Dirty Brown Header Tank

[haydn callow]

I"ve got a lovely brown tank here if anyone want's to have a go .

[STANIMA]

Sorry Haydn, but that isn't strictly accurate... The de-gassing/expansion tank can appear to be stained throughout, but i happen to KNOW that it can be cleaned effectively, and have seen this for myself. The badly contaminated tanks can APPEAR to be stained, but that is just the opaqueness being altered by the interior staining, generally caused by mis-matching of coolants. (that's when the trouble starts)

(note how few come directly from japan with stained tanks? It's only when us brits with lack of coolant knowledge cause the issues that make the tanks so badly stained).

I'm afraid our general lack of knowledge with the bongo's very effective coolant system is the problem,not an inherent problem with the system itself! We go bunging in the same colour coolant as it already has and think everything will be honkey dorey... BIG MISTAKE!

Hey BDC good to see you back wid da contributions again
Don’t want to sound inane slappin a point to the same & I don’t do makin same noise like da
Sothern hemisphere boyz on a roll jus to clarify so I hope you is cool?
Besides I’s busy on another site kickin the shite outa a row bout Gloxinias there’s some guy from the med threaten to burn my green house & crop bed,
he fly wid da pitch fork & flower arrange that is pleasing to the eye, But he be high by the time I organize a drive by.
& I’ll stick my neck you talking bout the jap spec coolant getting mixed wid da Euro style what the heck causing the stain at the docks or the different colour code stuff the do at local motor shops?
I know a homie & you know him too, had a stained header on a UK diesel ride had from fresh kept for the best of 14 year
service deserved coolant change flushes & the rest regular looked buff but the tank looked duff , & dat was jus the mandatory English stuff
but it ran never had a service in Japan
Don’t want to be dreary bangin your theory, I know ya see a few new imports at the Wheelquik crew as you do the good deeds I be wantin a lead on this, you know I don’t diss
Jus think tank is a natural progression like a fake tan on a man beyond redemption of age when he try to pull a cage of honeys half his age?


Peace.

Stan.

[widdowson2008]

No need Helen. From the lump I have cut out of the tank,I can confirm that the tank material IS discoloured all the way through. This tank came from Wheelquick and I was told it is from a 2.5 diesel.


On the subject of the baffles, on the tank I have, the baffles are definitely solid (no gap). However, having taken a closer look at the pics I got from TGP, there does appear to be a gap. Can't really tell from the pic but if TGP says there is a gap on his, then I believe him. This poses the reality that there is in fact MORE than one design, which throws yet more questions into the fray.

I am almost finished doing the drawing for my tank and I'll post the facts when done.

[baronweetman]

[ If you were to cut down a plastic bucket to a suitable height, then fit a vibrating mechanism run by a small motor underneath,]
If I were to do this 'er in doors would want the portaloo done as well.
Back on track though and when I first got my Blodwen (that is the Bongo not 'er in doors). I cleaned the expansion tank with denture cleaning tabs and they are still in there 3 years later as far as I know.

[haydn callow]

No need Helen. From the lump I have cut out of the tank,I can confirm that the tank material IS discoloured all the way through. This tank came from Wheelquick and I was told it is from a 2.5 diesel.

Exactly my point and I'm afraid nuts/bolts/or anything else will not turn that into a nice clear tank.
I have had enough of them in "chunks" of plastic to have tried everything.
You can remove the sediment but not the ingrained staining.

[haydn callow]

I even tried ultra sonic cleaning which will remove 50 years of plaque build up on a denture.....didn't touch the staining but did a good job on the "crud"

[haydn callow]

If you used Stainless nuts you could leave em' in there.

[mikexgough]

Mike
Yes, the thinner lock nut (jam nut) WILL go through the 4mm slots (with a WHOLE 0.5mm clearance), and CAN, with a hell of a lot of patience be jiggled through to the other chambers. No question about it, but no one in their right mind would try it for the following reason:
Do you remember those puzzles as a child - about 3" square x 1/4" thick that were a maze with a small ball bearing inside? The object was to get the ball through the maze.
Imagine trying to do this puzzle but instead of the nice round ball, there was an hexagonal shape to move around - and not one, but NINE.
Then try and imagine trying to get each one of the 9 nuts into its own chamber. To compound the problem, to get from one chamber to the next, you need to negotiate a step (the slots are not floor to ceiling), turning the 2 dimensional puzzle into a 3 dimensional one.
Lets assume you succeed (which I doubt you would have the patience for - I certainly wouldn't) and you finished up with a nice clean tank. Now your task is to get them out - same amount of work but in reverse.

