Bongo Fury

Hi Guys

Having fun (not!) trying to replace the long coolant pipe which runs under the passenger seat, It's very long and I can not see how it comes out. Have searched for information relating to this topic but so far have only found methods of jury rigging it. I want to replace the whole thing as the chances of it leaking again I reckon are quite high if it has already corroded this badly and there is quite big hole.

I have removed the radiator just to get better access to the pipe clips at the front and the passenger seat including engine cover.

No matter what I do I just can't see how the pipe is meant to come out.

Anybody any ideas please?

it deffo comes out forward, ive done 2 of them and tried to cut corners but couldnt.

as i remember it was rad, grill, leisure battery and tray if fitted etc then put a slight bend on the pipe and sort of try to screw it out/in, taking care of the thin pipe at the front end that goes to the expansion tank. i lifted the front of the van a little if i recall correctly.

wait till you do the other side, its worse.

Thanks NB. That makes sense. I thought it couldn't be that this was the first component of a Bongo and the rest of it was built around it!

It certainly won't come out backwards. I've tried that. Will go out and strip the rest of the bits you suggest.

Thanks for giving me the confidence that it can be done. Thought I was going mad for a minute.

Tim

its not that bad when you get in there, watch the little T piece that is on the pipe to the stat housing, it grabs on everything.

Thanks for the advice. I will watch my little pipe as you suggest!

NB took your advice and managed to replace the thing. One very happy bunny now!! Especially as I did finished it Christmas Eve!

I eventually removed the radiator, air con radiator and grille after having taken an angle grinder to the pipe to make it easier to remove in tow bits

Took a bit of jiggling around particularly at the back where it had to go under the fuel pipe. Its worth unbolting the bracket here to give more flexibility.

Anyway job done and thanks for your advice it gee'd me on to get the job finished.

A Merry Christmas to you.

Could it be replaced with something different, consisting of a mixture of rigid pipe and flexible hose?

The aim being to remove the old pipe by cutting it in several places and fitting a redesigned replacement without having to disturb other fittings.


Frank

^^^^^
The more joins / joints
The greater the chance of leaks
I'd Replace it with a rubber hose along the complete length of the old metal pipe leaving the metal holed pipe in place
I would just tie wrap a rubber hose along the whole length of the old metal pipe

Gasy wrote:
I'd Replace it with a rubber hose along the complete length of the old metal pipe leaving the metal holed pipe in place
I would just tie wrap a rubber hose along the whole length of the old metal pipe

That would certainly go a long way towards addressing the need for a rigid pipe in the first place.


Frank

See your point about using flexible hoses. Biggest problem with this is that its not one long metal pipe. The metal pipe has four connections to rubber hoses!

It would be possible to remove the leaking section and replace it with a hose. I would only do this as a temporary measure as I couldn't trust that the pipe wouldn't leak somewhere else in the near future.

There are already enough rubber hoses in the coolant system and I wouldn't want to add more of these things. The old metal pipe lasted over 20 years on my Bongo so that's not a bad level of serviceability. I don't think it was replaced before I bought it. I now look forward to another 20 years with a leak free long pipe!!

We'll review this post in 2035, then.

Gasy wrote:^^^^^
The more joins / joints
The greater the chance of leaks
I'd Replace it with a rubber hose along the complete length of the old metal pipe leaving the metal holed pipe in place
I would just tie wrap a rubber hose along the whole length of the old metal pipe

it wouldnt really make sense to do this as both long pipes have T pieces on them, the nearside long pipe also has a small dia pipe T off it that goes up to the expansion tank, this would create too many possible leak spots.

like said above, good for a temp repair but not much more than that in my opinion.

Hi
Yes...a passable get-you- home fix only...Mazda use metal pipes for a reason. Just done driver's side . The only one I'd use rubber for is the one that crosses the van from the rear T-piece, as I've done it before to by-pass the heater. It doesn't increase the number of joints!
Cheers
Helen