Bongo Fury

ps

Its possible that a mechanic has 'knocked' a hose during the service.

During my last MOT my mechanic 'wiggled' one of the hoses whilst checking underneath whilst the engine was running and promtly got a full shower of hot coolant where the hose simply split open with no prior warning!


H

Yep...I go along with all that

I don't think the coolant was done with the service. I never asked and assume honesty based on the good reports here and on my own judgement, I feel Adrian is a good bloke. When I posted the OP I wondered whether I should even say where it was done. I'm not out to tarnish someone's reputation if it's not deserved.

Work done:

full service
rear wiper blade
fog light
centre section exhaust
cam belt
rear pads
underseal
and some belts where there should be 3 but there was only one and a half?

On the phone again tomorrow I guess.

Harry, cheers for the long post, fairly sure from that there's no point me even starting to look at it.

Just for the sake of knowing, how often does the coolant need changing and system bleeding etc?

It'll be interesting to see the outcome of this dillema... I'm 100% with Haydn, & Harry on this one...

Part2? If you need to get your bongo back to Adrian, and need any help/moral support, i'll be more than happy to tag along/escort you,checking your bongo at 5 minute intervals if need be...

Pm me if you need any assistance...

Still not got anywhere. I did have a brainwave of asking the fella with the Bongo down the road where he goes, see if there's a garage round here to look at it. Guess what?....he also takes it to Bury.

I said, "they're a bit tricky filling with coolant from what I've read"

"Oh, I just put some water in and let it settle overnight then topped it up again in the morning"

Not that scientific then

Having re-read Harry's post I feel like having a go. Off to fill it with water now. Where is the bleed pipe?

In fact where are all the pipes I need to check? Matey down the road showed me the one that went on his under the drivers seat, doesn't seem to be any signs of water loss there.

The bleed pipe is a small dia pipe under the passenger seat.

It starts near the alternator (a favourite area for chafing) and loops around via a clip to near the passenger door where there should be some sort of plug/bung in the end.

To bleed, with engine running, pour water/coolant into expansion tank whilst holding the open end of the bleed pipe above the level of the expansion tank.

Lower end of bleed pipe until water/coolant comes out . If there are bubbles then keep pouring in water/coolant until bubbles stop. You can raise/lower (see-saw) the end of the bleed pipe to stop water coming out.

Make sure your aircon is on (both front and rear)

Check your rad is full by removing/replacing the rad cap (not when the engine is hot and not with the expansion cap in place...system not pressurised).

When all is clear of bubbles...replace all the caps/bungs and go for a run to warm the engine up properly so that the thermostat opens (11 o'clock on the temp guage and bottom hose should get warm ...not hot)

Shut down engine and recheck levels.

Start engine and check every hose you can find.

Check for drips under van.

Be awasre that if you've had the aircon on, then there may be some water drips as the condensed water on the heater matrix melts. Shouldn't be very much.

Good luck

H

If you would like to talk it through, PM me with your phone number (preferably mobile so you can be by your bongo)..I'll phone you when I'm free.

I would say that is just about spot on 'arry. Only thing I would add is . Get a biggish funnel and cut the spout so the bleed pipe is a tight fit "inside"...Put a bit of wire in the rim of the funnel and you can then hang it up on the underside of the passenger seat whilst you are running around filling up the header tank. Raise/lower the funnel(see saw) You can also introduce coolant via the funnel. If the engine is then run up to temp at around 2000 revs when the stat opens bubbles/froth will come up into the funnel. Whole job takes about 20/30 mins.

Oh, I just put some water in and let it settle overnight then topped it up again in the morning"

Not that scientific then

That's interesting as ours has no bleed pipe and when I changed
the coolant over 6,000 miles back that's exactly what I did,
pluss a few squeezes on the top hose not overheated or lost
any water since, going to change all the hoses and rad as soon
as it gets a bit better wx wise and will see if it works again.

Thanks for all the help.

Filled everything up, got my funnel, everything ready to give it a go, hopefully I'll get chance tomorrow.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Interesting to find out to see how you got on and how easy it was to do. I hate water leaks. I drilled a hole through the wall a few years ago, hit a pipe, bloody water all over the place. Terrible, I hate water, beer is better.

Best of luck.

Ralph.....How come you have no bleed pipe? I thought all bongos had one.

Ralph.....How come you have no bleed pipe? I thought all bongos had one

At some time in it's life the engine as been overhauled and the tree
with the connections for the bleed pipe is one short, most likely a
Ford Ranger item, did think of putting a Tee piece in the pipe to the
turbo but it would be one more thing to leak and bleeds up up OK
as long as you are aware so will leave it, unless I have problems
with it when I change the hoses, it's the best Diesel I have ever
had, smooth, quiet, and clean running, someone knew how to
build a engine, so will take great care when I do.

Well !! there you go....no bleed pipe.

Just topped up and done the bleed. Seemed to go okay.

The only drips I can see are at the front, below the radiator. Inside the engine bay there's some splashing behind the fan.

Sounds bad?

The splashing behind the fan sounds like possibly the water pump bearings going.

This is most likely due to the belts being overtightened during a service.?

H