Head Gasket Failure...A Miracle Cure?....
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 1:35 pm
As further development to my post here http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... 68cfd2c59e
and also here...http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... 68cfd2c59e
Well, after the above issues I was pretty convinced that I had either a cracked head or head gasket problem. I had most of the usual symptoms and my mates exhast gas analyser seem to confirm that there were gases in the coolant system. So as per the above thread the decision I now had to make was to try and find a "bongo friendly" garage or have a go myself. I'm not too bad with the spanners as I have rebuilt engines before, but that was in my youth many moons ago! I didn't really fancy doing it myself due to work and family commitments so I set about looking for someone else I could trust. A day or two later I received a PM from another member of this site (who wishes to remain anonymous) that was reading my post with interest and he convinced me to do some further investigations before I shelled out lots of money.
Now, his methods are quite a lot different from what is considered "the norm" and "must do's" but what did I have to lose? Also it was very interesting to read the recent thread with regards to the new way of thinking about how the cooling system works as he had it "spot on" before the thread was written.
Anyway, we started by doing a "missfire" test to see if there was water getting into the cylinders. After waiting for the initial glowplug light to go out I waited a further 10 secs for the click, ensuring that the plugs were nice and warm and then started the engine, listening for any missfire or rough idling. No problems there, after a few seconds the engine idled well with no problems.
Next came a pressure test which involved switching the engine off and connecting a garden hose to the bleed pipe and taking off the header tank cap. I turned on the hose and waited until there was a flow from the header tank, at first it gushed and filled the engine bay but then I adjusted it until there was a dribble. I then replaced the header tank cap and waited for the system to pressurise. After a couple of mins there was a steady flow from the header tank overflow pipe and I inspected the system at my leisure. Remember everything is turned off so you can hear for leaks and there is no danger of getting caught on hot pipework. This test proved fruitful as I found a number of pinhole leaks which I fixed.
Next I had to flush and bleed the system, I removed the header tank cap and as before and attached a hose to the bleed pipe. This time I adjusted the flow until I had about 1 litre of water per minute coming from the header tank. I then started the engine and got it warm by adjusting the revs accordingly. I then inspected the water coming from the header tank for exhaust bubbles, at first there were large gurggling ones but that was just the system bleeding and it soon settled down to a steady flow with only very small "micro" bubbles visable but with the odd big bubble every 4 to 5 secs apart..I suspected these to be the exhaust gases that was over-pressurising the system before. I then made sure that the system was bled fully by turning the heaters to max and revving the engine until they got hot thus clearing any air from the heater system.....this didn't happen immediately so i took it for a drive and sure enough they got hot. Unfortunately so did the Bongo after about 15 mins driving around so it was back to the drawing board.
So, what next? I had exhausted all methods of bleeding the system and I was pretty sure that I had a head problem....it was either to a garage (£1500) or try Steel Seal (£30). I opted for Steel Seal as a last chance saloon fix. I ordered it from the net and as I couldn't get to work on the bongo again for another week I also decided to order and replace the main hoses with silicone ones at the same time. Now, to the day of reconning.
The Steel Seal instructions tell you to pour it into the header tank or radiator and warm up and cool down the engine in 3 seperate cycles, but in conjunction via email with my "bongo friend" we decided to pour it straight into the head via the bleed pipe thus getting to the problem faster.
I drove it into work that night and guess what..it overheated , but the heaters were constantly cold so I obviously had some air in the heater system again. after a quick bleed using the method mentioned before I took it out for a spin. NO OVERHEAT. My wife has now been driving around again for the last month with no problems and I have taken it out on the motorway without fault.
The methods described are by no means detailed as it would bore people silly but I would like to take the opportunity to thank my anonymous Bongo mate without whom I probably would never had attempted it.
