Bongo Fury

Hi could I have some advice please, I wish to flush out the cooling system on my 1998 2 ltr. I have until now steered away from doing it as the system works fine but the coolant looks tired and also its a rust colour. Bongo imported in November this year.

I have been reading about all the pitfalls of doing a rad flush then I noticed on another post that the 2 Ltr is a much simpler operation as there is no bleed pipe as in the V6 and Oil Burners. Is this true? It stated on the post that any airlocks are dealt with through a pipe on the 2 ltr that runs from the top of the thermostat housing straight to the header tank?

If anyone has flushed there 2 ltr and experienced the fact that is self bleeds as described elsewhere I will attempt to do it but I am only relying on the one post.

Advise please Thanks Andy

Pm sent andy

bigdaddycain wrote:Pm sent andy

Thanks

Andyiow, there is a bleed/expansion pipe but this is permanent from the engine thermostat housing direct to TOP of the expansion tank under the front bonnet, therefore the diesel instructions on unpluging and holding up the bleed pipe is not needed for the 2.0l. (you will see that under the 'passenger' seat side of the engine there is no bleed pipe - its on the thermostat housing under the 'drivers' seat) When I did my coolant change I used the same engine revs and times just the same as for the diesel instructions, just to be on the safe side, I had no problems with air locks ! Very easy job - note, have some beers ready as these help with the operation
I flushed my system first (it also was rusty colour, then used longlife red antifreeze).
You can see the bleed pipe 15.381A to Z and pipe (no.2) 15.383 to top of expansion tank in the 'lushprojects' diagram.
http://www.lushprojects.com/bongopartsm ... 1of02.html
Go for it and have fun........

olebrock wrote:Andyiow, there is a bleed/expansion pipe but this is permanent from the engine thermostat housing direct to TOP of the expansion tank under the front bonnet, therefore the diesel instructions on unpluging and holding up the bleed pipe is not needed for the 2.0l. (you will see that under the 'passenger' seat side of the engine there is no bleed pipe - its on the thermostat housing under the 'drivers' seat) When I did my coolant change I used the same engine revs and times just the same as for the diesel instructions, just to be on the safe side, I had no problems with air locks ! Very easy job - note, have some beers ready as these help with the operation
I flushed my system first (it also was rusty colour, then used longlife red antifreeze).
You can see the bleed pipe 15.381A to Z and pipe (no.2) 15.383 to top of expansion tank in the 'lushprojects' diagram.
http://www.lushprojects.com/bongopartsm ... 1of02.html
Go for it and have fun........

Thats brilliant and thanks I will do it at the weekend and get back to you. It seems that the 2.0 Ltr is a lot simpler to do. Did you use any particular flushing agent to do the job? Was the heater smelling at all before you did it like a musty smell? I am pleased with my Bongo and I seem to be getting at least 28mpg at the moment so I am pleased I made the 2 ltr choice in the end after much soul searching.

If it's smelling musty, it's probably the aircon matrix clogged with crud that's been drawn in through the intake & fan, to clean it out properly, you'll need to take off the air ducting under the bonnet to access the aircon matrix - http://www.lushprojects.com/bongopartsm ... mgno=.html. Worth checking the drain hole in the plastic housing under the heater motor is big enough so it doesn't get blocked & the fan motor drowns. I'd recommend at least 10mm diameter.

Andy, I just used a single stage Wynns rad flush, but a two stage rad flush is recommended by some of the Bongo experts. It depends on the state of your existing coolant and how much time you want to take. I'm nearly 67 and I had no trouble, but changing the alt/p,steer mini-v belt will have to wait until warmer weather, I have to crawl under the van for this one
Do a 'search' and read up on all the 'coolant change' suggestions on this site and you will get many good tips and methods.
If you haven't already got a temp alarm I would recommend the Mason alarm (very easy to fit and very useful when watching the temp while coolant changing etc.) and a Hadyn coolant level alarm (many articles on both types also on this site).
28 mpg is pretty good, I get about 23 mpg in town traffic.
Are there any more 2.0l on the IOW you could meet up with ?

missfixit70 wrote:If it's smelling musty, it's probably the aircon matrix clogged with crud that's been drawn in through the intake & fan, to clean it out properly, you'll need to take off the air ducting under the bonnet to access the aircon matrix - http://www.lushprojects.com/bongopartsm ... mgno=.html. Worth checking the drain hole in the plastic housing under the heater motor is big enough so it doesn't get blocked & the fan drowns. I'd recommend at least 10mm diameter.

Drain hole totally blocked thanks Kirsty, now unblocked doesnt seem to be so bad now I suppose it will take time to go away

Andy

olebrock wrote:Andy, I just used a single stage Wynns rad flush, but a two stage rad flush is recommended by some of the Bongo experts. It depends on the state of your existing coolant and how much time you want to take. I'm nearly 67 and I had no trouble, but changing the alt/p,steer mini-v belt will have to wait until warmer weather, I have to crawl under the van for this one
Do a 'search' and read up on all the 'coolant change' suggestions on this site and you will get many good tips and methods.
If you haven't already got a temp alarm I would recommend the Mason alarm (very easy to fit and very useful when watching the temp while coolant changing etc.) and a Hadyn coolant level alarm (many articles on both types also on this site).
28 mpg is pretty good, I get about 23 mpg in town traffic.
Are there any more 2.0l on the IOW you could meet up with ?

Thanks for the further advice I have read up on the other advice and will take note of the procedures. Not seen any more 2.0l on the Island but loads of Oil Burners. Bongos are pretty popular down here and we have a specialist in Bembridge who I have not yet had to visit (fingers crossed). I am however still pleased I went for the 2.0l its a lot quieter and for me who wont need to tow plenty powerful enough.
Will still let you know how I got on and thanks again for the help and advice

andyiow wrote:

missfixit70 wrote:If it's smelling musty, it's probably the aircon matrix clogged with crud that's been drawn in through the intake & fan, to clean it out properly, you'll need to take off the air ducting under the bonnet to access the aircon matrix - http://www.lushprojects.com/bongopartsm ... mgno=.html. Worth checking the drain hole in the plastic housing under the heater motor is big enough so it doesn't get blocked & the fan drowns. I'd recommend at least 10mm diameter.

Drain hole totally blocked thanks Kirsty, now unblocked doesnt seem to be so bad now I suppose it will take time to go away

Andy

If it's the drain hole under the fan motor, may be worth checking the motor is ok, there's a factsheet in the members area. If it's got wet inside you could end up with it seizing up, blowing the fan resistor/control pack. did you just check from underneath? or did you strip out the ducting & clean the matrix ( & aircon matrix drain) as well?

missfixit70 wrote:

andyiow wrote:

missfixit70 wrote:If it's smelling musty, it's probably the aircon matrix clogged with crud that's been drawn in through the intake & fan, to clean it out properly, you'll need to take off the air ducting under the bonnet to access the aircon matrix - http://www.lushprojects.com/bongopartsm ... mgno=.html. Worth checking the drain hole in the plastic housing under the heater motor is big enough so it doesn't get blocked & the fan drowns. I'd recommend at least 10mm diameter.

Drain hole totally blocked thanks Kirsty, now unblocked doesnt seem to be so bad now I suppose it will take time to go away

Andy

If it's the drain hole under the fan motor, may be worth checking the motor is ok, there's a factsheet in the members area. If it's got wet inside you could end up with it seizing up, blowing the fan resistor/control pack. did you just check from underneath? or did you strip out the ducting & clean the matrix ( & aircon matrix drain) aswell?

Just checked underneath but will check out the other issues too and thanks again