Causes of Water loss ...

[droodle]

So my lovely bongo loses a bit of water .. maybe 1/2 ltr over 2 weeks, i've had her since april this year and took her straight to discount trucks where a good once over was given, a hose and rocker gasket replaced. Anyway since then shes driven flawlessly only i was a bit of a twit and topped up the coolant and then drove off leaving the cap off causing a big air lock and took it to my local bongo garage (county cars sussex) who rebled and pressure tested ok and said thats all fine - since then - shes still driven great and had no issues prob driven about 3000k - even using up to 40% veg oil now.

So what are the other possible causes of the water loss - where should i be looking next as one day i'll forget to top up before a long journey and pop (should fit the mason i've had for over a month really)

cheers.

[missfixit70]

I'd try a pressure test of the system - http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... =3&t=38823 - to see if that shows up a leak. If it seems to hold pressure & no leaks show up, then it could be down to the pressure cap or worst case scenario the head/gasket.
Could be the water pump, there's a telltale here if you lift the passy seat -



could be any of the hoses, pipes, the radiator top seam, it's just a matter of having a thorough inspection.

[haydn callow]

A Mason Alarm will not tell you if you are losing coolant or you need to top it up.
It makes the gauge work better and warns if you are overheating......You will probably have lost most of your coolant by this stage if coolant loss is causing the rise in temp.

[handyman]

Have a look at where the bleed pipe connects at the engine I think 3 pipes connect to it. Iv'e had a leak there for years. It's a pin hole in the metal and I sealed the hole with chem. metal
about 2 years ago and what with the coolant reaction over time it has probably weakened the seal again. Can't be welded apparantly co's it's gun metal. Have not so far found a chemical metal that will seal the hole or resist the heat or coolant reaction. You could also try some coolant dye which helped when the pump died.

[mikexgough]

if your using red coolant then you should see external losses like in this picture (not a bongo engine but for illustration) in effect show a "pink" discharge at the point of the leak/weep

[droodle]

Cheers, i'll take it all on board .. and see what can be found ...

[Northern Bongolow]

I'd try a pressure test of the system - http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... =3&t=38823 - to see if that shows up a leak. If it seems to hold pressure & no leaks show up, then it could be down to the pressure cap or worst case scenario the head/gasket.
Could be the water pump, there's a telltale here if you lift the passy seat -



could be any of the hoses, pipes, the radiator top seam, it's just a matter of having a thorough inspection.

as usuall spot on kirsty,
ive just had one in just now,loosing 1 litre per week,could not find the leak.pressure tested using the method in your link and eventually found it,a tiny leak when under pressure from the water pump.incidently there are two holes in the water pump housing,the one shown in the picture,and one in the 6 oclock position, this was leaking here and running down behind the pulleys,then after 5 mins was showing at the front edge of the sump, when the motor was cold or not running there was no leak.

thanks again kirsty.