Second service (suspension, head gasket and underbody)

[Driver+Passengers]

Al and I bled the coolant and got the stat open. Nipped a couple of nuts and bolts up as we went round the engine looking for leaks (one injector union, two studs on the exhaust manifold and one coolant hose clamp (!).

Bacon rolls, source a wheel nut then take it for a test drive.

Edit: Yaris is now minus a wheel nut.

[Driver+Passengers]

With the coolant already hot when I put the cap on, and a leaky header tank (still), the pressure stayed <2psi on the test run. I'd expect that. Once I get the leak resolved and start from cold, I'll have a better idea of whether I've fixed my problems or not.

Balljoints, track rods, drop links, etc... were a no brainer. Much improved.

Didn't fit the digital temp gauge back on so was running on the dash gauge only. Seemed to be running a bit cooler than before.

10w40 (all I had) and reused the coolant. Breaking all the rules.

[mikeonb4c]

I'm missing something here. Are you saying you've had the engine running. Great result if so

[Driver+Passengers]

I'm missing something here. Are you saying you've had the engine running. Great result if so

Yes, but I'm reserving judgement on the coolant until I've done some fair tests.

I'm chuffed as the mutt's nuts, but hesitant to say "it's fixed" when I can't be sure. But the engine running was a milestone.

[briwy]

Matt.
Do you still need a wheel nut? PM me if you do, I can get one up to you.

[Driver+Passengers]

Matt.
Do you still need a wheel nut? PM me if you do, I can get one up to you.

PM sent.

[MountainGoat]

Or another 10 wheelnuts, I can get those up to you too. Are you sure that the missing nut is not inside your head.

Tony

[mikeonb4c]

I'm missing something here. Are you saying you've had the engine running. Great result if so

Yes, but I'm reserving judgement on the coolant until I've done some fair tests.

I'm chuffed as the mutt's nuts, but hesitant to say "it's fixed" when I can't be sure. But the engine running was a milestone.

Absolutely brilliant you got on with this so quickly, the engine started straight up and (touch wood touch wood) you may have a result (but you're right to be hesitant - still need to see if the head is OK). You must be knackered, at the pace you've been going and in this cold weather. Time for a well earned break

[Driver+Passengers]

Absolutely brilliant you got on with this so quickly, the engine started straight up and (touch wood touch wood) you may have a result (but you're right to be hesitant - still need to see if the head is OK). You must be knackered, at the pace you've been going and in this cold weather. Time for a well earned break

I am spent. Looking back on the work so far it's been every day, typically 12 hours a day. Longer than it would take a garage and longer than it would take me "next time" but an education and immensely satisfying. I've not been away camping but I've spent time with the van being relatively productive and that's always a treat, but time for a break, indeed! Big thanks go to my wife and son for bearing with me.


So where am I up to...?

[*] have head tested and skimmed

I did not do this, having a hunch it was okay and refitting it. Al gave it a polish with a razor blade and Silvo-impregnated wadding. It came up well, measured flat, had a good finish on it and didn't cost me anything.

[*] new head gasket and bolts

I got a cheap £40 full-engine gasket set on eBay and I still have most of it left. I used the head gasket, timing belt back dust cover seals, inlet, exhaust and rocker cover gaskets.

The bolts were £17 from eBay, advertised as new and the cheapest I could find. It they are used bolts sold as new, I'll never know.

I chatted with Simon Jones and others about the job, then phoned Bell Hill for a couple of clarifications. I wet-decked the block with P180 on marble and finished with P240 before re-fitting the head with Stag Wellseal, brushed onto the head and block with a 6mm brush. It was left for 20 minutes or so before assembly. There will have been a dribble of oil out of the head as we turned it to lay onto the block, but it is what it is.

[*] new thermostat

Genuine Mazda thermostat ordered through a local Mazda dealer, £21.

[*] new/replacement header tank

Not yet. First priority is to locate and repair the leak in the putty around the pressure sensor(s). Second is to install a 12V LED behind the tank to illuminate the level.

[*] new cambelt and tensioner

Timing belt and tensioner kit from bellocat on eBay, £34. Didn't come with a spring. I didn't measure the existing one. The hole in the tensioner that fits on the stud on the front of the head was around 0.1mm too small to fit. I gave it a tickle with a rat's tail file but it's hard metal. After examining the two, we refitted the old one. Less end play in the bearings, not quite as resistant to turning but obviously the better quality part.

I marked the camshaft pully with masking tape and marker where it lined up with the notch in the metal to the rear of it and made sure the crankshaft/pistons didn't move. When refitting, I got the belt on at that, turned to the timing marks themselves and double-checked, then turned the engine over two revolutions with a pair of slip-jaw pliers.

[*] lower ball joints

I got these out myself by angle grinding the back plate off, levering the plastic out with a screw driver and hitting the ball out. First one I threaded a hacksaw blade through the hole and cut halfway through. A large socket and a lump hammer drifted them both out.

The new ones were £78/pair from autojapspares on eBay. The holes in the wishbone were slightly oval and the splines/grooves on the new balljoint did not have much of a leading edge. Careful application of a file got the first one started straight and a G-clamp, an extension bar and various bits of wood and metal got it 3/4 of the way in. For the price of a jar of coffee and a packet of biscuits, I got them driven home the following morning.

