Bongo Fury

Hi
When bleeding the Bongo, the big bug-bear is often the funnel full of hot coolant ....VERY hot coolant , if you've done it right. Tony always managed near burn status on his hands, and it made the job hell, with me sitting doing the throttle and topping up, and Tony doing a jig with burning hands. The other thing has always been could we trust a garage to do it with the funnel. Frankly, if I was a mechanic in a workshop, I would likely think it's a bit Heath Robinson, and unlike any other car...so....like others, I scratched my head for something simple.
We stopped using a funnel some years ago, and used a jug full of coolant and the bleed hose in the jug giving off bubbles. It's worked for 15-20 times (we have done a lot of experimenting with the cooling system / gauges). Still the same problem with putting the jug down with one hand and wrestling with hot coolant and a bung to put in the hose. Still the burning hand issue! We looked at valves, semi-automatic with taps and floats, you name it, but still the issue of "would a garage play"
Eventually , the obvious hit....so simple, it's ridiculous! Here's the photos:









The jug is a polythene jug with a hollow handle, and this is cut to feed the tube through. The tube is 10 mm PVC or similar, and the joints in the tube are standard hard right-angles. The tap shown is a 10 mm fuel tap. This probably needs to be metal to work well with one hand.
The first photo shows the tubing cut to fit into the handle, but swung out of the way, and cut to fit the angled pieces, so that when it's turned to fit into the jug, it is below the fluid which you put into the jug to cover the end of the PVC tube.
The tap fits into the Bongo bleed hose, and you can clamp it in. Bleeding follows the funnel procedure, raising and lowering, as per the videos, but should there be an issue, like running low on fluid, then just turn the tap off, leave the engine running, pop round and top up.....your LCA will warn you if you get low on fluid! Also, when the process of bleeding is finished, you can can turn the tap off, and keep the tap at a height a bit higher than the engine, wait 'till the coolant is a bit less hot, and whip the tap out and put the bung in the end....no burned hands, and no clumsy gloves!
The other issue, is that you can have the tubing cut to size and ready fitted with the angle pipes, all ready to go. all you do is pop it in the handle, and fit the tap. It can all fit in a plastic bag and live in the Bongo, plus the jug can be used for topping up oil. Mainly, when it comes to a garage using the kit, it's something that most mechanics will use...namely a jug!...not fiddling with a funnel, and it must seem more logical and practical...PLUS no likelihood of burning hands
How is that for easy?
Cheers
Helen

i like simple meeeeee. that is the trouble with the funnel helen, once you start you have to keep going, ive tested loads of (stands) and (holders) to hold the funnel but nothing really works well.

when the engine is revved before the stat opens, as you do when you bleed using a funnel does the jug method empty the jug just the same, im thinking the funnel is bottom fed/exit, and the jug is top fed, looks like it would as the pipe inside goes to the bottom of the jug.
the reason im asking is that venting air does not like going down hill, then again, thats how the workshop manual does it while hooking the bleed pipe onto the steering wheel.

good stuff helen.

I just use the standard Mazda bleeding method with a bucket to catch hot coolant coming out the hose. I wear industrial chemical resistant gloves over woollen gloves to protect my hands from heat and hot coolant if/when I need to reindeer the bung.


Clever kit though Helen

Very sorry helen&tony , but that would drive me round the "TWIST"