So, its up to you lot...does Steel Seal work?
and also here...http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... 68cfd2c59e
Well, after the above issues I was pretty convinced that I had either a cracked head or head gasket problem. I had most of the usual symptoms and my mates exhast gas analyser seem to confirm that there were gases in the coolant system. So as per the above thread the decision I now had to make was to try and find a "bongo friendly" garage or have a go myself. I'm not too bad with the spanners as I have rebuilt engines before, but that was in my youth many moons ago! I didn't really fancy doing it myself due to work and family commitments so I set about looking for someone else I could trust. A day or two later I received a PM from another member of this site (who wishes to remain anonymous) that was reading my post with interest and he convinced me to do some further investigations before I shelled out lots of money.
Now, his methods are quite a lot different from what is considered "the norm" and "must do's" but what did I have to lose? Also it was very interesting to read the recent thread with regards to the new way of thinking about how the cooling system works as he had it "spot on" before the thread was written.
Anyway, we started by doing a "missfire" test to see if there was water getting into the cylinders. After waiting for the initial glowplug light to go out I waited a further 10 secs for the click, ensuring that the plugs were nice and warm and then started the engine, listening for any missfire or rough idling. No problems there, after a few seconds the engine idled well with no problems.
Next came a pressure test which involved switching the engine off and connecting a garden hose to the bleed pipe and taking off the header tank cap. I turned on the hose and waited until there was a flow from the header tank, at first it gushed and filled the engine bay but then I adjusted it until there was a dribble. I then replaced the header tank cap and waited for the system to pressurise. After a couple of mins there was a steady flow from the header tank overflow pipe and I inspected the system at my leisure. Remember everything is turned off so you can hear for leaks and there is no danger of getting caught on hot pipework. This test proved fruitful as I found a number of pinhole leaks which I fixed.
Next I had to flush and bleed the system, I removed the header tank cap and as before and attached a hose to the bleed pipe. This time I adjusted the flow until I had about 1 litre of water per minute coming from the header tank. I then started the engine and got it warm by adjusting the revs accordingly. I then inspected the water coming from the header tank for exhaust bubbles, at first there were large gurggling ones but that was just the system bleeding and it soon settled down to a steady flow with only very small "micro" bubbles visable but with the odd big bubble every 4 to 5 secs apart..I suspected these to be the exhaust gases that was over-pressurising the system before. I then made sure that the system was bled fully by turning the heaters to max and revving the engine until they got hot thus clearing any air from the heater system.....this didn't happen immediately so i took it for a drive and sure enough they got hot. Unfortunately so did the Bongo after about 15 mins driving around so it was back to the drawing board.
So, what next? I had exhausted all methods of bleeding the system and I was pretty sure that I had a head problem....it was either to a garage (£1500) or try Steel Seal (£30). I opted for Steel Seal as a last chance saloon fix. I ordered it from the net and as I couldn't get to work on the bongo again for another week I also decided to order and replace the main hoses with silicone ones at the same time. Now, to the day of reconning.
The Steel Seal instructions tell you to pour it into the header tank or radiator and warm up and cool down the engine in 3 seperate cycles, but in conjunction via email with my "bongo friend" we decided to pour it straight into the head via the bleed pipe thus getting to the problem faster.
I drove it into work that night and guess what..it overheated , but the heaters were constantly cold so I obviously had some air in the heater system again. after a quick bleed using the method mentioned before I took it out for a spin. NO OVERHEAT. My wife has now been driving around again for the last month with no problems and I have taken it out on the motorway without fault.
The methods described are by no means detailed as it would bore people silly but I would like to take the opportunity to thank my anonymous Bongo mate without whom I probably would never had attempted it.
So, its up to you lot...does Steel Seal work?
both those links just go to the home page... Pity, i'd luv to hear about a miracle cure for a failed head gasket! 
Do you still have the thermostat fitted.
Be very interesting to see what the long term effects are, as there must be a heck of a lot of good Bongos that have gone to the great scrapyard in the sky because people couldn't afford to fix them 
Mind you, this could cause a serious shortage of secondhand spares 
