Bongo Fury

The forum seems full of horror stories about air-locks and over-heating problems. I'm considering doing a coolent change on our 2.5 diesel bongolow and fitting new water pump, belts and stat (as per maint' recommendations) but realy wondering whether or not to bother - Bongo runs great at the mo, sods law is that it wont after ive done the work. So my question to the forum is - how important is it to change coolent and stat (still running on original imported stuff and have had the van since import 18 months now), is every bongo bleed a disaster or are there happy people out there who have done it successfully with no horror stories?
Tim

You'll need a flush to clear out the Jap stuff in the system as well as a thorough bleed, that Oriental stuff just gels up if it mixes with European coolant.

To be honest, 99% of bleed scenarios end in a very happy result. Its just like sitting in A&E on a Saturday night sometimes when you go through the Techie Section on here but most peeps only post with a problem.


Arm yourself with the right information & a good dose of confidence & all will be well.

If you do do it yourself, and are confident, change the stat for the genuine mazda stat, and all you have to do is when bleeding get the stat to open. simples you always here the horror stories mainly because of air locks or people not realizing theres a bleed hose under the passenger seat.

I did mine a couple of months ago with a coolant flush, stat and pump. Had no problems at all and found that the water pump had a slight leak that I didn't know about before.

i see all these stories of worried bleeders (excuse the pun!) there seems to be a vacuum/pressure machine for doing the fluid change ,does this thing work ,there seem to be various machines available ,some as cheap as £80.00 ,im surprised there arent more stories on here about these !! anyone tried them (i for one would willingly fork out for one of these if they work for the bongo (cheaper than an engine rebuild) any takers ?

Quick search on "Vacuum and bleed" (other combinations are available ) - http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... mit=Search - enjoy

bimbobongo wrote:i see all these stories of worried bleeders (excuse the pun!) there seems to be a vacuum/pressure machine for doing the fluid change ,does this thing work ,there seem to be various machines available ,some as cheap as £80.00 ,im surprised there arent more stories on here about these !! anyone tried them (i for one would willingly fork out for one of these if they work for the bongo (cheaper than an engine rebuild) any takers ?

Hi there are hundreds of these on the market good tool.You may need a comprihensr with some.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-09544-Co ... B003BVD5NE

Cheers.

I am lucky & have a compressed air at work & always use a vacuum filling tool, very quick & simple - almost certainly the way Mazda did them at the factory. The only way to go if you have access to compressed air.

Alacrity wrote:I am lucky & have a compressed air at work & always use a vacuum filling tool, very quick & simple - almost certainly the way Mazda did them at the factory. The only way to go if you have access to compressed air.

Just so I can get my head around this Geoff, does this mean you can do the job cold and the thermostat does not need to be open?

Thats right. I do of course keep a wary eye on the guage on 1st road test & sometimes have had to ad 1/4 - 1/2 pint to the tank afterwards but thats all. The last time, when I fitted a new OE stat, the temp did rise quite high before dropping like a stone when the stat opened, I surmised that the stat was stuck then popped open. It has never done it since.

Even before I had the vacuum filler I never had an issue bleeding my Freda.

Benefit IMO of going through a proper bleed procedure (ie runnnig it up to temp) is that you are proving the system is doing what it should, if it doesn't, you can usually work out where the issues are, it's a good fault finding method. It's not difficult & probably doesn't take much longer than setting up & using a vacuuum fill method (if using a compressor, make sure it's got a big enough capacity to do the job properly, pretty sure most of the smaller "home" models like my Aldi one won't cut it) Just my opinion

Hi
Kirsty...
You're right on the compressor...I have written at length....you need AT LEAST, 12 CFM DELIVERY for a vacuum fill....not 12 CFM displacement.
Most workshops will use well over 14-20 CFM delivery compressors , and will definitely work on Vacuum fillers
Regarding what you say about getting the engine and cooling working at running and stat opening temperatures...PERFICK...definitely the way to go....and a run after bleeding is also a must. Everyone who bleeds a bongo properly agrees that it takes between 30 and 45 minutes to do the job properly...any less, and you haven't done the job!!!!!
Cheers
Helen

sorry i tend to forget ,im quite lucky in that i run a sme so have access to compresser etc ,it dawned as i was doing an aft mod this morning (making the panels for a 3/4 length bed in the aft ,and removing the hatch ,i cut the panels, 12mm ply on my sliding table saw ,cut the batons for underneath ,drilled the holes with my air drill and put the screws in with an electic screwdriver ,all took slightly less time than it would take to cut a single piece of plywood at home with a handsaw (and a lot less sweat!) re the bleeding anyone know if this vacuum filling is a common thing in garages ,or are most system refills not as frought as the bongo ,should the question be' do you do vacuum refills ',rather than' can you do a bongo ?'i can hear teeth being sucked all over the country as i type this !!

...how important is it to change coolent and stat (still running on original imported stuff and have had the van since import 18 months now)...
...is every bongo bleed a disaster...
...or are there happy people out there who have done it successfully with no horror stories?

If it was my Bongo, I'd say it's very important. I'd also recommend flushing the system.
No, the majority are not a bleed disaster.
Yes, there are.
My husband has successfully bled more Bongos than I've had hot dinners this year. True. There are a few different bleed methods you could try; Mazda's own method is described in the workshop manual, there's the one on YouTube, at least two other methods similar to that one, and the one using the suction pump. And there's a factsheet in the members area giving advice on bleeding Bongos. There may be other methods, so perhaps it's a case of take your pick and see what suits you. Having said that, the bleed method on Youtube can be done by 1 person, reassures you that the system is operating as it should and doesn't need special equipment (vacuum pump)... Unless you count a funnel as special equipment. And many people also advise to check the coolant level for a couple of days, after it's been bled.

bimbobongo wrote:re the bleeding anyone know if this vacuum filling is a common thing in garages ,or are most system refills not as frought as the bongo ,should the question be' do you do vacuum refills ',rather than' can you do a bongo ?'i can hear teeth being sucked all over the country as i type this !!

Most cars can be filled in a normal manner, however some - our own friend & the MGF/TF for example spring to mind can be done without it, but it is much much easier, & I personally feel, safer, to use a vacuum filling system. Of course it isn't practical for all DIY Bongo owners to own such a piece of kit & of course many do not have compressed air (or enough of it as has been rightly mentioned) to hand. As I said earlier (I think it was in this thread) I used to do it without the vacuum system before I had it without any issues. Anyone with a vacuum filling tool should be able to a Bongo without a problem.

Of course this is all my personal opinion, others may (will? ) disagree I'm sure!