Bongo Fury

Have been trying to get this little job done since November last year but just never got the time ,then it snowed ,ice , snow , ice .
Bigdaddycain said right you've waited long enough lets get it done.We started on Thursday morning.
Made sure we got all the gear, stat, coolant and the right tools, (well nearly all the right tools ,had to buy a universal socket joint just before we started).
Started to take the stat off ,what a faff, not a lot of room to maneuver a socket or spanner, 4 wheel drive so the prop shaft is in the way from underneath , worked from on top under the passenger seat side,(i know where else would it be ) managed to get the stat out with a bit of firkling (thanks for that word Kirsty) undid the bottom hose on the rad and then started to flush the system with a hose pipe.
Rad first ,from the top and from the bottom of the rad, surprisingly clean no gunk or rust, so quite happy with that. Flushed the expansion tank. Then used the hose to flush out the pipes i took off, again pretty clean. .
Replaced the new stat ,with a bit more firklin, swear words and bloodied knuckles. reconnected the hoses.(bigdaddy on his way to work so goodbye from him )
Filled the radiator first with water then put the radiator cap back on, then filled the expansion tank to overflowing, squeezed the hoses to expel as much air as i could and refill the expansion tank.
Started the engine ,coolant alarm went off immediately forgot i had a high coolant alarm as well as the low took that off temporarily then restarted the engine, all the fans on full blast front and rear, heat turned up full, then just kept topping up the water in the expansion tank as and when needed as the air came out .patience is now needed, rev up a bit , top up, as so on.
As the the amount of water needed to top up got less and less the engine was getting up to temp, top hose hot, bottom hose getting quite warm so i kinda figured that all was OK, left the engine running for a bit longer checking the water in the expansion tank, seemed OK as well, i had had enough by this time and it was getting dark and was raining, turned the engine off ,cap on the expansion tank, and leave till Friday morning to finish the job.(and let it get rid of any trapped air overnight )
Ste (bigdaddycain) arrived bright and early Friday morning to put the coolant in, checked the level in the tank, was a bit low so topped it up, now the fun part, started the engine (had already warmed her up earlier) me on the drain hose, Ste on the expansion tank, slowly introducing neat coolant as i let the water drain. When we put just under five litres coolant in we then filled a five litre can with the hot coolant mix coming out so we could use for topping up purposes, used the rest of the neat coolant and then replugged the drain hose.
Then let the engine do the work for us and mix the coolant as it circulates, hot air coming out of the front and rear vents. top hose hot, bottom hose nearly as hot, so we know the stat was working.
Just a bit of mixed coolant needed every now and then when an air bubble came out to keep the expansion tank to the full mark, but not a lot. reconnected the high coolant alarm.
Gave her a bit of a run , temp gauge under 12 o'clock (Mason alarm fitted) lowest Ive ever seen it since fitting the Mason alarm. checked the level of coolant when i got back, needed a bit but not much. coolant alarms did not go off.
Will check for the next couple of days just to make sure and top up if needed. jobs a good un. thanks to Ste for his help and knowledge and elastoplast for their invention.

well done guys..... nice and easy job..... other than the knuckles...

Good job well done Dave and Ste

Must do mine (coolant only)

Just so I understand, did you fit a new radiator too and if so why?

mikeonb4c wrote:Good job well done Dave and Ste

Must do mine (coolant only)

Just so I understand, did you fit a new radiator too and if so why?

No Mike , just flushed the radiator. changed the stat and coolant.
And as you can read, not the see saw method that seems to be the normal way of doing it. But the way Wheelquick and Bigdaddy change the coolant and bleed the system.

Well done guys Ours has just been flushed and re filled as well as par of the job to replace the rear heater matrix. nice feeling when it all runs sweet that said i think the 2l is a bit easier job, so good one.... masterclass at the bash then gents

thats great we all could do with a local BDC

westonwarrior wrote:thats great we all could do with a local BDC

I wonder if we could get the bookings going for a BDC / Bluezie roadshow...... sort of like the britains got tallent one (only without Subo) Could run the 'Buff Daddy' car grooming clinic in tandem need a manager guys

Well done DBO, can I add a caveat? Check if there is any air in the head vent pipe for a few days at least.

Drat Have i got one of those mr P




don't fancy doin mine do ya

cheffy34 wrote:Drat Have i got one of those mr P




don't fancy doin mine do ya

Probably to first.......................No to second..........................

The Great Pretender wrote:

cheffy34 wrote:Drat Have i got one of those mr P




don't fancy doin mine do ya

Probably to first.......................No to second..........................

Off to the schematics at the top i go research and forward planning is the idea from here mr P i'm on it now

Checked the coolant this morning ,still OK, no need top up.
Took the bongo for a bit of a run to make sure all is OK, heaters working, temp gauge just under the 12 o'clock position, (like i said in earlier post ,lowest Ive seen it since fitting Mason alarm).
Just need to do the front brakes and then I'm ready for the bongo meets.

Hi daveblueozzie.

Could you tell me the temp gauge position before you replaced the thermostat.

Did you test the thermostat before you fitted it.??

daveblueozzie wrote:

mikeonb4c wrote:Good job well done Dave and Ste

Must do mine (coolant only)

Just so I understand, did you fit a new radiator too and if so why?

No Mike , just flushed the radiator. changed the stat and coolant.
And as you can read, not the see saw method that seems to be the normal way of doing it. But the way Wheelquick and Bigdaddy change the coolant and bleed the system.

Thanks Dave. Interesting that Mason now showing lower position - what do you put that down to esp. given that system itself sounds like it was clean. Better performance from new coolant? New thermostat? Any experts out there care to comment?

I bled mine much as you did i.e. the workshop manual method. Worked fine for me but I'd rather do it as a 2-man job next time - it was a bit scary on my own!

Lower temp reading I'd put down to a new stat, most of us that have fitted new stats & have tested them against the old stat have found the old ones to be much lazier than the new ones, ie opening later (higher temp) & slower. New stat means it opens at a lower temp, thus keeping engine temp lower.
Could also be an element due to the flushing, but it doesn't seem like Dave noticed much coming out & didn't do a chemical flush to shift any stubborn crud, so it does point more at the stat being the main factor IMO.