Bongo Fury

Hi this is my first post but basically i have a problem with my in car heating all it seems to do is blow cold air and never warm up i do long enough trips so know its not the case in it isnt having time to produce heat it is both the front and back heaters someone said the pipes or flaps can be blocked/shut but have only had the car a few months can anyone shed any light thanks all help appreciated or pics if available i have a 97 freda 2.5td

joe

Generally, that's not a good sign.

It may be due to linkages becoming detached on the heaters, which can be sorted and isn't a huge problem.

However, it may very well be a sign of air in the coolant - and this as you may already know is a major issue which should not be underestimated.

Don't want to be a scaremonger, but worst case can be up to £2000 for a new head or engine.

Best advice is to not drive it until you know what's up.

Where are you located? You really need to get it to a Bongo-aware garage.

Also possible the thermostat has been removed, this may indicate bigger probs, or not.

I'd recommend you take it to a Bongo friendly garage near you and have the cooling system checked. Sooner rather than later.

Good luck.

the thermostat is either stuck open or has had the middle removed.
the heater circuit is the first to heat up after a cold start so should show noticable heat after 5-10 mins running.if the stat has been removed the engine is warming up all the coolant in the engine/rad, but the rad is so efficient that is holding the overall temps down.
check the temps of all the coolant pipes, and heater pipes, do they all feel the same temp------they shouldnt be.

if you find the middle has been removed, ask yourself why.

edit. beaten by bob

Your answer is more thorough Ady.

If you have an automatic air-con fitted you need to set the temperature above 26 degrees in order to get heat. According to the New Zealand manual.

joe8885 wrote:Hi this is my first post but basically i have a problem with my in car heating all it seems to do is blow cold air and never warm up i do long enough trips so know its not the case in it isnt having time to produce heat it is both the front and back heaters someone said the pipes or flaps can be blocked/shut but have only had the car a few months can anyone shed any light thanks all help appreciated or pics if available i have a 97 freda 2.5td

joe

Hi does the temp gauge get upto normal and stick there (about 11 o clock)???

If it does it may be the heater control linkage down by the drivers footwell centre

or blocked heater matrix

Cheers Steve..

hi all thanks for the reply s no my temp gauge doesn't move at all ive had this checked and got told it was a sensor on the engine so waiting for that to come into stock so can replace it.

erm i have a digital heating system which i always have on max (32) yet all i get is cold air flowing through i haven't checked the temp of pipes yet so will do that today are they the ones that run from front bottom area?? below the radiator ? iam not to wise on car layout just yet the only other thing i can do is wait until i get the glow plugs changed this week and ask them to check it out for me too.
ive drove to Lowestoft and back and had no heat at all come through when first got car

how would i find if the middle has been removed ? and i live in Watford as someone asked

Thanks guys

No nothing to do with the front radiator as such (the pipes at the bottom are for cooling the AT fluid for the transmission). The thread here has pictures http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... 28#p537428 of the pipes you need.

OK, if your temp gauge doesn't move, and your heaters are cold it does sound like the theromstat has been removed. When this is done, it's actually just the middle that's removed, as the outer edge is needed to hold the rubber seal.

So, as you have had this van only 2 weeks, is it safe to assume that it has never heated up and the gauge has never moved since you have owned it?

And the place which sold it told you the lack of gauge movement was down to a faulty sensor?

Still not wanting to sound like a prophet of doom, but the only reason to remove the thermostat is to hide a bigger problem with the engine. If an engine overheats and cracks develop in the head, they sometimes form in such a way that they only open up when hot. So, by removing the thermostat you prevent the engine from getting up to temperature, and the crack(s) don't open up - and everything works OK, up to a point. You are running cold all the time, which will use more diesel than usual - and Bongo's use plenty anyway. You also never have any heat for demisting or keeping warm. (Just like a VW camper!)

I would be pressing the garage where it came from to get the sensor fitted, and show you it working and coming up to temperature. If the thermostat has been removed, it won't come up to temperature, even with a new sensor. (Note - when replacing the sensor, or the thermostat, the coolant system needs to be bled, properly). Once they replace the thermostat, you may find that it will overheat. At that point, it's back in their hands to fix the problem.

Hope it doesn't come to that though.

spot on mate.
one of the usual resons for butchering the stat is that they cannot bleed the system after having some work done on the cooling system, this doent ness mean there is a fault, maybe they just couldnt bleed it so have cheated. its an old way of curing all ills. (not).
the temp sender will probably be fine as they dont register until the coolant gets to about 50degc and in this cold weather and with forward movement it may never get there, i would try to get it up to temp on the drive without the rad cooling effect and see what happens, as i said before all the pipes will warm up evenly if the stat has been removed.
the best telltale would be the difference (if any) between the top hose into the rad, and the bottom hose out of the rad. if running on the drive for half an hour they should be very different in temp, then if/when the stat opens if fitted they should equalize.

Hi,

Owing to the fact that you have a 3 MONTH Guarantee,would you not be better taking the vehicle back to the Dealer and getting All your faults repaired FOC.

Cheers.

Looking back, he's had the van "a few months" - just the forum sig that says "had my Freeda 2 weeks"

dave_aber wrote:Looking back, he's had the van "a few months" - just the forum sig that says "had my Freeda 2 weeks"

Hi,

I think Joe collected his vehicle from the Dealer on or around the 28TH of DEC 2011.(unless he has bought another one since then )If so it should still be under warranty.

Cheers..

Fingers crossed he's still in warranty - sounds like he may need it unfortunately.