engine etc - general cleaning and maintenance

[Kernowel]

Hi all
Can anyone give me some advice on general engine cleaning, oiling, greasing and saving the mechanical bits and pieces. Here is a picture of the engine bay under the drivers seat. Ignoring the low power steering fluid - as you can see everything is generally rusty and dirty. What would someone who knows what they are doing, do here? I am not a mechanic and everything I touch tends to get worse so I want to be careful. Suggestions please?

Thanks
Hosk

[Hazzobongo]

I wouldn't be too bothered about cleaning in there but WD40 sprayed around and given a wipe will do the job if you're concerned, it will also keep the damp at bay.

When I get a vehicle second hand I tend to go over all the electrical connectors I come across, unplug them and look for green corrosion on the terminals, if they are discoloured I'll spray the WD 40 in them then plug and unplug a few times till the green crap is gone and then reassemble after putting a dab of vaseline on those terminals, also check any earth wires you come across for corrosion/breakages too, replace any which are damaged but usually only the terminals will need a bit of a rub with emery paper to clean those up then do the same with the dab of vaseline before re-connecting.

The appearance of the engine isn't going to create problems and neither is surface rust on bolts/parts etc, you could be anal about it and spend hours trying to clean it all up but its unnecessary, Power steering fluid by the way isn't black so I'd be having that changed or diy in my case, it also doesn't tend to disappear so you'll need to follow the pipework and see if its leaking somewhere. I had the same problem on an old Lexus I had, it didn't affect the steering as like yours there was still sufficient in the system and my leak was easy as the pipework ran in front of the radiator behind the grill and was in a rusted bend in the metal pipe, I simply hacksawed the rusty part off and rejoined it with rubber fuel pipe, it lasted the rest of the cars life. H

[Kernowel]

Thanks H. Good advice there and appreciated.

Ref the pipework, I have had a bit of a mare with that. First an AFT leak was fixed by my local garage with a rubber hose, then the power steering leak was fixed in the same way. They advised that permanent repairs would be required. So, off to my not-so-local Bongo specialist and £650 later they have replaced the AFT pipe and the (high pressure?) engine coolant pipe with Bongo steel pipes. But still the power steering (rubber hose) was leaking. Apparently that just needed a hose clip tightening up, which my local garage did at the MOT. Hasn't leaked PS fluid since. Although the steering is sluggish and stiff.

But.. the coolant alarm went off the day after I got the van back after the new coolant and AFT pipes were fitted. I topped it up with a couple of litres of ready mix red. It has subsequently gone off every couple of days and no evidence of a leak under the vehicle. I have put 6 litres in so far. It only goes off when it's been left overnight, not when I am out driving. Fingers crossed, the alarm hasn't gone off for 4 days now. Maybe the coolant wasn't topped up when they fitted the pipe - or maybe it is something worse. Any views on that?
Cheers.
Hosk.

[g8dhe]

If the coolant level alarm has now stopped going off it rather sounds like they didn't bleed the system of air correctly when the engine was serviced, 6 litres is quite a lot and you would be expecting to see a sign of the leaking coolant !! However be aware for the future, its very easy to overheat the diesel engine if there isn't sufficient coolant or air trapped in the system, some of the engines seem to be prone to this possibly they have chalked up over the years and need extra attention when refilling, best to mention this to the garages in the future if there going to be working on the engine and may loose coolant in the process, its not sufficient to just "top up" but to make sure that there really isn't any air trapped, otherwise disaster will follow!!

[Hazzobongo]

Thanks H. Good advice there and appreciated.

Ref the pipework, I have had a bit of a mare with that. First an AFT leak was fixed by my local garage with a rubber hose, then the power steering leak was fixed in the same way. They advised that permanent repairs would be required. So, off to my not-so-local Bongo specialist and £650 later they have replaced the AFT pipe and the (high pressure?) engine coolant pipe with Bongo steel pipes. But still the power steering (rubber hose) was leaking. Apparently that just needed a hose clip tightening up, which my local garage did at the MOT. Hasn't leaked PS fluid since. Although the steering is sluggish and stiff.

But.. the coolant alarm went off the day after I got the van back after the new coolant and AFT pipes were fitted. I topped it up with a couple of litres of ready mix red. It has subsequently gone off every couple of days and no evidence of a leak under the vehicle. I have put 6 litres in so far. It only goes off when it's been left overnight, not when I am out driving. Fingers crossed, the alarm hasn't gone off for 4 days now. Maybe the coolant wasn't topped up when they fitted the pipe - or maybe it is something worse. Any views on that?
Cheers.
Hosk.

They obviously didn't refill the radiator at its neck, the expansion tank where the coolant alarm is is just that and when the engine starts and the coolant begins circulating it simply sucks in whatever is in that tank to replenish the system, I've had a head blow on another Japanese diesel because of the type of fan used for the radiator, which was revolving as if it was operating normally but internally the viscous fluid had perished over the years causing the fan mechanism not to grip the shaft when under load and getting the engine too hot. I was towing a caravan when that head blew too, it was 3 ton fully laden and is why I wouldn't tow anything with the Bongo unless it was very light and mine has a towbar fitted.

These vans have the same system for the heaters front and rear as that truck had though I've no idea if the same type of fan is used so its worth your while to keep an eye on fluid levels. I don't know how much the system is supposed to take but when I had the timing belt changed and was supplying the components the bongo specialist I took it to asked for 5 litres of concentrate fluid, I got around two of those returned so 6 litres of mix should do the job as there is more in the cold engine block that would only be replaced after a thermostat change. H

[Callumfur]

Hi guys I have a 97 bongo 2.5 v6 petrol. Having some engine issues. Was driving down the motorway and was losing power... not knowing the coolant cap had blown off after i seen steam coming from the bonnet. Car won't turn over now and when it does water is coming out the exhaust... I'm guessing my head is buggered. I'm yet to crack the head this weekend and take a look inside. Has anyone experienced a same issue? Many thanks

[Hazzobongo]

Doesn't sound good, maybe create your own new post as the forum guy who usually answers first on these tech posts also has the V6.

If you continued driving without water/coolant in the system its a knocking bet you have damage.H