Bongo Fury

2.5 diesel Bongo, rapidly dropped much coolant onto the driveway.
Only place I could see any fluid coming from was behind the pulley on the front of the engine block, as per the photo.
Have seen mention in the forums that this is likely to be a broken water pump, can anyone confirm?
Also, if a new pump is needed, is there anything else we should get the garage to change while they've got it in pieces (belts etc.).

Cheers

To be honest no one can answer your questions without looking at it.

I would recommend recovery to a Bongo savvy garage and let them see. Hopefully no damage has been done, but don't drive it.

yep thats the water pump leaking, its mounted just above the crank pulley.

dont run or drive it till its fixed. make sure you bleed the bongo properly after fixing too.

just looking again it could also be the main coolant pipe from the head to the first steel pipe that runs forward to the rad.

If it is the water pump (open the passenger seat side, and shine a torch down to above the main pulley. The water pump is directly above this and you will be able to see the water leaking out), then would be worth getting the cam belt done if it has not been changed recently.

Bob wrote:To be honest no one can answer your questions without looking at it.
I would recommend recovery to a Bongo savvy garage and let them see. Hopefully no damage has been done, but don't drive it.

Very good advice ...It could be a faulty core plug etc etc. Don't go buying bits and pieces until you have had it tested/inspected.

Unless you have a Bongo experienced garage, make sure you take a copy of the 'bleeding' instructions with you and if poss get them to watch the YouTube bleeding videos. In the mean time DO NOT DRIVE it anywhere. Not even to a local garage.

PS. Filling up with water and driving will only make things worse.

The down pour look like normal clear water? I might expect green or red or rusty??

hijimhere wrote:The down pour look like normal clear water? I might expect green or red or rusty??

With a downpour like that its probably been topped up with tap water a few times, hence clear water.

There is every likelihood of top ups might well show up -- if the leak is the water pump and we have clean water present there the suggestion is that there being no sign of a mixture of antifreeze the boiling point will have been lowered to a critical point????

Steptoe wrote:If it is the water pump (open the passenger seat side, and shine a torch down to above the main pulley. The water pump is directly above this and you will be able to see the water leaking out), then would be worth getting the cam belt done if it has not been changed recently.

you can indeed see one of the leak points behind the belts from the passy side, but there is also another hole in the casting at the 6 oclock position, this one is very hard to see without an angled head mirror so the hole at the 10 past position isnt conclusive.

Thanks all for the advice and suggestions. Local mechanic is going to sort it - I've already passed on bleeding warnings! Hopefully get it relayed up there tomorrow. And yes, that was just water coming out, once I'd stopped the engine I was adding water to find where the leak was coming from cos it was running out that fast.
Thanks again.

Hope you're sorted soon.

May I recommend the Haydn Temperature alarm, it has brought much piece of mind to my Bongo experience. especially when someone has fiddled with the coolant system, post mechanical problems.

It's the Low Coolant Alarm you need as a minimum. You can get a combo unit with temp display if required.