Bongo Fury

Hi All,
Earlier in the year, January 1st to be exact, our bongo had a metal cooling pipe split. We thought at the time that the enginne did not over heat and we were lucky. Anyway my local garage replaced the pipe and filled up with new coolant and we have been keeping a close eye on things. It now seems that we are using a fair bit of oil (about 2.5 pints since it hapened) and getting quite a bit of smoke at start up. The coolant level is ok. I have got a mason alarm fitted which indicates no sign's of engine overheating. I'm thinking head gasket problem but not sure, just wanted to have your thoughts on this. I will talk to the mechanic sometime this week.
Cheers,
Mike.

You don't say how many miles you've done on that 2.5 pints
Is the exhaust smoke blue and does it smell of burning oil?
Is there any trace of oil in the coolant water?
Any visible oil leaks around the engine?

Hi John,
We've probably covered around 6 to 7 hundred miles, the smoke does look quite dark blue, but only during a cold start. I will check the coolant closely tomorrow for any oil but I have'nt noticed any during my daily check.. There is oil showing at the top of the engine is this the rocker cover gasket ?
Thanks for your interest,
Mike.

Shouldn't have used 2.5 pints in 700 miles.
If the engine is burning the oil from a head gasket leak, there will usually be lots of smoke all the time you are accelerating - same applies if it's a broken piston ring. A worn valve guide usually causes it to smoke when first accelerating. In all cases the exhaust really stinks of burning oil - you can't mistake it, it smells nothing like the normal diesel exhaust.
Top of the engine is the rocker cover, but, if it was an oil leak, there'd be oil everywhere (2.5 pints covers a big area )
If it's not a leak, I'm afraid it sounds expensive.