I am so confident it cant be done that I will give £100 CASH to anyone who can do this in under 2 hours - just get the 9 nuts in the 9 compartments and get them back out again (but I will need to actually see it being done)
Perhaps this could be turned into an annual fun event at the bash, or even used as a fund raiser.
I do have a slight advantage here. I can see inside the tank so I know what a problem you will have.

Edit: I'll give the £100 to a charity of your choice.

I never advocated or said it could be done all I said "so in theory could go through the 4mm slots"....not that nuts would clean a tank...... anyway......
I haven't the patience for a rubiks cube......so I ended up dismantling one and rebuilt it with all the colours in the correct alignment..... But it would be interesting to see someone try the "nuts" game....

[haydn callow]

As I said in a earlier post....tried the nuts (I used ballbearings Stainless) Or perhaps I mentioned this in a PM.....never the less....it disturbed a bit of "crud" from the bottom of the tank but did the expected "nothing" to the staining.

[mikexgough]

Great post, one suggestion, if you add dilute sulfamic or phosphoric acid to the tank it will come cleaner and quicker. Warning - Do not mix different acids together - but you can use them alternately with a flush in between. Please follow ALL safety directions and dispose of spent acid by neutralising with old concrete/mortar etc. Both products and safety directions available from tile shops.

Has anyone over here (as lev8 is from down under) tried this acid method?....... there have been no comments yet as we have been going nuts....I just wondered

lev8 doesn't say he/she has used it but I guess kind of indicates to that effect, I won't assume but await said poster to confirm/deny that they have used acid and what was the result......

[Northern Bongolow]

caustic,gritsand and a handful of canterbury spa pebble dash off the house.removed the crud no problem.but not the staining.result.i can now see enough to read the level without the need to open the top.

[mikexgough]

This poses the reality that there is in fact MORE than one design, which throws yet more questions into the fray..

Looks like there were 2 Tanks..... must explain why the innards are different on the tanks you have seen

Sub Tank Part numbers


WL0115350B 15350TANK,SUB-RADIATORA (WL01-15-350C) - 961111
WL0115350B 15350TANK,SUB-RADIATOR SGLR -115494 SGLW -116045 SGL3 -106166 SGL5 -113412
WL0115350C 15350TANK,SUB-RADIATOR -961111 -
WL0115350C 15350TANK,SUB-RADIATOR SGLR 115494- SGLW 116045- SGL3 106166- SGL5 113412-


V6
WL0115350B 15350TANK,SUB-RADIATORA (WL01-15-350C) - 961111
WL0115350B 15350TANK,SUB-RADIATOR SG5W -104070
WL0115350C 15350TANK,SUB-RADIATOR 961111 -
WL0115350C 15350TANK,SUB-RADIATOR SG5W 104070

2.0L

FEMJ15350B 15350TANK,SUB-RADIATORA (FEMJ-15-350C) - 961111
FEMJ15350B 15350TANK,SUB-RADIATOR SGEW -100714
FEMJ15350C 15350TANK,SUB-RADIATOR 961111 -
FEMJ15350C 15350TANK,SUB-RADIATOR SGEW 100714-

[The Great Pretender]

My mistake, dug the tank out and the baffles go top to bottom. The slots in them vary from 6 to 14mm.
The Steve I referred to was BDC.

[widdowson2008]

Looked back over this thread and cant understand how I allowed myself to get sucked in.
Haydns method (with the dip stick) works just fine. (providing you refit the cap back properly, which I didnt on one occasion and lost some coolant, but thanks again to the TM-2, another Haydn gizmo, I got the warning well in advance of disaster)

I'm an idle sod if the truth were known so I would probably just buy a new tank if I got so lazy that I couldnt be bothered to use the stick.

Much more interesting stuff to do (like draw up the tank in 3D). I'm trying to understand how the degassing bit works.
The tank is divided into 3 distinct zones: Refer to pic until I get the drawing finished
1 - the bottom zone - 4 sections (in pic)
2 - the top zone - 4 sections on the top left
3 - the top right section
The tank filler cap is in the bottom zone (upper left chamber)
The inlet from the radiator is in the top zone (upper right chamber)
The return from tank to heater circuit is in the top zone (upper left chamber)
The connecting slots WITHIN the zones are approx 14mm wide
The connecting slots BETWEEN the zones are approx 4 to 6mm wide


Just seen TGPs post which shows the different sizes of slot quite clearly.

[missfixit70]

As the outlet hose from the head drops to the bottom of the Bongo before rising to the rad how does the air travel down hill? I have had air bubble out when stopped (from the heater circuit maybe?) I'm still not convinced air can be expelled from the head unless done manually.

Completely with you there Mel.