Bongo Fury

Hi All

There's obviously a lot of material on here regarding overheating, air locks, etc but am I correct in thinking it all relates to Diesel engines?

We are going on a couple of very cold journeys soon in our V6 and I plan to drain the coolant and replace with new 50:50 mixture. Does anyone know if this is a complicated procedure on the V6 fraught with specific difficulties? A straightforward coolant change is OK for me on most vehicles (i.e. it's pretty much common sense) but if it's a particular nightmare then forewarned is forearmed so to speak......Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Dave

BongoBonkers wrote:Hi All

There's obviously a lot of material on here regarding overheating, air locks, etc but am I correct in thinking it all relates to Diesel engines?

We are going on a couple of very cold journeys soon in our V6 and I plan to drain the coolant and replace with new 50:50 mixture. Does anyone know if this is a complicated procedure on the V6 fraught with specific difficulties? A straightforward coolant change is OK for me on most vehicles (i.e. it's pretty much common sense) but if it's a particular nightmare then forewarned is forearmed so to speak......Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Dave

Not heard of an overheating V6 although they are less common than the diesels. How old is your one?

I would say take the same care with bleeding as per the diesel (i.e. yes, it is a special procedure compared to a lot of cars) it still has the extended plumbing etc. for the rear heater system (there is now a V6 workshop manual available from Bongo Towers and which might say if bleeding process is different). Check all hoses for condition, and fit a low coolant alarm for insurance.

There was a discussion about this a couple of months back, can't find the thread at the moment. The conclusion was that there have been a few reports of problems, but a lot less than on Diesels BUT also there are a lot less V6's out there than diesels however that seems to be changing so we may yet here about similar problems. Certainly the external plumbing around the engine is very similar to the diesels. However petrol engines don't run as hot as diesels, they have a lower compression ratio, I'm not sure what the head on a V6 is made from but its been mentioned several times that the Alu. head on a cast block have very different expansion coefficents so again that might be more of a problem for the diesels than the V6.

It would be wise I think to follow a similar bleeding process to the diesels simply because of the almost identical external plumbing around the engine, and it isn't going to do any harm as it can't be over bled as it were! About the only thing that might need to be varied is the time and rev's to get the thermostat to open, but you might be better reading the massive thread on the Coolant Flow.

Hi there,

I've done mine a couple of times, just follow the factsheet for the diesel. Allow time and be patient and it works fine. Be very sure you've done it properly and ensure the bottom hose gets hot. This takes a while. Don''t forget to have you front heater on high setting.

Good luck.

Andy

apole wrote:Hi there,

I've done mine a couple of times, just follow the factsheet for the diesel. Allow time and be patient and it works fine. Be very sure you've done it properly and ensure the bottom hose gets hot. This takes a while. Don''t forget to have you front heater on high setting.

Good luck.

Andy

Can someone explain why this keeps being given as the way to bleed a bongo? By putting the heater on full, it will just take longer to bleed as it acts as a radiator to take the heat out of the system that you are trying to get hot enough to open the stat. The coolant flow is constant through the heaters, it is not dependant on the thermostat or whether or not the heater is on, the only thing that changes is the air flow across the heater matrix depending on the heater control setting. Briefly check the heaters get hot once the system is up to temp, then turn it off, it'll be quicker that way

The reason I recommend turning the heaters on is to be sure they are blowing hot...As soon as they do blow hot then the blowers should be switched off to help the system to get up to temp.....If they are blowing cold and the engine is obvious warm/hot then there could well be a airlock in the heater matrix.
So get the engine warm...switch on the heater blowers both front and back...once they blow warm...turn the blowers off.

extract from my suggested instructions...
10..start the engine...switch on heaters.....rev to 2500 for 3 mins....idle for 1 min.
11..keep repeating this cycle until the heaters blow hot and switch the heaters off

haydn callow wrote:The reason I recommend turning the heaters on is to be sure they are blowing hot...As soon as they do blow hot then the blowers should be switched off to help the system to get up to temp.....If they are blowing cold and the engine is obvious warm/hot then there could well be a airlock in the heater matrix.
So get the engine warm...switch on the heater blowers both front and back...once they blow warm...turn the blowers off.

extract from my suggested instructions...
10..start the engine...switch on heaters.....rev to 2500 for 3 mins....idle for 1 min.
11..keep repeating this cycle until the heaters blow hot and switch the heaters off

I agree, you need to check they run hot, but by having the heaters on as the engine is trying to warm up is just going to lengthen the process unneccessarily IMO, you just need to flick them on to check they're blowing hot, then off again, rather than have them on all the time, especially this time of year, where the ambient temperature is so much colder anyway. Not trying to pick a fight or anything Just trying to help

Pick a fight ???? Wot me ??? never.....
As I see it ..the heaters are on the "bypass system" and so are the first things to get warm...only a couple of mins from starting.....in the whole scheme of things I don't think this will delay things by more than a few seconds........Right ...I'm off now.
Merry Christmas Kirsty and all fellow Bongonaughts........