Bongo Fury

I was curious as to a rough percentage of forum members that have actually had issues with overheating bongo's....

This is a difficult poll to set really, as "coolant system related issues" covers a huge spectrum of problems.

Basically, if all you have ever had to do to the bongo is top up the water every once in a while,then i'd say that qualifies for ticking the "NO" box.

If you have had a mysterious (or ongoing) excessive coolant loss issue, then please tick yes...

Could anybody stumbling across this post please tick the appropriate box? You don't need to catalogue the problem's you have, or haven't had...just a tick will do...

Feel free to list the problem's if you so desire.

Nope not me, clean bill of health so far but i bet this thread has put the kiss of death on it tho BDC, but iv'also heard that the v6 isn't as prone dunno if it true tho can't see it really same amount of pipes at the end of the day

Here is my list

But please consider that my bongo has 212,000km on the clock of which I've done about125,000 in the last 2.5 years.

1. Bottom hose froze up overnight so got about 3 miles when engine overheated...steam everywhere! Parked up and thawed out bottom hose...topped up with water and away I went. Cause lack of anti freeze.

2. Radiator leaking along joint at top between plasic and metal. Allsorts tried but leak persisted...changed rad for new one.

3. Water pump bearing collaped causing major sudden water loss.
Cause..over tightened belt.

4. Bleed pipe burst...sudden loss of coolant on motorway at speed...engine cooked. cut off pipe and refitted..filled up with water and bled...all ok. Cause bleed pipe chafing near alternator.

5. Hose from engine to rear heater matrix causing slow but steady coolant loss...pinhole leak...mechanic cut 1" off and refitted pipe but warned that it would need replacing.

6. During MOT, up on lift with engine running, mechanic 'wiggled' the same hose and it sheared off causing immediate massive coolant loss all over his head! Hose replaced with new one. Old hose was severely perished...an accident waiting to happen.

I now check coolant levels on a daily basis.

On each occasion I/we have simply repaired the problem...refilled and bled the system and carried on. Tough old engine

cheffy34 wrote: i bet this thread has put the kiss of death on it tho BDC,

I certainly hope not cheffy, i'm trying to see if the bongo is a vehicle that can be labelled as a "problem" vehicle.... To the unitiated, a quick glimpse of the techie stuff queries, could, in my opinion,indicate that there is a undrlying problem with the cooling system...I'm kind of hoping that this poll will show otherwise...

I voted "no"...The only issue i had with overheating was when i hadn't replaced my header cap properly,which is hardly the bongo's fault...merely the fault of the dopey driver!...

im a yes man ......my diesel had overheating issues ....but all down to lack of maintenance .....was in the country 3 years before i bought it....and i got the thin end of the wedge .....learned my lesson ...now have a v6 fresh import and will be maintaining it ,so as to try and prevent these problems again......its not all bad news

Cheer flippa Thats a point... any V6 bongo owners had any issues? Still click on the poll,but mention if you have a V6 please? Thanks.

BDC Like you, with a coolant problem-free Bongo, I would love to get this issue laid once and for all.

A very recent poll in this section asking about 'catastrophic' cooling system problems

http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... highlight=

Got 62 votes: 80% said no.

I think this is a different, and equally useful poll, which even given the potential biased sample* will also reveal a minority have had problems.

We know Ian has had 5,000 people join the club (probably not the same as 5,000 members, though). Nobody seems to be able to find out how many Bongos there are in the country, but consensus might be 10,000. So a response of 100 people would be regarded as a reasonable sample if we could be sure it was a proper sample.

If someone were to go round the, say 200, Bongos at this year's Bash and take a simple survey asking some structured questions, we would be getting nearer to a better sample, but even so not a random one**.

I would be willing to design the questionaire - which would need to have quite a number of layers of 'branching' questions*** to get to the bottom of this, but don't think we will be at the Bash this year, so if anyone wants to volunteer to do the survey...


*Problem is with these polls, not enough people vote, and you are likely to get more people who have had cooling problems to look at the thread and vote 'yes'. In other words it is a 'self selecting sample'

**People going to the Bash are more likely to be real enthusiasts, not just casual owners, they will tend to know more about Bongos, and be aware of the risk of overheating, and maybe prevented a major failure through knowledge, vigilence and even fitting a coolant alarm

*** like "if so, did replacing the hose resolve the problem" then "if not..." and so on

cheffy34 wrote:Nope not me, clean bill of health so far but i bet this thread has put the kiss of death on it tho BDC, but iv'also heard that the v6 isn't as prone dunno if it true tho can't see it really same amount of pipes at the end of the day

My thoughts exactly when i voted "none",hope we`re wrong Cheffy

Brian

trevd01 wrote:

*Problem is with these polls, not enough people vote, and you are likely to get more people who have had cooling problems to look at the thread and vote 'yes'. In other words it is a 'self selecting sample'

**People going to the Bash are more likely to be real enthusiasts, not just casual owners, they will tend to know more about Bongos, and be aware of the risk of overheating, and maybe prevented a major failure through knowledge, vigilence and even fitting a coolant alarm

*** like "if so, did replacing the hose resolve the problem" then "if not..." and so on

Yep, i reckon a disproportianate percentage of people reading this post will vote "yes" as its obviously more of an issue for those that have had problems.

Feel free to slap me if anybody clicking "no probs" then gets a overheating episode....

I voted "No"
Ian told me, at last year's East Anglian Bash, that the majority of members don't use the forum. Judging by the number of first posts (often when they have a problem) from owners who have had their Bongos for a while, is it reasonable to assume that those who don't post have not had any trouble?

Although it's too late for the latest newsletter, we could insert a questionnaire in the next one (May) and this would go to all Webplus and Postal members. Plus we could ask Web members to complete one online. We have 3,300 members, and assuming a 20% response rate, we would obtain a healthy sample.

So if you want to design a questioonaire Trev, that's fine by me. But at the same time, we could usefully ask some other questions as well I reckon, but that can be the subject of another thread.

Ian wrote:Although it's too late for the latest newsletter, we could insert a questionnaire in the next one (May) and this would go to all Webplus and Postal members. Plus we could ask Web members to complete one online. We have 3,300 members, and assuming a 20% response rate, we would obtain a healthy sample.

So if you want to design a questioonaire Trev, that's fine by me. But at the same time, we could usefully ask some other questions as well I reckon, but that can be the subject of another thread.

That's an excellent idea. It might have spin-off benefit in getting non forum users to try it out. They might then discover they have been missing out on a key benefit of BF membership

PS - Wouldn't it be great if, by that time, we had a database that allowed users to self-complete (allowing only one entry per membership number or w.h.y) and - for those sending postal returns - their results to be aded by central admin. The database would be primed with all curent members so it would also be easy to see how many returns had been received, plus how many had been done self-server online and how many put in by central admin. I believe this would be very quick and simple to set up and could be valuable and form part of something scaleable over time. Maybe Ozric could advise / comment?

PPS - I've replied 'No' to the poll, but I know it's only a matter of time before a hose lets go on me (Ooooh matron!). Hence the low coolant alarm fitted to Mango Bongo. I can now enjoy making bets with myself over how long the hoses will last

Ian wrote:Although it's too late for the latest newsletter, we could insert a questionnaire in the next one (May) and this would go to all Webplus and Postal members.

Yep, good idea boss, in the meantime....keep voting!

Good thinking for the above too mike....

Ongoing.

Puts my mind at rest a little seeing the current results.

I know from using other vehicle forums in the past a lot of users only post when they have problems.

Probably guilty of it myself.

Yes, water pump leak, replaced the pump.
Near catastrophy with a swollen top hose but noticed it before it burst.