonight (about a mile away) and on the way back the temp shot up (about 200 yards from home) so we stopped. Loud hissing noise and steam.

I'll be phoning the mechanic on Tuesday. Do you think he didn't bleed it right??
("Oh, I've replaced the coolant and bled 3 or 4 of these a week when my mate had his import business....")




Sarah

Oh No! Sarah. How Awful You poor things I hope That, it isn't the worse and can be fixed Please keep us posted . I will be thinking of you with fingers crossed that it is repairable .


Anna

Doesn't sound good, what was his reaction to you taking him the printouts of the bleeding procedures, did he read them or do the usual "I know what I'm doing,don't need that crap kind of attitude"?
Did you check the header tank level before you set off? where is the level now? Hopefully it'll just need bleeding properly, let's hope there's not any serious problems been caused, but if you've got an unmodified gauge that's shot up, that's hot.
Hate to say it but Mason & or coolant alarm would have given you warning before it got to that point.

I'm stating the obvious, but yes, there's something wrong. Did the mechanic follow the factsheet? If not get him to bleed it again. Did he leave it overnight and check the levels the next day? If it was bled right then obviously there's another problem and it depends how hot it got when the water pump seized.

Adrian checked the coolant before we went out and it was about on max.
He topped it up at his dad's and we took a steady run home as we were concerned by that stage. We were parked on a bend (at the top of a cul de sac so not quite a selfish as it sounds) so we had to move it. When the temp shot up and we stopped Adrian walked to a friend's to see if he had any coolant (he didn't) so we put water in just to get it round the corner off the main road.

Doesn't look good does it.

Anna, we may be coming to Hurley in the Fiesta and sleeping in the awning

Sarah

PS Kirsty, I was pursuaded to not give the printed off sheets to the mechanic as I was being a fussy control freak again and I should just stop meddling. Wish I had meddled now...

I was pursuaded to not give the printed off sheets to the mechanic as I was being a fussy control freak again and I should just stop meddling. Wish I had meddled now.

We all live and learn. With luck it could be something simple, either not bled right, a leak letting air in or stuck thermostat etc. There's a lot to think about.

Doone, the mechanic had done 'loads' of Bongo coolant issues before and 'knew what to do'. Of course this could be true and this is another problem, not caused by the replacement of the water pump. Mechanic said he ran the engine for hours and told us to check the level before we set off, which we did. It was fine, no coolant loss sat on the drive.

We are both really down now, but it may not be as bad as I think (not the most optimistic type )

It's happened to better bongo owners than us!

Sarah

Sarah I feel so sad, for you both, but I am a worrier too! and often things aren't as bad as they seem ! It is possibly something that will be easily fixed. I hope you know the answer soon and it is better news than you are expecting. Good Luck and don't upset yourself worrying too much .


Anna & Jimmy( with fingers crossed) X

Firstly, bleeding the coolant system isn't the bizzarre magical dance as folks would have you believe. It's common sense to any proficient mechanic.
Secondly, what was wrong with the pump? A 'sheared gasket' makes no sense. A leaky gasket does but that would require a new gasket to fix it, not a new water pump. A gasket wouldn't rattle as it fell off even if it could fall off! If the pump had seized and the pulley had sheared, as long as you stopped ASAP and the coolant temperature didn't shoot up, then you shouldn't have overheated the engine.
Thirdly, when the vehicle overheated after the pump fitting, as long as you stopped before the temp left the top of the gauge, then you should be OK. I would top it up with water, open the bleed pipe and let the water run through and then hold the bleed pipe as high as it will go, and overfill the expansion bottle. Leave the cap off and start the engine for 30 seconds or so. Then drop the bleed pipe until the expansion bottle level is correct. Fit the bleed pipe bung and expansion bottle cap. Run the engine for a few minutes then check the level. Go for a run and check again.
Fourthy, do a little dance as your Freda is as good as new. Hopefully.....