Bongo head faults

Dave Mason · Post by **Dave Mason** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 11:06 am

OK, I realise I went too far by seeming to deny the possibility of commercial "design" faults - recalls do indeed prove that.

I was making a few general points about the maintenance challenge raised by these 10+yr-old imports (I have a 16 yr-old Townace, not a Bongo). Let's say even as a professional engineer I am wary of being personally over-confident and making system modifications to try to overcome what appears to be a design fault - however bad the reputation of the manufacturer or brand. I respect that others of you may have special reasons to make such modifications.

It may not be true for other imports but as far as I know the Townace was only ever produced for the Japan market where it was well-maintained for 9 years and then taken off the road - and so I presume that's what it was designed for. We buy such vehicles to get value-for-money so we are not inclined to spend so much on precautionary maintenance - engine oil, filters, belts, stat, coolant, hoses, water pump, battery ... how far do you go compared to what would've been done in Japan? Most of us are left trying to keep the cost down on a "if it ain't broke don't fix it" basis.

I regard the Mason alarm for the cooling system as an accessory rather than a modification. It uses the same temp sensor because I'm not competent to say what would be better. The alarm was not necessary with a new vehicle with full servicing being carried out regularly where the temp gauge did its only real duty by telling the driver whether the engine had warmed up - not whether it was getting unusually hot. 10+ years on it's a different story, you want to know if something's "broke" or breaking in the cooling system so you can either fix it, or at least stop driving and get it fixed, before a whole lot of other things get broken in consequence.

vanvliet · Post by **vanvliet** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 12:40 pm

Difficult one this I suppose I base my comments on the notion that there are other big diesels out there which are pretty old too and which do not suffer from the Bongo malady The Delica is an example .Truth to tell is that I have no real evidence other than this but I am not convinced by your argument or evidence either

. I suppose time will tell.
Nice to have someone posting 'good point Dave' 'point well made Dave ' ' you are right Dave' after all your posts . Is he on hire?

Dave Mason · Post by **Dave Mason** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 7:44 pm

vanvliet wrote:Is he on hire?

I don't know, but I know I can't afford a publicist - I just make my points with care.