Bongo Fury

Hell all,
i have read all the post last night for about 2 hours and still not sure what the problem is so can anyone please advise

the tempreature guage has never reached even half way, but the big engine compartment fan comes on sometimes as i can hear it going ( not the 2 rad fans ) sometimes when you start up when the engine is still warm, it does seem to be loosing some water somehow, i cant see any leaks, the water in header tank is clear, it has the yellow cap with 1.1 on, and the red has 1.1 red cap.
the other day i noticed some whiteish smoke coming from the back just on tick over and that was a sign to me that all was not well, i have checked today and the water had gone down, so topped it up, the rad top pipe is warm and the engine pipe, but the bottom rad pipe seemed cold. all other water pipes i could find seem warm, also cant see any throthing of oil in water or visa versa,

So i think i need to do this flushing filling thing but not really sure how to do that. i think there is air in the system.
Any help guys would be very much appreciated i dont mind spending on it but dont want to waste the money on replacing expensive items when there is no need

kind regards Phill
[email protected]

There's plenty of info on here on how to bleed the system phil, try putting bleed coolant/ antifreeze in the search engine.

The best way to determine if there is a leak in the cylinder head is to get a qualified garage to do a chemical dye test on the coolant.

Wait till dandywarhol reads the post,he'll put you in the right direction

Phillip, the big scavenger fan runs to cool the engine bay, that is normal, You will have to check for pinprick leaks with the engine running. What is the quality and strength of the coolant, if you have been topping up with water it may be a little too weak. You will get a small amount of smoke at start up, I would worry if it was smoking constantly Have you had the sound of gurgling coming from the expansion bottle? I ask because I wonder what makes you think you have an airlock? Any more questions just ask, plenty of advice on bleeding the system is available on site, or p.m. me and I will help you with any questions

It all sounds o.k. to me apart from the loss of coolant. You must find out if you have a leak somwhere. If you haven't a leak then you may well have a more serious problem. Look for leaks at all pipe joints,bleed pipe (under passenger seat ,runs across top of alternator) check the metal large bore pipe that connects the rubber top hose to the rubber top engine hose for pinprick holes(very hard to see, only with engine running and up to temp pressure) you may see a fine mist.
Bleeding the system is Quite easy and I recommend the SEE SAW method. If you want to know more about that contact me.

Hello guys thanks the replies, yes i have heard some gluging noises hence i think there is air in there somwhere, so if you can send me the idiots guide for bleeding that would be great as i think thats my first call of port, i have got her up to warm and hot and still cant see any leaks.
thanks again for your time chaps, much appreciated.
pm me or email
also fitted new glow plugs today so that got ride of the black/grey smoke on start up from cold , so one job done today, just the big problem now
[email protected]

I Cant speak for anyone else, but in my case, i undone the bleed pipe (under passenger seat,clipped to side of chassis) removed the bung to drop all the coolant. (engine off, and cold)

Inserted hose into header tank,and set it to a steady flow of warm water,for about ten minutes to clear the system.

Still with hose running warm water, with level of header tank hovering around max mark, started engine.

Be ready to turn the flow of water up at this point to compensate for the level drop as water starts to circulate.

All this is still with the bleed pipe open by the way.

In my case, i ha the notion that the engine had now been running for 15 minutes,and at no stage had the level dropped below the max mark,so it was time to start introducing anti freeze into the equation.

I'd bought two five litre tubs of anti freeze,one left neat, the other diluted into a 50/50 mix of warm water in a bucket.

I put in neat antifreeze into the flow of water running into the header tank,till i could see the (by now) diluted anti freeze come out of the bleed tube, quickly switch to the pre made anti freeze solution, whilst telling your helper to swich off the hose,then without allowing the level to drop in the header tank start filling the header tank with the 50/50 mix.

When you have nearly used the bucket, get the helper to replace the bung.... ( the helper wont thank you for this!)

Allow the engine to continue to tickover, with the heaters on full.

When you are happy that the level has stabilized then replace the header tank cap.


Allow the engine to reach full operating temperature, rev if you'd like to speed up the process... but its essential that you continually keep a visual on the header tank level.

I mixed up more anti freeze whilst waiting for the engine to warm fully,and kept it at the ready if the water level dropped.

