Bongo Fury

Glenda wrote:I think this is going off topic now. The statistics are for the Big Bongo Survey.

Let's not let it boil over into another coolant alarm debate. I always end up being pm'ed when I join those.

Oh, and it was going to be my first one

dobby wrote:

Glenda wrote:I think this is going off topic now. The statistics are for the Big Bongo Survey.

Let's not let it boil over into another coolant alarm debate. I always end up being pm'ed when I join those.

Oh, and it was going to be my first one

missfixit70 wrote:With a vehicle up to 16 years old with 17 hoses etc, etc, is it really that surprising? Just highlights the need for sensible maintenace & monitoring IMO

Dead right - and meanwhile don't forget that all those hoses and pipes do a great job while they are working as intended:

- well cooled mid engine means stability, control and great driving.

- front and rear heaters mean toastie for all on demand, without unnecessary use of energy if only the front is occupied.

- front and rear aircon means comfort in hot weather, without unnecessary use of energy if only the front is occupied, and humidity control throughout whenever needed.

Try any old commercial van and experience the difference but, yes, an old Bongo has more in it to be looked after, so if you only want a "fill up and forget motor" don't buy a Bongo. Buy some air cooled horror with cart springs - suggestions?

Alison01326 wrote:

dvisor wrote:That is indeed a worrying statistic. I think if I'd seen that before buying my Bongo, I probably wouldn't have gone through with it. I wonder how many potential purchasers will see this and be put off (at the same time I don't think it should be suppressed neither). A bit of an eye opener!

I bought my Bongo without knowing anything of any potential issues, having not discovered the club or the forum until some two months had elapsed after I bought it.

Fortunately, I got a good one, and I also now know how to look after it properly.

However, I specifically wanted a Bongo, so I expect I would have looked at the statistic and read

Percentage of people who own a diesel Bongo who have not reported coolant or overheating problems: 850 out of 1142 = 74.4%

Percentage of people who own a petrol Bongo who have not reported coolant or overheating problems: 137 out of 146 = 93.8%

It's interesting to read this discussion on this particular statistic, and I agree that there are degrees of coolant and overheating problems and the resulting damage, if any, and that one individual's interpretation of what the question meant is not the same as another's, so maybe future surveys (if there are to be any) could make distinctions between the problems which arise with the cooling system.

Good one Alison. Glass (much more than) half full

francophile1947 wrote:

mikexgough wrote: Certainly was....... but the Vamos unit failures and suspension bushes and wishbones are very common issues with Beemers so I am told.....

Well, I suppose the average BMW driver has the IQ of an amoeba and drives like one as well

On behalf of amoebae (?) everywhere, I protest

Ron Miel wrote:

francophile1947 wrote:

mikexgough wrote: Certainly was....... but the Vamos unit failures and suspension bushes and wishbones are very common issues with Beemers so I am told.....

Well, I suppose the average BMW driver has the IQ of an amoeba and drives like one as well

On behalf of amoebae (?) everywhere, I protest

No need to worry Ron - you're not average

Alison01326 wrote:As I was driving along today with one eye on the temperature gauge and the other on the road I thought of something which may affect the survey results.

Whilst there's no denying that Bongos (particularly diesel ones, it appears) have coolant issues I thought to myself that if my Bongo had suffered any sort of coolant issue in the two and a bit months in which I had owned it before I joined the forum it would have completely down to ignorance. I knew nothing of checking header tanks and hoses when I bought it, nor did I know about the temperature gauge being a waste of space. Apart from a cursory glance at the coolant level now and again (once, maybe twice in thos couple of months) I paid no heed to any potential issues as I didn't know there were any.

I am now very careful and do my best to avoid coolant problems.

I wonder how many problems could have been avoided with prior knowledge, how many people joined this forum purely to find out about what happened, and how many people have "always known". Don't know how this would be built into the survey, but ignorance and negligence could play a part in the problems. Wonder how many Bongos would have suffered problems if NO-ONE knew that they could, and we all drove round without coolant alarms, mason alarms and that small degree of paranoia that membership of this forum has instilled in us. All of them?

That's an interesting last para, Alison. Is it possible, in your spare time Ian, to correlate coolant loss/heating problems/head changes, with LCA and engine temp monitor installs?

On the general point, I've posted elsewhere how Wellhouse Motors, ostensibly Bongo supporters, did their very best to sell me anything but a Bongo - "because they all overheat" (sic). Fortunately, the couple of Bongos they had in (including our statistician's old one they were selling for him), sold us completely on the Bongo as our choice, so after a week of further thought, we simply bought one somewhere else. I have been conscious that, as well as being a bit annoying with their negative and very exaggerated attitude, Wellhouse did me a big favour by at least making me aware that a Bongo is not a trivial purchase.

As a result, soon after getting ours, I fitted a Haydn low coolant alarm and a TM-2 engine temperature monitor. Was losing a very small amount of coolant from the off; so small that I assumed it was normal - it isn't!! Anyway, I couldn't find a cause - until one day, it found me!

The LCA went off (at normal operating temperature, BTW); coolant had dropped just below the tank screw/electrode. Switched off, then on again just to check the TM-2 reading, which had not risen at all. So, coolant loss but no overheating problem, let alone head failure - thanks to the LCA - FIT ONE!!!

(Cause was an apparent screwdriver nicked top hose at its engine block connection, beneath its Jubilee Clip, caused during hose remove and re-fit, as a part of the pre-delivery cambelt change - these things happen. Clip had held it in check until, under pressure, the split spread beyond the clip covered area.)

mikeonb4c wrote:

Ron Miel wrote:

francophile1947 wrote: Well, I suppose the average BMW driver has the IQ of an amoeba and drives like one as well

On behalf of amoebae (?) everywhere, I protest

No need to worry Ron - you're not average

Beemer driver (I'm not), or amoeba?