Bongo Fury

my van is sorn as was broken at the moment but i today got a job (horray)and need it by monday.
i think its the thermostate and have got one but i want to double check what i think before i go ahead.

van runs and needle goes all the way over to bloody hot then you get a gurgle and the needle drops to normal. it done this 3 times and the sound came later and later (so hotter and hotter) so i stopped using it and took it off the road.

i got a thermostat and have joined the memebers area a month ago in order to join in and get this and a few other summer jobs done.

so questions are this
1. is there anything i should be trying to sort out first before the thermostat.
2. is the thermostat hard to change or can a bit of a plank like me take it on
3. any spare parts i need-gaskets etc
4. any tips to make it easy and troubles to watch out for

thanks guys for your help.

DO NOT RUN IT ANY MORE, this is very important

Hope that you have not run the engine for any length of time as you may have done more damage.

I reckon that you need to get the engine bled properly. Sounds like there is an air lock in the system.

An expert will be along soon with more help and knowledge.

All the best.

Do a search on system bleeding there is loads of info.

This link will give some info on thermostat.

http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... 80&start=0

Easier to change thermostat on a 2WD as there is no propshaft in the way. Some have changed 4WD thermostat with propshaft in place (from underneath maybe? v. old advice but have a search and maybe it will turn up) but workshop manual says disconnect it. I've changed my 2WD one without problems (need to make sure you put new one in the right way up - I nearly didn't even though I think there is a little locator nib to help you get it right - so note whch way up the old one is when you take it out). I didn't need any special parts.

Obviously, you are going to have to make sure you bleed it properly. I did print the advice from the workshop manual on here recently. Have a search using the word 'manual' and the thread with that advice should be shortlisted (about 1 weeek ago I typed it I think)

Good luck and congrats on the new job.

To be honest I reckon you've got more going on than a thermostat problem, very difficult to remote diagnose,
Is it losing water?
If you've had to top it up, how much & did you bleed it as per fact sheets?
How far did you drive it with the gauge off the scale & how long did it take to get there?
Unless you know what you're doing, get it recovered to your nearest bongo friendly garage for a proper diagnosis, or you have the potential for causing more damage than you may have done already if it's gone off scale on the temp gauge 3 times.

There we go, the experts are rolling in now.

the needle went to thats a bit high the first time then returned to normal
second time was o dear its done it again and this time its hot then again returned to normal
3rd time was o sxxx , im in trouible and my van is going to die. but each time it did return to normal temp the second what i think is the thermostate openend so something triggerd it to work normally and once it had the van went fine for the rest of that trip.
i have tried to log into the members section so has the password been changed recently? been 2 months maybe since i logged in?

i take it by bleeding it properly i dont have to worry about it overheating as i bleed it???

once i can log into it i shall try the bleeding first then and see how i go.

Password gets changed around the 6th of every month - check your spam filters if the email hasn't come through.
Bleeding it is no guarantee it won't overheat, just that you are eliminating airlocks.
You may be lucky & it's the stat, whip it out & see if it opens in a pan of water as per the thread that Lizard linked to.

londonron,
check your water pump. My gauge went up and down turned out to be leak on the pump.

Is it losing water at all Ron?

mail account is down and have emailed the people to ask why i cant access my emails. not having any luck am i?
so much for getting ready to start my new job.

will check for loss . so far have spent 2 hours mucking around trying to get into members area coutesy of my email provider . who do i see about changing my email to my hotmail account?

Ron as per previous post we had fluctuating temp gauge. Didn't look as though we were losing water but local mechanic came round and had a fumble with it. Turned out it was water pump that had gone. Cost about £60 inc vat for Part. we also got a loud gurgeling sound as it overheated.

Others may be able to advise better but that's what happened to us.

I also noticed that we got no hot air from the heater even when the temp gauge was sitting at it's normal level. Hope this helps

londonron wrote:mail account is down and have emailed the people to ask why i cant access my emails. not having any luck am i?
so much for getting ready to start my new job.

will check for loss . so far have spent 2 hours mucking around trying to get into members area coutesy of my email provider . who do i see about changing my email to my hotmail account?

I think you'll have to contact Ian to change that on your membership details, give him a shout or drop him an email. We (admins) can change your email address on the forum, so any notifications go to your hotmail if they don't already, but we can't access the membership database.

all done and emailed. i await his masters voice

missfixit70 wrote:To be honest I reckon you've got more going on than a thermostat problem, very difficult to remote diagnose,
Is it losing water?
If you've had to top it up, how much & did you bleed it as per fact sheets?
How far did you drive it with the gauge off the scale & how long did it take to get there?
Unless you know what you're doing, get it recovered to your nearest bongo friendly garage for a proper diagnosis, or you have the potential for causing more damage than you may have done already if it's gone off scale on the temp gauge 3 times.

I go along with all you have said....head gasket or head is my bet

londonron wrote:mail account is down and have emailed the people to ask why i cant access my emails. not having any luck am i?
so much for getting ready to start my new job.

will check for loss . so far have spent 2 hours mucking around trying to get into members area coutesy of my email provider . who do i see about changing my email to my hotmail account?

Did you not check the coolant level when it overheated?, could the temp gauge returning to normal have been an air pocket around the sensor, ie no water to give a temp reading?