Bongo Fury

So my coolant alarm came on when I started at the supermarket and after about 30 seconds it faded and went off. Ok, might be a false alarm, drove the mile home and as I get out the Bongo I hear running water. Under the driver seat is a pretty substantial cascade of what I assume to be coolant - certainly not fuel or oil. Hopefully, the short drive wasn't enough to cause any lasting damage, not it looks like I need to get it to a garage to get if fixed. Anyone had a similar failure and was was the cause?

Anyone know a Bongo friendly garage near Musselburgh, East Lothian? I'm assuming that I won't be able to drive it some my RAC homestart cover might need to be called upon and as it's a 4x4 auto, a flat bed is probably in order to get us there.

Any advice would be welcomed.

The metal pipe with the T-piece is quite prone to rusting so it could be that that is leaking but there is also a rubber pipe above the starter motor which is in a similar area. Definitely don't drive it any further so recovery to a Bongo-savvy garage is gong to be the safest bet. I'm sure some folk local to you will be able offer some guidance on where to go but I imagine they must be few and far between north of the border.

It looks like the original constant pressure clips are very rusty so you may be lucky in that one of those has failed. There is a Jubilee-type clip shown on the pipe that goes to the rear heater so looks to have had work done in the past.

the coolant alarm came on to tell you that the coolant was low, then as you ignored it and drove home the remaining coolant got hot and expanded into the expansion tank turning the alarm off.

the t piece looks rotten as someone has double clipped the pipe recently, it looks new.

this link may help.
http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... es#p571797

Northern Bongolow wrote:the coolant alarm came on to tell you that the coolant was low, then as you ignored it and drove home the remaining coolant got hot and expanded into the expansion tank turning the alarm off.
http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... es#p571797

The coolant alarm comes on every time you start the motor, but it usually only sounds for a couple of seconds. What was different here was when I started the engine it sounded for about 10 seconds before fading i.e. the alarm was off before I drove away. Obviously with hindsight I should have heeded the atypical behavior.

Best to replace all your hoses with new ones and fit some decent stainless steel clips.

mercurykev wrote:

Northern Bongolow wrote:the coolant alarm came on to tell you that the coolant was low, then as you ignored it and drove home the remaining coolant got hot and expanded into the expansion tank turning the alarm off.
http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... es#p571797

The coolant alarm comes on every time you start the motor, but it usually only sounds for a couple of seconds. What was different here was when I started the engine it sounded for about 10 seconds before fading i.e. the alarm was off before I drove away. Obviously with hindsight I should have heeded the atypical behavior.

You could try GBL motors Duff Street Lane in Dalry. Not used them myself, but I believe they know their bongos.

dunslair wrote:You could try GBL motors Duff Street Lane in Dalry. Not used them myself, but I believe they know their bongos.

Thanks for the suggestion, I notice that there are a couple of Edinburgh garages on the database too. I'll give a few of them a call.

The first owner experienced a full blown coolant/head failure while climbing Glen Shee, so there was some work done to the coolant system a couple of years ago, hence some newer p-clips. I think it was carried out by Campers Scotland, the place that originally supplied the van.

You have a pm.

Cheers David

Only just seen this thread. Looks like the metal piping around the rear heater. Mine gave up last summer. Coolant alarm and bandaging allowed me to get to mechanic as coolant level hadn't got lower than header tank.

I opted to have a complete new pipe but was advised cheaper fix is cutting out corroded section and fitting a tee-piece.