Ace adventure... Peep detective!

[mikexgough]

I would be surprised if a major manufacturer would build a vehicle who temp gauge was that was so ineffective that damage would occur without it telling you.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Mason audible alarm is very useful, however the way my gauge functions now makes it virtually useless.

Bongo's do come into the UK without cooling system alarms and adaptations......

[Alacrity]

I would be surprised if a major manufacturer would build a vehicle who temp gauge was that was so ineffective that damage would occur without it telling you.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Mason audible alarm is very useful, however the way my gauge functions now makes it virtually useless.

Bongo's do come into the UK without cooling system alarms and adaptations......

So does every vehicle ever produced. I don't quite see what you mean??

[brorabongo]

I'm glad that it will peep, as I've no doubt it would peep before I'd notice the gauge going off the scale. The earlier the problems brought to your attention, the better.

[mister munkey]

Getting back to original question Jamie . . . .

Ace Adventure... Beep Defective!

Was the temp guage up in the hot end when the chirps occured or was it pipping at you whilst still reading relatively normal??

[mikexgough]

I would be surprised if a major manufacturer would build a vehicle who temp gauge was that was so ineffective that damage would occur without it telling you.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Mason audible alarm is very useful, however the way my gauge functions now makes it virtually useless.

Bongo's do come into the UK without cooling system alarms and adaptations......

So does every vehicle ever produced. I don't quite see what you mean??

Some vehicles are fitted by their manufacturers with level devices and other alarms......as standard...... like my Mrs Citroen

[Doone]

Been gigging this weekend... Drove from Bath to Switzerland, to Belgium & back home....
Not long in.

Have a mason alarm on a Diesel N reg 4X4 tin top. With a full Bongo literate money no object service in April. (New water pump too.)

Get to Switzerland on a steep incline in a 3K curving blind tunnel, nowhere safe to stop!!! The Mason peeps...

Doing about 70 & thank who ever in charge of destiny i stop in a lay bye temp needle drops... Cruise on 20 kilometres or so to a service station... leave to cool for an hour & a half....

Start with a check for leaks.... NOTHING!! Oil? NONE lost... Oil filler cap removed,, No emulsification... Finally.... Water level.... (With a lolly stick i keep in the door pocket.) ..... Everything fine as checked before the journey!!!!

Now reader.. I'm no mechanic.. But, i have thanks to certain contributors to this forum learned a thing or two about the Bongo... (Bleeding ect.)

After the rest all is fine (no peeps, normal temp on gauge.) ..................................
But, open a window.. one peep... A phone was on charge peep.... Switch on AC blower & turn up... Mild to heavy peep.


Alternator????? Volt meter fitted says fine 14.5 charge on average!!

What do you think??? I'm home & engine is apparently safe.......

I wonder if THIS POST from Dave Mason helps?

[jaylee]

Getting back to original question Jamie . . . .

Ace Adventure... Beep Defective!

Was the temp guage up in the hot end when the chirps occured or was it pipping at you whilst still reading relatively normal??

Thanks for all the replys guys... The gauge would go up no further than a smidge before the line, before the hot box.. (In my case a red one, plasma dial.)

The Mason i fitted 3 years ago.. Two years back it alerted me to a top hose leak, it went red & screamed, i stopped i saw steam from under my door..

Checked my coolant yesterday again this time from stone cold using the lolly stick 20mm.. It hasn't dropped since the start of my journey on Thursday... No crud in the header tank, clean & pink is the coolant... No leaks, fine as before!

Hill climbs the needle rises... Drops on the flat.. Drops a little further on the down hill & when stuck idling in the Zurich traffic jams it drops & stays put at 1.
I can stop at a service station let it idle fer a while (turbo saving & heat soak?) Have a coffee come back set off & have no more problem for two more stops (300 mile?)

Then maybe it would do it again... Sometimes i would get two pips on start up?
Travelling about 70/80 normal temp on flat put the AC on to 2 it pips.. Turn to 4 it pips more.. With the rear fan on too it starts it at 1..? Lower a window you may get a pip... & occasionally with the indicator..? (Similar to the previous post experience.)

I have since turned up the little blue dial a smidge.... (Thanks for the DM link!)

.... Thinking about it, i haven't noticed any fans cut in when i stopped (when i could) after the incidents.. Yet the temp needle dropped!! Then again if the fans cut in & maintained a steady temp till i pulled in may that have caused a power drop for the peeping too??

[mikeonb4c]

Mine chirps on long hills when towing, new rad & stat fitted this January, I don't worry about it now. I haven't turned the Mason setting up as the chirp confirms to me that it is working. It will also chirp for 4 or 5 seconds when I restart it after stopping the engine for a short while (i.e. filling it up with fuel) due to normal heat soak.

