Bongo Fury

well as the title says my thermostat to head hose has split and sods law just before we go on our trip to cornwall.
was'nt far from home so no damaged done hopefully, the mason and low coolant alarm did'nt go off, i just noticed the temp gauge slowly creeping up.
i have ordered a new one from jap auto solutions, should be here for wednesday so that excellent bleeding video will definitely come into good use.
is there anything i should be aware of or is it a straight forward hose change and bleed.

cheers kev...

Should be straightforward, but sometimes old perished hoses can be hard to remove -- you may need to cut it off gently using a knife, then clean up where the new hose will attach. A pot scrubber then sandpaper will get it nice and smooth.

nfn wrote:Should be straightforward, but sometimes old perished hoses can be hard to remove -- you may need to cut it off gently using a knife, then clean up where the new hose will attach. A pot scrubber then sandpaper will get it nice and smooth.

Be very, very careful , try not to cut all the way through, as scored spigots are ideal leakage paths for coolant under pressure.

Avoid using a knife to cut it if you possibly can, sound like the one behind the alternator, easiest to take the alternator off (disconnecto battery/ies first). Check the rest of the hoses thoroughly too, easier to replace a few while it's drained & have peace of mind

yes it's the one behind the alternator.
do i have to drain the whole system or just replace hose top up and bleed?

cheers kev...

If you drain from the bleed hose & one of the rear heater connections into a bucket, you should be able to save & reuse the coolant (& it won't go everywhere) & it should only be @ 5litres (just had to do similar to replace temp senders), then refill & bleed.

bit alarmed (no pun intended ) that the mason and low coolant alarm did not sound , does anyone know why not??

bobngo wrote:bit alarmed (no pun intended ) that the mason and low coolant alarm did not sound , does anyone know why not??

Been wondering that me-self!?? Did they not do the little start up chirp?? I would be checking electrical continuity on them both...

The Mason may have been set too high or even off (When the little adjuster is set at the top) if this is all the warning you got from the mason...?

kev2477 wrote: i just noticed the temp gauge slowly creeping up.

The mason worked a treat when i had a top hose go a couple of years ago..

Hope you get it sorted without too much grief!!

The low coolant alarm will only go off if the level in the header tank drops below the sensor screw....In your case it didn't do this.....as long as you get the test beep/flash on start up the alarm is working fine.
As said many times there are circumstances when coolant can leak without dropping the level in the tank.....most times it will drop but not always when running......it will drop as soon as you stop and things cool down.

i was keeping a close eye on it, so soon as the temp gauge started climbing above usual/norm i knew straight away something was a miss. like many of you all say it pays to have a nosey around your engine regular to see whats going on.
the low coolant alarm does it's self test on start up and like haydn says "The low coolant alarm will only go off if the level in the header tank drops below the sensor screw" .
the mason alarm is set at 4.5 and i roughly know the position of the temp gauge when it starts to chirp.

cheers kev...

Looks like you were ahead of the Mason alarm If you had a dumbed down gauge & no Mason to resensitise, you wouldn't have known anything was up, pays to know what's going on & when something isn't "right"

yes, i took the sound advice from ady to fit one, and like you rightly say, i would of never known without it until it's to late. oh the joys of owning a bongo.

cheers kev...

hi missfixit do you mean one of the rear heater connections underneath the drivers side halfway down the van



cheers kev...

Yup, either one of those, or at the T connection where the heater supply one connects to one of those, rather than messing with the heater matrix connections that can get a bit fragile, next to point Z - http://www.lushprojects.com/bongopartsm ... mgno=.html

many thanks for that clarification, hopefully job goes ahead tomorrow if hose arrives, which i hope so cos were hopefully away in it at the weekend.

cheers kev...