Head gasket - not convinced

[CRB099]

I have just purchased a 1995 2.5 TD Bongo, and inherited a temp gauge fault. The heater does not get up to temperature, but the fan works fine. I purchased a new thermostat from the Bongo shop, only for the garage who fitted it to tell me that the system pressurised immediately and they suspected a cylinder head gasket failure. My question to this is: My Bongo shows no signs of that. No loss of power, no loss of water, no loss of oil either from the sump or out of the gasket, no smoke or water from the exhaust. I am at a loss as to what to do next. She drives well and I am using it on a daily basis. Am i risking making things worse by driving her? Anyone any ideas?

Craig

[mikeonb4c]

Welcome Craig. Whereabouts are you based? Does your garage know much about Bongos and their quirky coolant system? Are you getting white steam/smoke out of your exhuast on start-up? Is the coolant level in the header tank dropping? can the garage do a sniffer test to check for the presence of exhaust gas traces in the coolant?

Let us know and we can move forward from there. I can't personally think why you should do it much harm if it is running fine and not overheating. But be aware the Bongo temp. gauge doesn't tell you much about that as it is heavily damped in hte 11.00 oclock position and only moves towards 'H' when its almost too late to be useful as an early warning.

No doubt others more knowledgeable than I will be along to comment shortly.

Mike

[CRB099]

Mike
Thanks. There is a little smoke on start up, but disappears after a minute. The coolant level is fine in the header tank. I topped it up last Fri, and it's still fine. I am based in South Wilts. The 2nd garage I took it to for a second opinion said, they wouldn't charge me a fiver for doing it because they were convinced of the gasket failure, so they didn't do it. The only thing I forgot to mention was, the first garage took the original stat out told me that the 'innerds' had been taken out, therefore it is left in the open position permanently.

??

[teenmal]

Hi Craig,
sounds like you may still have air in the system.

Cheers Malc.

[CRB099]

Thanks Malc. Would the way forward now be to bleed the system and refill?

[dandywarhol]

Inards removed means someone's had problems before and bodged it to sort an overheating problem out. Only conclusive way to check is a Co2 sniff check with a gas analyser or dye.

[francophile1947]

If you had to top the coolant up last week, there's something wrong. The fact that the thermostat was butchered also leads me to think it's had overheating problems. I'm sorry, but I think the garage may be right, so where did you get it from. If a dealer, take it back for them to fix.
Put your location in your profile, so that it stays visible all the time

[mikeonb4c]

..these guys have pretty much summed it up. I wonder also what first caused the heating problem (was the circulation poor, radiator partially blocked or whatever). I also wonder what - even with a private sale - the law says about selling goods without declaring a known fault that could be of material interest to the purchasor (and from the sound of it the vendor must have known there was a fault). If our resident BF lawyer (FatCatLawyer) happens to read this, maybe he could comment. Good luck and keep us posted.

[CRB099]

Thanks guys. Private seller I'm afraid. As per usual, he swears blind he new nothing. Would your suggestions be to bite the bullet and get the head done or carry on and see how she goes?

Craig

[westonwarrior]

How much coolant do you lose?

[teenmal]

How much coolant do you lose?

No loss of power, no loss of water, no loss of oil either from the sump or out of the gasket, no smoke or water from the exhaust. I am at a loss as to what to do next. She drives well and I am using it on a daily basis

[stilldesperate]

I had an "expert" tell me - on two occasions- that my head gasket and/or head had gone. A sniff test showed it hadn't. Can you take it to an MOT test centre, and ask them to check? My local centre did it for free (It's a big expense to get the head done if it's unnecessary work)

SD

[teenmal]

I have just purchased a 1995 2.5 TD Bongo, and inherited a temp gauge fault. The heater does not get up to temperature, but the fan works fine. I purchased a new thermostat from the Bongo shop, only for the garage who fitted it to tell me that the system pressurised immediately and they suspected a cylinder head gasket failure. My question to this is: My Bongo shows no signs of that. No loss of power, no loss of water, no loss of oil either from the sump or out of the gasket, no smoke or water from the exhaust. I am at a loss as to what to do next. She drives well and I am using it on a daily basis. Am i risking making things worse by driving her? Anyone any ideas?

Craig

Hi Craig,could you explain this bit.........

I have just purchased a 1995 2.5 TD Bongo, and inherited a temp gauge fault.


What is the problem with the temp gauge.

Cheers Malc.

[westonwarrior]

the heater did not get hot



Does it now the stats been replaced?

I would wait and see and check levels every day

[francophile1947]

If it's not losing any coolant, why did you have to top it up last Friday
I find it hard to believe the seller didn't know there was something wrong - I'm sure I'd notice if my heater didn't work in the winter