dripping oil

[dandywarhol]

Did you clean off the elbow in the second picture before taking the photo - it doesn't look dirty enough to me to be the sole cause of the apparant amount of wet oil (I think) I can see in the first - hard to tell and I've not seen enough Bongos to really know or know how the oil blows when your driving. Could well still be worth nipping up the rocker cover, I dunno. (PS this might help - see part(s) 10-200 here) Agree that you shouldn't have too much to worry about though, regarding this oily leak at least!

As far as my van is concerned, I don't even know if I was leaking from the rocker cover or not, nor if I was, whether a simple nip up wouldn't have worked for me. But despite replacing that rocker cover gasket anyway, I believe most of my oil was coming/spraying from the (loose) bolt in the very top-right in the next picture just behind the black connector - you can see it's sticking up a bit. Worth a quick check with your fingers that that bolt is not loose enough to wiggle.


(PS - please excuse the jubilee clip present here)

[Northern Bongolow]

thats the only good reason to use one, to hold on a temp probe/sender.

[lancyman]

Been to my local garage this morning. Fortunately he has worked on bongos before and new about common faults and the common issues they have. He didn't seem to be overly concerned and said it was ok to drive.
Also, no oil on the drive this morning, which is good. Makes me wonder if it happens when the engine is up to temperature???? He asked me to print off these pages so he could check your suggestions. So thanks again for your help.

[Driver+Passengers]

Been to my local garage this morning. Fortunately he has worked on bongos before and new about common faults and the common issues they have. He didn't seem to be overly concerned and said it was ok to drive.
Also, no oil on the drive this morning, which is good. Makes me wonder if it happens when the engine is up to temperature???? He asked me to print off these pages so he could check your suggestions. So thanks again for your help.

Check your oil level again (at least 15 minutes after stopping). You might want to top it up if you think it is low - perhaps you've done this already.

Good luck! (PS. Congrats on getting the Bongo!!)

[dandywarhol]

Been to my local garage this morning. Fortunately he has worked on bongos before and new about common faults and the common issues they have. He didn't seem to be overly concerned and said it was ok to drive.
Also, no oil on the drive this morning, which is good. Makes me wonder if it happens when the engine is up to temperature???? He asked me to print off these pages so he could check your suggestions. So thanks again for your help.

It's just possible that a combination of oil and diesel drips over the years have collected in the padded undertray below the engine. This acts like a sponge. Maybe your drive slopes at a different angle to the previous owner and the contents are slowly dripping out the tray. Try parking the van the opposite direction and see what happens.

I'm sure most of us were all like mother hens when we first picked up our new chicks

[widdowson2008]

It's just possible that a combination of oil and diesel drips over the years have collected in the padded undertray below the engine. This acts like a sponge. Maybe your drive slopes at a different angle to the previous owner and the contents are slowly dripping out the tray. Try parking the van the opposite direction and see what happens.

Weird or what?
I have literally just sent a pm to lancyman suggesting exactly that.
Had the same on mine - Park uphill and I get a very small drip. Park downhill and no drip.
Oil level checks over a few months showed no leaks.

[lancyman]

Think I might try to clean the engine so I can trace where any fluid is coming from.
What's best and safest to clean it with. Even though the bongo is iffy st the moment I love driving it. I feel like king
Of the world.

[Driver+Passengers]

Think I might try to clean the engine so I can trace where any fluid is coming from.
What's best and safest to clean it with. Even though the bongo is iffy st the moment I love driving it. I feel like king
Of the world.

Brake cleaner (spray can for 3-5 quid), a toothbrush to agitate if necessary and a rag to wipe it off has worked for me - it evaporates quite quickly leaving the muck behind so I spray and wipe, spray and wipe, etc... I know you get water based detergent degreasers that you can rinse off with water, but take care around electrical connections. You're probably down to two likely sources of oil, perhaps a combination of the two - so you shouldn't have to do very much cleanup to further diagnose.

[Diplomat]

It's just possible that a combination of oil and diesel drips over the years have collected in the padded undertray below the engine. This acts like a sponge. Maybe your drive slopes at a different angle to the previous owner and the contents are slowly dripping out the tray. Try parking the van the opposite direction and see what happens.

Weird or what?
I have literally just sent a pm to lancyman suggesting exactly that.
Had the same on mine - Park uphill and I get a very small drip. Park downhill and no drip.
Oil level checks over a few months showed no leaks.

Exactly the situation here. Sloping drive and the drips come from the tray when sloping upwards. That's despite putting an extra rag in the tray.

For years I enjoyed the luxury of Japanese cars being drip free and I'm rather disappointed that Bongos are prone to leaking oil and diesel, even if only slightly.

It's embarassing when it's someone else's driveway!


Frank

[dandywarhol]

Think I might try to clean the engine so I can trace where any fluid is coming from.
What's best and safest to clean it with. Even though the bongo is iffy st the moment I love driving it. I feel like king
Of the world.

Lidl do a great aerosol cleaner

[lancyman]

Thanks folks. Will pop out and get some later.

[teenmal]

Think I might try to clean the engine so I can trace where any fluid is coming from.
What's best and safest to clean it with. Even though the bongo is iffy st the moment I love driving it. I feel like king
Of the world.

Good Man

[lancyman]

On the subject of jubilee clips, would the ones that engine save sell be better?

[Driver+Passengers]

On the subject of jubilee clips, would the ones that engine save sell be better?

Yes, I believe so. I think you'll find them sold as "NORMA" constant pressure hose clamps - you can probably get them from Haydn Callow.

Worth looking more closely at what you've got on the van - hard to tell from the photo you posted but you might be lucky and already have one fitted...? Here's what they look like...



The other type you can just about see on the big photo I posted earlier on this thread - the kind you squeeze two little tabs together with pliers.

Like I said though, take a closer look at yours to see if it is a "normal" hose clamp or a "NORMA" hose clamp and you might just be lucky...

[widdowson2008]

On the subject of jubilee clips, would the ones that engine save sell be better?

Yes, I believe so. I think you'll find them sold as "NORMA" constant pressure hose clamps - you can probably get them from Haydn Callow.

Worth looking more closely at what you've got on the van - hard to tell from the photo you posted but you might be lucky and already have one fitted...? Here's what they look like...



The other type you can just about see on the big photo I posted earlier on this thread - the kind you squeeze two little tabs together with pliers.

Like I said though, take a closer look at yours to see if it is a "normal" hose clamp or a "NORMA" hose clamp and you might just be lucky...

These are the ones to use.

They continuously adjust to expanding/contracting pipework dynamically.
Jubilee clips (and anything based on the screw fastening method) will not adjust dynamically.
http://www.norma.net.au/norma-fbs.html