Bongo Fury

Hi, we are considering a 2litre 2WD Bongo out here in Portugal if the present owner overcomes the problem of local registration.

Are there any specific things I should be looking out for in one of these, my experience so far has been with the diesel version. Also what sort of MPG would we be likely to get

Thanks

Its good Mazda tech so providing its been looked after should be trouble free motoring. I hear claims of 28 to 35 mpg here on the forum, only had a diesel and v6 petrol myself so can only go off that.

Ive had 2 x 2.5 deisels since 2006,both gave 23-25 mpg running around and 30-32 mpg on a run

Never had any problems with either,including no coolant/hose/bleed problems or leakage

Ive just bought a 2ltr petrol and im informed it has an economy engine,which self bleeds the coolant and doesnt have any of the coolant issues that the 2.5 diesel has,so I dont need a low coolant alarm.

Although im told It is low powered fully loaded (no torque like the diesel) it goes like 5h1t off a shovel,but mpg wise i wont know till i refill and work out the mpg (i have to remember what pump to use )

Brian

You should have no problems as long as you / the previous owner has looked after it. As always the cooling system needs maintaining, I understand that the head on the 2l is not so suseptable to cracking as the 2.5td, but I would rather not test that!!!! So the usual visual inspections and maintenance / replacements of hoses, rad and stat would be in order. As for mpg.... I generally don't measure it too accurately, but would suggest that 35 is a bit ambitious. More likely to be mid to high 20s or around 30 on a run, as long as you are not too heavy on the gas.

Ive just bought a 2ltr petrol and im informed it has an economy engine,which self bleeds the coolant and doesnt have any of the coolant issues that the 2.5 diesel has,so I dont need a low coolant alarm.


Only last week a "large" dealer reported that a 2 liter sprung a leak whilst being prepared...Fortunatly he fits LCA's to all vehicles he sells and it saved the day for him...thats at least 4 x 2 liters that have reported in in the past 6 months..

Whilst I agree that damage is less likely because of the lower running temps the hoses can still fail as can the hose clips / waterpump etc.

All bongo friendees have the engine a long way from the radiator, plus a separate rear heater core even further from the radiator, so all should be more prone to coolant leaks than most front-engined vans, regardless of whether its 2l, v6 or diesel. IMO a low coolant alarm is a good idea for all bongos (and any other older car too).

haydn callow wrote:Ive just bought a 2ltr petrol and im informed it has an economy engine,which self bleeds the coolant and doesnt have any of the coolant issues that the 2.5 diesel has,so I dont need a low coolant alarm.


Only last week a "large" dealer reported that a 2 liter sprung a leak whilst being prepared...Fortunatly he fits LCA's to all vehicles he sells and it saved the day for him...thats at least 4 x 2 liters that have reported in in the past 6 months..

Whilst I agree that damage is less likely because of the lower running temps the hoses can still fail as can the hose clips / waterpump etc.

Understand what youre saying Haydn,bought the Bongo from wheelquick,and questioned Mike re coolant issues as the engine is Aluminium,and the temp guage only lets you know of an overheat after the temp is too high,and the advice he gave ive posted on here
I think this may now raise a discussion



Brian

There is a lot of salesmanship for the 2.0 Bongo going on with the new super economy or new eco drive or other terms, but it is the same 2.0 engine in all of them which is an old design engine very basic in design and parts which is actually an advantage as distributor caps leads and such are much cheaper and less troublesome than pencil coils and advanced electronics etc. But it remains an old style engine also used in older mazda saloons and vans. Not an eco drive engine.

The engine is still in the middle there is still a rear heater and a front heater and pipework back and forth and radiator up at the front.

The 2.0 doesn't require bleeding in the same fashion as a diesel or V6 but everything else is the same, same pipes same routes so personally I would advise treating in the same way.

Petrols don't run as hot as diesels so you might get away with a small overheat in a 2.0 if a pipe burst, 2.5TD almost certainly you have issues.

I would recommend a coolant alarm on ALL Bongo's

Paul

lpgimports wrote:Petrols don't run as hot as diesels so you might get away with a small overheat in a 2.0 if a pipe burst, 2.5TD almost certainly you have issues.

Has this ever been proved correct?

Can it be true?

Petrols are LESS efficient than diesels and so produce MORE waste heat that has to be got rid of somehow and that is usually by means of the cooling system.

Can anybody advise, with a 2.5td engine, how much fluctuation there is in the temp gage through general running? The reason I ask is that I have noticed, that whilst the temp needle never goes above 11.00am on ours, it often drops down lower than that, especially after a long climb (when the needle has raised to 11.00am) and then on the downhill (often when using hold) it drops back to 9.30 to 10.00. In short there is a fair bit of general movement in the temp reading, certainly as much as in our Mondao. The van is a 2L petrol 2003 model.

dunslair wrote:Can anybody advise, with a 2.5td engine, how much fluctuation there is in the temp gage through general running? The reason I ask is that I have noticed, that whilst the temp needle never goes above 11.00am on ours, it often drops down lower than that, especially after a long climb (when the needle has raised to 11.00am) and then on the downhill (often when using hold) it drops back to 9.30 to 10.00. In short there is a fair bit of general movement in the temp reading, certainly as much as in our Mondao. The van is a 2L petrol 2003 model.

With the standard gauge there is very little movement, with the Mason there is a bit more usually up the way.

Going downhill there is not too much of a drop below normal, I think this is because there is such a large volume in the cooling system, and of course the turbo is water cooled, and generally there is a large thermal mass to retain heat.
I know that during the winter, when I was going down a 3 mile long descent straight from cold at -5 air temperature that the engine never really heated up.

I have had similar issue to yours with a diesel Renault, if its any comfort that shows that the engine is efficient and not chucking out loads of waste heat, the heaters will be pulling out more heat than the engine is producing on the overun, it is quite possible that the injectors are shut off when you are off the throttle so no fuel is being burnt to create heat.

kirsty has done a bit of research on this and found that (dont quote me)if using the hold button,you increase revs,and speed up the waterpump revs, thus improving circulation of the coolant and dumping heat.
i can vouch for this with my manual g/box,and does the same.
i can get a fair amount of gauge noted movement on mine,but not to the level you have quoted.

Yep fair bit of downward movement especially with 'hold' on. Always a relief if you have been slogging up a high pass to see the temp needle drop down

Is the 2.0 all aluminium?

Part of the problem overheating a diesel is that they invariably have a cast iron block, and an aluminium head. As the expansion rates differ, at very high temperatures the head gasket gets to move around, and will breach somewhere. Once oil, water or compression has got to where it isn't supposed to be the head gasket won't re-seal on cooling. And out comes the wallet.

With an all-aluminium engine, it's possible to overheat it and not lose the head gasket. Of course plenty of other damage can take place.

The F engine family from Mazda is a mid-sized straight-4 piston engine with iron block, alloy head and belt-driven OHC. Introduced in 1983 as the 1.6L F6, this engine was found in the Mazda B-Series truck and Mazda G platform models such as Mazda 626 as well as many other models internationally including Mazda Bongo and Ford Freda clone, Mazda B-series based Ford Courier, Mazda 929 HC and the GD platform-based Ford Probe

There were four basic head types within the F range, the diesel SOHC 8-valve, the petrol SOHC 8-valve, petrol SOHC 12-valve, and the petrol DOHC 16-valve. These heads came attached to multiple variations of the different blocks and strokes. Only the petrol 8-valve and 12-valve shared the same gasket pattern.