The system is now pressurized,the water is hot, remove the header cap slowly (use gloves) if any air is present in the system, it will try to burp itself out from where the pressure is being released. (the header tank)

The water level may rise whilst doing this.

Replace the cap,allow the engine to tick over for a few more minutes. then switch off.

Allow the engine to cool.

When you return a couple of hours later,you will notice the level has dropped to just below the minimum mark.

Dont panic! its perfectly normal.

Just remove the cap, and top up slowly, replace cap when just below max mark. (pressure has dropped now,you want it showing max when hot, not when cold)

Restart engine,move the bongo onto a bone dry area,get a helper to hold a fast idle,whilst you keep a visual on the level,and whilst checking for leaks,bring back up to temperature,make sure the heaters are blowing hot.

Switch off, then check water levels daily for a couple of weeks, keep some pre mixed coolant in the boot just in case

This isn't the official mazda routine, its a way i came up with that definitely could not introduce an airlock in the first place.

You know me peeps, i stand to be corrected if i fluffed it....

(p.s. this was nearly 12 months ago now, with no sign of coolant loss, or overheating...touchwood!)

Excellent! I will add this to the fact sheet.

The fact that the return pipe is cold would suggest there is a blockage somewhere, prior to bleeding all the air out give it a good flushing out. It is the blockage (or a leak) that starts the overheating problems but the white smoke suggests you may be too late. I would suggest it should not be used until the blockage is freed, I have heard of new gaskets/heads being fitted only for it to go again less than six months afterwards because the system was not properly flushed. At the first sign of water loss or gurgle, flush it out, you know it makes sense.

Bumbly1 wrote:The fact that the return pipe is cold would suggest there is a blockage somewhere,

Dunno about that Bumbly1 - there was a recent poll and most people's bottom hose didn't get hot. It seemed that the heater pipes cooled everything under normal use.

Thanks a lot guys especially big daddy cain, thanks for taking the time to explain, i tried it today but due to having no hot and cold running water outside i had to change it slightly,
so i had to warm the engine up to get the thermostatic valve to open then kept the engine running started to fill header tank with cold water ( no choice ) opened the bleed valve under the seat it all came flushing out as you would expect and some air gulps down this for about 10 mins, temp gauge stayed quite low, then blocked the bleed with the cap, turned the engine off, let it cool down, i never let the header tank even get half empty just incase air got in, then i used the radiator cap to release the water from the header tank to the min mark let it all cool down, then put the cap on the header tank started her up temp gauge was fine although it always has been, water tank level went to max and stayed there, let her cool down and it went back to min again.

I did notice however that whilst the bleed pipe was open with water gushing out on tick over and water going in the header it was gushing out and then if i took the revs to 2500 it dribbled out !!! is that to be expected do you think

So i think i got it sorted but will try it out and keep a water bottle with me just incase,
can anybody see why this logically shouldnt work ?
anyway will add to this tread as it changes,

thanks again for the advice guys will keep you posted
regards Phill

Fingers crossed - any white smoke?

francophile1947 wrote:

Bumbly1 wrote:The fact that the return pipe is cold would suggest there is a blockage somewhere,

Dunno about that Bumbly1 - there was a recent poll and most people's bottom hose didn't get hot. It seemed that the heater pipes cooled everything under normal use.

I suppose logically it should be at virtually its coolest at that point, lets hope he has fixed it. I confess to being a bit out of touch - about most things

Don't keep putting yourself down Tom - we'll do it for you..........

Problem back again big time, all seemed to be fine since the last post, until today when i got home i seen steam coming from the front so poped up the bonnet and yep the rad was chucking out steam and whistling away it had split at the top, original rad, anyway ordered a new genuine radiator, checked the thermostate in a saucepan, ( wife not impressed ) but it opens fine and closes.
so really want to find the waterpump and check that before i put it all back together again,

so where is the water pump and can it be checked whilst in place or do i have to remove it, i am right in presumming that not much to them and if it goes around it good,
Any help lads would be great,
Thanks phill

phillip obc

At the risk of being boring, check that the system is properly flushed out as it is probably sediment that caused the blockage that caused the radiator to blow in the first place.