Before you take the head off check this 1st,all is not lost

[stevedon]

I had the usual problems with my bongo.
Random overheating
Water loss.
I replaced the thermostat and hey presto no problems now.The engine watchdog rarely reads a temp over 92 degrees.
95 towing a boat up hill.

[mikeonb4c]

I had the usual problems with my bongo.
Random overheating
Water loss.
I replaced the thermostat and hey presto no problems now.The engine watchdog rarely reads a temp over 92 degrees.
95 towing a boat up hill.

Great news and I'm not the least bit surprised to hear of your good fortune. It seems to me that instead of theorising too much about what might be causing what, a good approach is to knock down one by one the things that could be causing the underlying problem, starting with the simplest. Computers are the supreme example of this!

Mind you, once the head is cooked it'll take more than changing the thermostat to fix it

[waycar8]

I think thats one of the most common problems of the overheating episodes from what Ive read on the forum this is the way I have grasp the most common problems and what .....

1st, split hoses/pin pricks in the hoses
2nd, air in system, not bled properly (especially after a service)
3rd, thermostat failure
4th, blocked rad
5th, water pump
6th, head gasket
7th, cracked head
8th, rear heater rad/matrix blocked.
only heard of a couple of cases of this but worth checking out as once they replaced the rear heater matrix cured the overheating episodes, some say this wont cause an overheating issue but, if its partially blocked then reduces the circulation and can allow air to trap inside, also if any crud gets loose and flows around the sytem, can cause a blockage somewhere else resulting in a possible overheating issue.