Bongo Fury

Hi,

newbie here so please go gentle!! my wife and I have found a bongo that we really want to buy. however when speaking to the chap selling, he mentioned that it used about half a cup of water on journeys. He said that this had started happening about a year and a half ago and that it always used the about the same amount no matter where the journey was to.

I know a couple of people who have bongo's and they say that they use virtually no water.

The chap has said that he's had the bongo checked out fully by a mechanic for hose leaks, he also said that he'd had it sniff tested for head gasket issues, and also pressure tested for head gasket issues and that everything had been ok.

We are stiill unsure as to whether to buy the van as the last thing we want is to buy a van and then find that the head gasket or something else goes at some point.

does anyone have any advice as to what the problem could be, or whether it is a common problem in bongos?

thanks in advance.,

tom

Walk away - plenty out there at a good price - have a look on the for sale page on here on the main site. Any issues with coolant could well end up costing a small fortune. Worth spending a few evenings going through old threads on here - especially in techie - don't let it put you off, all the bad news ends up here - like A&E, but it'll give you an idea of what to look out for.
Welcome to the forum
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Completely agree with Kirsty, don't touch it unless it's about £1500 cheaper than anything else, and you're prepared to have it recovered and fixed.

Virtualy all the coolant horror stories on here include lines like, "I knew it was loosing a bit of water", of "I was going to get it bled at the weekend".

Warm welcome, and don't be put off, lots of Bongos give long and trouble free service.

'Course he could be overfilling the reservoir and it just gets blown out, but I don't think I'd risk it.

Lol......slow down MFI. And you 2 Bob.
Thomas if your mechanically minded and you know how to test drive to find a problem don't discount it.
If all hoses are sound check out the water pump. if what he is telling you is true it could well be the problem.

Could be, but with so many bongos out there at a decent price, why take the risk?
I suppose you could argue that he's being honest & as long as the price reflects the possible outlay as Bob says, & you're willing to go through the aggro... but I stand by my opinion

well, the temp gauge didn't move at all on the test drive. bloke said that he'd never seen any change in temperature no matter where he drove.

think may well walk away as a few more are appearing at the moment but rest of van was spotless and at a reasonable price..

Temp guage is as much use as a chocolate fireguard, by the time it's moved from 11 oclock, it's usually too late unfortunately - it's seriously dumbed down so people don't get scared with the little needle moving about You can fit a mason alarm which resensitises it & gives you a settable audible alarm.

Welcome thomasw88. Hmmmmm - tricky one. TGP has a good point. If you can be sure what the vendor says is genuine (more than one Bongo owner, including me and the fastidious BigDaddyCain, have had to add a little water now and then). Trouble is, can you be sure he hasn't had an overheating episode through coolant loss. Also, have you looked at lots of Bongos before getting the feeling that this is 'the one' for you. If the vendor is genuine you should be able to ask if yu can get a garage to look at the leak problem to report on the cause. be honest and say that you are concerned to make sure it has not had an overheating problem. I challenged my vendor in an honest friendly way about the aircon not working, and asked if I could get it checked. Turned out it needed more than regassing - a pipe had burst. He got it fixed and the sale proceeded.

The thing is not to be rushed or be impatient as there will be another Bongo along before long. Ask the awkward questions etc. and if you feel unhappy then walk away. But it could be a good purchase if you can get the unknowns sorted to your satisfaction.

Good luck and keep us posted. We love a good story on BF

And i respect your opinion MFI.
Thomas, the gauge wont move untill it is ready to explode.
The test drive needs to be around town to get the temp up (gauge at 11 o clock) then a run on the motorway at speed for AT LEAST 20mls. If it still runs ok he is probably honest about it. If he won't let you do a real test drive walk away. If you are a numpty when it comes to spannering, walk away.

Could well be a poor seal on the pressure cap...or...a pinprick hole in one of the metal pipes (though I would have expected that to get worse in 18 months)

There are several things you can do here.

By the sound of it the seller is an honest bloke who has done his best to have the problem fixed by a mechanic.

If or not the mechanic is Bongo smart is another matter.

Tgp may well be on the money about the water pump seal.

Haydn too regarding the pressure cap & pin hole in the metal pipes
(Although I would expect if the mechanic is half smart he would have replaced the cap first up)

If a pressure test has failed to find the leak perhaps they should put some of Haydns coolant dye in the system.

My money is on the water pump seal as they often leak when running but not at rest.
I would expect a pin hole to show up on the pressure test if done properly.
An overnight test with dye not a 2 minute test by a busy mechanic is best.

If the leak is in one of the heater cores it can be hard to detect

Why not ask him to take it to a good Bongo Garage, tell them the story and get their opinion?

Don't buy it until it is fixed.

It's a buyers market

Hi Tom BODY SWERVE>

Malc..

thanks for the advice bongo peeps.

think the body swerve one is the overwhelming message.