[*] wishbone bushes (probably)

No, they look more than adequate.

[*] track rod ends

Done. £37/pair on eBay. Slightly shorter. I compensated with fitting them each 2 turns out but that looks like a little too far. Inner track rod ball joints are now the weakest part - the old ones were shot and worse than either droplinks or balljoints.

[*] front drop links

£16.50/pair on eBay. Had to cut two bolts off, but a straightforward job.

[*] rear drop links

£40/pair on eBay. Two of the old rubbers pushed out very easily. The offside drop link has been installed with a slight twist due to the mating surfaces not being quite co-planar. I'll see if it wears faster then the other one.

[*] front and rear anti-roll bar bushes

£24 quid for a set from autojapspares. Sheared the bottom bolt on the rear off-side bracket mount. Drilled it with cobalt bits and fitted a new bolt (not tack-welded in place, yet). One of the brackets looks original, the other I tried to reshape a little, but it's a bit off. I'll wait to see if that one wears faster than the other.

[*] fit winter tyres, possibly on 2nd set of wheels

Not yet. Plan on returning the part-worn tyres I received due to being 13 years old. Mint though... a bargain if we were happy with the age. No new wheels yet, but I did shear the tip off a wheel bolt I have a new bolts but no nut, yet.

[*] wheel alignment

Todo.

[*] oil and oil filter

Drained the old 5w30 and put in 5L of 10W40. Filter is unchanged.

[*] fuel filter

Todo, as I've been running veg for a couple of months and probably should.

[*] air filter

Todo at some point, looks fine enough though. K&N is next.

[*] diff oil

Todo.

[*] underbody (wire brush, wash/dry, degrease, Fertan, ACF-50 and Waxoyl schutz)

In progress. Fertan doesn't dry very quickly. Will try Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80 on some of the bits still to do. ACF-50 in lots of places. No waxoyl anywhere, yet. Sliding around on my back on a stony, dusty floor brushing sticky stuff on the van is something I'd better get comfortable with - I've got another car that needs it more and has an MOT coming up.

[*] full body wax

A neighbour said he'd give me a hand. He's regularly out polishing his motor.


The van took ages to start. We tightened everything up and then started cranking it. Maybe if we'd cracked an injector pipe union it would have started more quickly, I don't know. On the fourth or fifth attempt, the engine started to rock and then went into a smooth idle, on 50% veg. I bled it at an idle and we got the stat open. I'd say it bled up easier than before, but there was what appeared to be a steady stream of small bubbles at one point that worried me, but it all behaved as normal. Turned off.

An hour later, we got the seats in, dropped the van (I never liked the dangly fog light, anyway! ), and I pulled out of the garage for the first time. Threw in a funnel and a few tools and set off for a 10 mile run. Pressure stayed down at 0-2psi, presumably because the coolant had already expanded when we put the cap on and there was nothing to pressurise. That's going to be the focus of the next step - fix the leak in the header tank, start from cold and get a trace of pressure over the duration of another road test.

Temperature on my dash gauge sat somewhere around what I reckon to be 78 degrees - cool by that van's standards, it's normally 81 easy driving which is a few mm to the right. The theory then is that if my old gasket was blowing combustion gas into the coolant system, which would explain the repeatable over-pressurisation under load despite a header tank that leaked to atmosphere itself, then given a warm, unpressurised system in the presence of a pressure leak (the header tank), a test run that pushed no combustion gas into the coolant would give consistently low pressure readings during a road test - that would be grreat! However, if I have introduced a pressure leak or the header tank leak has suddenly got significantly worse, then I could still be venting excess combustion gasses and not know it. The only way to be sure is to seal the header tank and start from cold.

The drive is transformed and I hope it's getting back a bit of the reliability that we need from it this winter. The Yaris has never missed a beat and needs a bit of TLC itself, but I'd much rather drive the Bongo!

What a week!

It really needs a wash!

So far, so good.

[mikeonb4c]

Superb write up and I look forward to hearing all is smart, tidy, polished, and hunky dory with the Bongo. I prefer 5w30 oil myself and in cold Scotland its what I'd go for.

[Driver+Passengers]

Cheers, Mike.

I will revert to 5w30 soon. 10w40 is all I had and fine for a few runs.

Here are a couple of photos.

Cleaning injectors...


The point at which I stopped decking the block.

[Simon Jones]

Well done Matt, I admire your determination and perseverance. Fingers crossed that once you get the header tank sorted you will be fully leak free

[Driver+Passengers]

Cheers, Simon. Not a lot I could do really, other than press on.

I've spent about £300 on parts and something around £100 on tools, materials and services (not including tyres/wheels yet). A few favours and some time spent with others, probably around 100 man hours all in, but I wasn't counting.

Not a cheap service by any stretch, but not bad to include decking the block in all of that. Probably saved myself about a grand over a garage job.

[peterrc]

Cheers, Simon. Not a lot I could do really, other than press on.

Not a cheap service by any stretch, but not bad to include decking the block in all of that. Probably saved myself about a grand over a garage job.

Probably spent that in black Pudding & Bacon Butties & cups of tea lol

[Driver+Passengers]