I must confess however, that even after a couple of months running with the Mason fitted I still don't like the fact the gauge runs so high up the scale & dances up & down all the time. Mine will run from the just above the mid position (normally going downhill!) to about 3/4 the way up normally rising to just below max when towing up hill. I have checked the engine & top rad hose with a laser thermometer when the gauge is up at its max & the hottest I get is 78 - 80 deg. So the gauge is somewhat alarmist now, it seems to have gone the other way to how it works as original. Personally the gauge has become ineffective to me now as it shows its hot when it isn't. My last Bongo, without a Mason, developed a pinhole leak in a rear heater pipe & ran very low on coolant. The standard gauge started reading high & warned me of the problem. I fixed the leak, refilled it, & then did another 10k (miles) before I sold it with no further problems. Others have said here that once the (standard) gauge rises then the damage has been done, that certainly wasn't my experience & I would be surprised if a major manufacturer would build a vehicle who temp gauge was that was so ineffective that damage would occur without it telling you.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Mason audible alarm is very useful, however the way my gauge functions now makes it virtually useless.

Steady now


You're about to blow the Chocolate Fireguard theory out of the water (or is that coolant?)

A pleasure to read your comments though as it restores a little reason to the debate about the standard gauge.

[jaylee]

Mine chirps on long hills when towing, new rad & stat fitted this January, I don't worry about it now. I haven't turned the Mason setting up as the chirp confirms to me that it is working. It will also chirp for 4 or 5 seconds when I restart it after stopping the engine for a short while (i.e. filling it up with fuel) due to normal heat soak.

I must confess however, that even after a couple of months running with the Mason fitted I still don't like the fact the gauge runs so high up the scale & dances up & down all the time. Mine will run from the just above the mid position (normally going downhill!) to about 3/4 the way up normally rising to just below max when towing up hill. I have checked the engine & top rad hose with a laser thermometer when the gauge is up at its max & the hottest I get is 78 - 80 deg. So the gauge is somewhat alarmist now, it seems to have gone the other way to how it works as original. Personally the gauge has become ineffective to me now as it shows its hot when it isn't. My last Bongo, without a Mason, developed a pinhole leak in a rear heater pipe & ran very low on coolant. The standard gauge started reading high & warned me of the problem. I fixed the leak, refilled it, & then did another 10k (miles) before I sold it with no further problems. Others have said here that once the (standard) gauge rises then the damage has been done, that certainly wasn't my experience & I would be surprised if a major manufacturer would build a vehicle who temp gauge was that was so ineffective that damage would occur without it telling you.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Mason audible alarm is very useful, however the way my gauge functions now makes it virtually useless.

Steady now


You're about to blow the Chocolate Fireguard theory out of the water (or is that coolant?)

A pleasure to read your comments though as it restores a little reason to the debate about the standard gauge.

Alacrity's comment is indeed a valid point & kind of ties in with my experience... When i stopped. The four of us went over everything engine & coolant.. It didn't even give the impression of an overheat!!!

Geoff; at times on the flat or slight incline doing 70 with the gauge at "normal" under some sort of electrical load it would either pip once on a switch on (cig lighter) or slow pip to faster peep, depending how fast the AC fan was set... Then stop when load switched off.. Or slow the peeps when i drop to 50?

I think i'm gonna invest in an engine temp readout gauge alarm that visually shows the temp... I don't like getting "punked" by false alarms!! The Mason did save me when i sprang a leak 2 years ago!!

[mikexgough]

A pleasure to read your comments though as it restores a little reason to the debate about the standard gauge.

I quite like the "adjustment" the Mason makes to the standard gauge, it suits me.

It may not suit others of course but I find it useful......although to be fair and for me......normal running is 1/2 way across the gauge or 50% or 12 o'clock...... and that is the way for 95% of the time........the gauge only really raises higher when on long uphill hauls or places like Hardnknott pass (1 in 3 or 33% uphill)

After researching the Bongo system and finding the patent for the cooling system design, I have since stood back and done a 2nd take on the cooling system and looked at it again. I have also been in contact with Japanese owners who have given me another insight into the Bongo in more than one way - Which leads me on to agree with Alacrity in respect of his experiences and findings with the standard gauge.

[mister munkey]

normal running is 1/2 way across the gauge or 50% or 12 o'clock...... and that is the way for 95% of the time........the gauge only really raises higher when on long uphill hauls or places like Hardnknott pass (1 in 3 or 33% uphill).

Since new rad, my Mason'd guage has dropped from one o'clock normal running to twelve. The occasional warning sounds have vanished & the normal alarm chirps, when booting it up the M62s Windy Hill (Mason was then set at 5.5), no longer occur. The needle now stays below 2pm, even at a floored 75mph up that gruesome incline & Mason set at 4.

Its conjecture but possibly, as the Mason isn't having to work so hard these days, its less prone to alien voltage drops . . . .

Still suspect slow running cooling system somewhere on yours is the cause.

[Alacrity]

Which leads me on to agree with Alacrity

Steady on there . . .

To be fair mine doesn't chirp when the vehicle systems electrical loads change - or if it does I haven't noticed it & I thought I would have.

I have to have a front end body repair done soon so that will entail the rad. etc. all coming out so when the cooling system is drained I will change the 'stat (new Bluepoint one when the rad was changed in Jan) for an OE one I now have waiting, so we shall see if that makes a difference, although as I said when checked with a laser thermometer there was nothing to worry about anyway.

[cozmo1589]

Your hearing aid is faulty.

Ha Ha Ha