Bongo Fury

Hi Boots
If Kirsty is looking in on this one, she has posted recently (and on many occasions in the past) a pic of her Bongo gauge, and it describes the o'clock thing very clearly so perhaps she will be kind enough to put a link to it.

Your comment 'My point about the stat is, I realise it helps the engine get up to temp, but as it appears from other posts, if its just a little bit faulty then its a block in the system so why not try running without' - yes, no doubt whatsoever that it will keep the temperature down - absolutely NONE - but by doing this, you are kidding yourself that the problem has gone away....and it aint - it's just sitting there waiting for another fault to occur and then it will jump up and bite you (and it has potentially very expensive jaws) Wouldn't wish that on anyone (except Gordon Brown of course)

Mike
Sorry about earlier 'smart' remarks. With regard to the fan over-ride switch, apart from it not being featured in the original design so deemed unnecessary, I have to admit that I considered it at one stage (after reading one of your posts actually) and thinking what a good idea. The only reason for not doing it was that I didn't have a problem with mine so couldn't see any reason to do it.
BTW, re: the fume/heat reasons you gave - I remember a post some time ago that got over this by adjusting the engine cover fastenings to make a tighter seal. Got rid of some engine noise too.

Hi Steve,

Yep aggree with all you said. When I got the 'B' in January & a private purchase I never inspected the roof as it had 4ins of frozen snow on it and that stayed from Huddersfield to Cumbria and days later but it ran very well, no overheating tho that didnt suprise me as it was sooo cold. I did inspect as much as possible at the time, as per this sites recomendations.

With the paperwork was the bill for a replacement head etc some 6 months earlier @£1300+ but the work had not been done by a Bongo garage just a diesel specialist so I have taken lots of care with the running as I dont want to be landed with a similar bill due to overheating.

Thats why I realy wanted Wquick to do the turbo so the coolant bleeding was done correctly. Now I've done the job myself at about 1/3 the cost but still hope to get them to fit me in for a good bleed.

Keep up the good work on the 'bleedin' problem.


Cheers


Boots

widdowson2008 wrote:Hi Boots
If Kirsty is looking in on this one, she has posted recently (and on many occasions in the past) a pic of her Bongo gauge, and it describes the o'clock thing very clearly so perhaps she will be kind enough to put a link to it.

Your comment 'My point about the stat is, I realise it helps the engine get up to temp, but as it appears from other posts, if its just a little bit faulty then its a block in the system so why not try running without' - yes, no doubt whatsoever that it will keep the temperature down - absolutely NONE - but by doing this, you are kidding yourself that the problem has gone away....and it aint - it's just sitting there waiting for another fault to occur and then it will jump up and bite you (and it has potentially very expensive jaws) Wouldn't wish that on anyone (except Gordon Brown of course)

Mike
Sorry about earlier 'smart' remarks. With regard to the fan over-ride switch, apart from it not being featured in the original design so deemed unnecessary, I have to admit that I considered it at one stage (after reading one of your posts actually) and thinking what a good idea. The only reason for not doing it was that I didn't have a problem with mine so couldn't see any reason to do it.
BTW, re: the fume/heat reasons you gave - I remember a post some time ago that got over this by adjusting the engine cover fastenings to make a tighter seal. Got rid of some engine noise too.

Don't worry about that Steve - I don't bother about it and they were valid questions. I'm always being a smartarse on here so I expect to get challenged But it was all well thought through. Although I always start with a presumption the engineers/designers knew what they were doing, it is always worth challenging nonetheless. For example, if they had got it right they might have foreseen that a low coolant alarm would have been a sensible feature (I was interested to hear that some new cars now have them as standard apparently). Similarly, they might have fitted a proper engine temp gauge (if they reckoned the average driver would know how to interpret the readings of course - never a given ) if they had considered a 15+ year old example that may not have had its recommended services done (Adrian at Bury says he's seen a lot of imported Bongos that had no antifreeze in the system - I personally suspect this is at least as relevant as using the 'using the wrong antifreeze' theory in explaining the tales of Bongos with gunge in the rads and corrosion on the metal pipes etc.). So as the Bongo has always been a bit of a 'lets try this' project for me, I was happy to fit a scavenger fan over-ride. I suspect the designers were thinking more about engine component longevity than occupant comfort when they designed the standard sensor.

I've done the tightening the latches thing. My Bongo was quiet before and after doing that so I reckon to have a good seal. Also, I should stress it is only v. occasionally that I ever get a whiff in the cab. Its just that on the public relations front, its better for the missus never to smell it, as she started off thinking 'he's bought a van to drive me round in' and although she has come to appreciate the Bongos many fine points (the ride height means you can inspect everyones living room when driving etc. ), it wouldn't take much for vanophobia to return (personally, as an ex van driver, a nice driving mid-engined well handling van like the Bongo is just about my perfect mount, and the ultimate MPV).

widdowson2008 wrote:Hi Boots
If Kirsty is looking in on this one, she has posted recently (and on many occasions in the past) a pic of her Bongo gauge, and it describes the o'clock thing very clearly so perhaps she will be kind enough to put a link to it.

Hi Boots
Just found Kirstys o'clock post. See in http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... 41&start=0

Results to 16-06-10
The first graph is a complete set of results from the beginning




The second graph shows the results from the last test (engine under load travelling up a long steep hill) and the graph trimmed to show results within the stat operation band ie: 82C and above.


What can be seen is that whilst the temperatures are all marginally higher than the 'normay running' results, the system is still being controlled within the same basic values.
There seems to be two things being strictly controlled by the thermostat.
1 - the head temperature at around 90C
2 - the block temperature at around 65C

The next stage of the test is to 'iron' out the spikes as much as possible. (the PARKING spikes can't be easily eliminated but can be accounted for. This will be achieved by a more frequent sample rate, a task which Tony will not appreciate as he is the one taking the readings. But come on Tony - it's all in the name of science.
From the next set of results, I'll hopefully be able to determine the mathematical equation which governs the thermostat, and from that, precisely what is governing the system (I think I already know but will keep gob shut until proven)

Part of the explanation for the design of the cooling system (IMHO) lies in the fact that the Bongo was originally produced for the Japanese and American home markets/road conditions/laws, and not England. Explanation to follow later.