White smoke!!?

[Bongo1010]

Hi all,
My W reg Bongo 4wd is billowing out with white smoke!!! When it does the temp goes right upto H, any thoughts most welcome as we’ve had to leave it outside Sainsbury’s for the night before we recover it!
One thing we do know that it’s not the fuel as we had the tank drained today and re-filled with diesel and the fuel doctor guy confirmed it was not because someone may have put petrol in the engine (as it’s a hire van) so now at a loss or very concerned what it could be!
I hope someone can help share some good insight.
Thanks in advance
Rob

[g8dhe]

White smoke is normally associated with unburnt fuel I believe in a diesel, or is it steam rather than smoke, if the temperature shoots up then maybe you have a cracked head and coolant is getting into the exhaust ?

[Bongo1010]

Hi Geoff,
Thanks, the smoke or whatever it is is defiantly coming out from the exhaust. When you say cracked head, I’m assuming you mean the head gasket which is what I was fearing. Is there a way I can tell by looking at it without much mechanical knowledge? And is it wise to try and drive it back roughly a mile to get it home as it does still work, kind of!

[g8dhe]

No I do not mean head gasket I mean a crack in the actual head material between the coolant and the exhaust port as here;

[Bongo1010]

Ok thanks, is that something that is possible to be fixed do you know? And should I drive it straight to a garage or get it recovered as I’m don’t want to cause anymore damage if it is possible to fix?
Thanks

[Ian]

You have all the signs of a cracked cylinder head. As Geoff says, it's not the head gasket, it's the whole cylinder head. The vehicle should not be driven at all and should be recovered to your nearest Bongo friendly garage. Driving it can damage the engine block. The cylinder head will need replacing. This is a relatively straightforward job for a garage that has done it before, but the labour costs can mount up. If you tell us where you are based we can point you in the right direction.

[Bob]

Rotten luck, and I suspect Geoff and Ian are right.

Worth speaking to Sainsburys manager and explaining it's broken down, awaiting recovery, or at the very least put some tape over the reg plate once it's on the truck so it doesn't show on the ANPR.

Also, since it's 4wd make the recovery driver aware of that, and don't allow a suspended tow. It will jump off the spec lift and fubar the transmission.

As said, you must use a Bongo savvy garage to find out the cause of the failure and ensure it's bled properly.

Likely a small coolant leak and someone just kept driving - I'm guessing it was someone who had rented it from you had the breakdown, or didn't report the problem?

[Bongo1010]

Thanks for the info guys. I’m based in Bournemouth, do you know if any Bongo friendly garages down this way that may be able to help?

[Ian]

These guys will sort it: https://igmaynard.co.uk/blog/2016/08/05 ... ors-poole/