Hi Ady
Yes..that's the beauty, it does work the same...emptying and filling the jug when you raise and lower or rev it just as in the funnel. It is also capable of holding 2 litres.
We did that for 15 or so bleeds using a jug with the bleed hose from the engine straightened out at the loop end, and clipped to a stick with cable ties...but we always had a washing up bowl on the floor in case it got too full, or there were a lot of mini-bubbles in that I didn't want going back into the engine, then Tony tipped the excess into the bowl, and I topped up.
My first thought was "would the downward curve of the PVC tube into the jug act as a bubble trap?"...but when the bubbles accelerate from the engine as you raise it higher than the head, they will shoot over the loop and down, in fact with the PVC tube, you can watch the air pass.
Bubbles in tubing used to annoy the crap out of me when I worked in labs, but my colleagues used to ignore them, because they never interrupted the MEASURED flow of liquid, but for me they never looked nice....(GGGGGRRRRR), and I had to get rid of them, and juggling the tubes like in the Bongo bleeding process, I always managed to shift the bubble!...so...yes, juggling up and down accelerates the liquid, and inertia just pops the bubble through, and as I say, you can watch the bubble in the PVC bob back and forth until it pops out and you get solid flow of fluid.
Mike...
Yes...it does work like hooking the bleed hose over the steering wheel, and you get the added advantage of the tap to shut the flow , so you can pop round and top up, and go back to where you were until the flow is clear and solid.
The big thing for us is that it's a "no burny hands" job, as both Tony and I are ex- Navy...different areas / uniforms, though, so when the coolant hits 91/ 92 on the temp gauge, and the fans kick in, words are exchanged that aren't in public use , as the coolant hits even industrial gloves , also you can't use thick gloves to put the bung in the bleed hose (I've tried...(ouch))
Teenmal...It's the simplest I've tried, and it doesn't burn...and is less bother ....but everyone likes what they like
I also like to leave the kit handy in the Bongo in case it needs doing at a garage, so it's easy to fit together and show the mechanic, and the jug's handy for filling oil. Maybe it's me , but showing a garage how to juggle fluid in a funnel makes me feel uneasy and I expect the sort of "who's the nut-case?" look...I know many garages have no issues with it, but I think it's an easier "sell" to show something that every garage has (like a jug), than a funnel...but , hey, that's only my take?
Cheers
Helen

Yep!! I like that method.
I found that putting a loop of wire into the top of the funnel and if you look under the raised seat you will see some metal tags that hold the insulation against the seat, just hook the wire loop over the tag so so the funnel is hanging down....this makes bleeding a one man job and relatively painless.

At the risk of causing a heated debate, what is wrong with the Mazda standard method, or is this the Mazda standard method?

mikeonb4c wrote:At the risk of causing a heated debate, what is wrong with the Mazda standard method, or is this the Mazda standard method?

Nothing wrong with that method, but, if the pipe flicks off the steering wheel it makes a hell of a mess.

haydn callow wrote:

mikeonb4c wrote:At the risk of causing a heated debate, what is wrong with the Mazda standard method, or is this the Mazda standard method?

Nothing wrong with that method, but, if the pipe flicks off the steering wheel it makes a hell of a mess.

But doesn't a hot funnel, jug etc run the same risk? At least with something fixed in place (which is what I do with the bleed hose) there is not the scary requirement to hold on to a full funnel of scalding coolant as I've seen happening with the seesaw method. Mind you I'm not an expert on the seesaw method so maybe I'm missing something in terms of the advantages it offers.

Just hang the funnel up under the seat.

haydn callow wrote:Just hang the funnel up under the seat.

That position would be TOO low.

teenmal wrote:

haydn callow wrote:Just hang the funnel up under the seat.

That position would be TOO low.

Not when the seat is raised......I've used the method many times and bled the system single handed.

haydn callow wrote:

teenmal wrote:

haydn callow wrote:Just hang the funnel up under the seat.

That position would be TOO low.

Not when the seat is raised......I've used the method many times and bled the system single handed.

I am very sorry but I don't have a clue what you are talking about , maybe you could elaborate a wee bit , you need to raise the seat to perform this operation , can you tell us where you hang IT.

When the seat/engine cover is tilted up to gain access, you will see on the bottom of the cover some wide metal tags that hold insulation in place....bend one out a little and hang the funnel from it.

I'm watching this thread in great anticipation as I'm planning my first bleed this week...I've bought a massive funnel ! holds 4 Litres and I've stuck a nipple fixing in the bottom of it ready to plug into the bleed hose.

I really don't want to hijack the previous message as I rekon I'll learn from the answer but here's one more question

I don't really understand the reason for the seesaw...is it just a by product of having to lower the funnel when the revs are increased to avoid the funnel emptying and introducing more air ? Or is the seesaw method somehow supposed to help 'draw' the air out ? To be honest I can't see any reason why the see-saw method is any better than just having a header tank of coolant (my 4 litre funnel) plugged into the bleedpipe and suspended above the height of the engine, full of coolant at idle..less complicated (albeit with 4 litres of scalding funnel I need to deal with when I unplug it to bung the bleed pipe! Hence Helens solution..I might try a directional valve as a take off to seal the bleed pipe whilst draining the funnel tho)

thanks,
Ant.