Bongo Fury

Hi all, I finally today picked up a lovely v6 Bongo with my wife today and after research here had a coolant/engine temp alarm fitted. So, before setting off I checked the coolant levels etc and kept an eye on the alarm. So, the temperature rose on the motorway home to 101. The coolant level remained fine and seems to be okay. My question is what shouldiIset the alarm to and is this overly hot? The dealer we bought from has a very good reputation for knowing their bongos and working on them aso I'm sure its all fitted correctly....

When did it get to 101 ?
Standing still at 70 uphill?
Mine sits at about 82 - 94 when moving
Up hill with caravan will put it just over 100
Then I start twitching and switching fans on too cool it

It was as I came down the motorway at around 75 to 80. Late avo, hot day and Ihad no fans or aircon on...

That's does seem abit hot then
I'd be running at 80,s then

I'd keep an eye on it and give it another good run see what it does again
Keep checking the coolant level tho

The thing is I don't know if it will have been put in the right place. Are these things sent out with instructions of where to fit them? I'm worried now. It was a 2 1/2 hour journey up and down hills on motorway and dual carriageway. The coolant levels are exactly as they were when I left. Also is yours a 2.5 v6?

I've got a TM4 twin sensor alarm with one sensor on each cam cover (as shown below). Typically, it runs 85-90 but can get up to 95C at peak. Also got another gauge sensor on the front hose and that usually runs at around 20C less.

101C does seem hot but it does depend where they've fitted it. What really matters is you get to see what's 'normal' for your engine and then you set it a few degrees higher. No two Bongos are exactly the same .

Thing we need to know...
What model of temp alarm have you got?
Where is/are the sensor/sensors fitted?

Mine were fitted to the cam cover bolts near the front and average readings were 85c

But as said above what you are looking for is any sudden rise in temp from what is normal for your Bongo.......

Excluding the exhaust manifold / spark plugs ..

I would have thought where Simons sensor is over the exhaust camshaft .... would have been one of the hottest external heat sources of the V6 engine .. ??

Gasy wrote:When did it get to 101 ?
Standing still at 70 uphill?
Mine sits at about 82 - 94 when moving
Up hill with caravan will put it just over 100
Then I start twitching and switching fans on too cool it

What fans do you switch on and how?

Scavenger fan
I put a switch next to handbrake it is connected to the engine bay temp sensor thing
Info is on here somewhere
Search scavenger fan and switch
I use aircon fans to cool rad as well

But the scavenger fan really knocks the temp down quickly

An update for you all, I spoke to the garage that prepared the vehicle and topped up the coolant very slightly as it really didn't need much at all (the sensor is positioned just below Max) and ran the vehicle as normal monitoring the engine temps recorded. Its all settled down with no loss of coolant and steady engine temps. I've set the alarm for the engine temps now and not had any problems. My wife and I are now on holiday in Cornwall and its behaved faultlessley. We've also enjoyed waving at other bongos and had loads of waves back (4 yesterday). I'll post up some pictures when we get back but for now thank you all for your advice, such a great group of people and looking forward to making a small contribution of my own in the future!

Dd

Dangerous Dougal wrote:An update for you all, I spoke to the garage that prepared the vehicle and topped up the coolant very slightly as it really didn't need much at all (the sensor is positioned just below Max) and ran the vehicle as normal monitoring the engine temps recorded. Its all settled down with no loss of coolant and steady engine temps. I've set the alarm for the engine temps now and not had any problems. My wife and I are now on holiday in Cornwall and its behaved faultlessley. We've also enjoyed waving at other bongos and had loads of waves back (4 yesterday). I'll post up some pictures when we get back but for now thank you all for your advice, such a great group of people and looking forward to making a small contribution of my own in the future!

Dd

Sounds like you had an attack of new owners nerves - I had exactly the same when I got mine. They are an unusual purchase after all. But what a joy to tour in eh? And nearly 8 years later the old Bongo is still as reliable as ever. Hope you have many great adventures in it.