Bongo Fury

Hi All,

It's been a while since my Bongo was last on the road and I thought the garage had finally cracked it but the Bongo is still not right. To cut a long story short I thought I would double check everything to make sure before I started driving it so I checked the expansion tank which was empty!

I naturally thought perhaps they have just not bled it properly so started bleeding while topping up and noticed it was spitting water or oil from the front end on the drivers side out of what looks like a bolt hole! It looks like a bolt hole with a missing bolt but it sits right above the water inlet to the engine(picutre below) so I wondered if any one could have a quick look at their Bongo and see if theres a bolt or a sensor missing from mine?

http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i229/ ... 009032.jpg (image on its side)

http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i229/ ... 009031.jpg


Regards,

Rob.

temperature sender missing

That does'nt bode well. I pressume it's supposed to be a water temperature sender?

There is a sensor just to the left of the hole which is abit hard to see?

the temperature sender is at the side of that, not sure what or if there should be a screw in there thoe

Thanks. No takers on what might be missing, if someone could take a quick peek at their Bongo for me it would be a great help.

Cheers,
Rob.

just had a look, its just a bolt that goes in , not sure what it for thoe

Many thanks for checking.

I had a look at the old cylinder head and it looks like it might be a head bolt as there is a hole drilled right through the head at about the same place (hard to compare).

On the plus side the Bongo has breezed through it's MOT just cost me £9 for a pair of wiper blades .

Just need to work out why the radiator fan is running all the time and bleed the system properly. With the fan running I am struggling to get the thermostat to open. I was trying to bleed it earlier and bottled it as the top pipe into the engine was getting really hot and there was oil splashing out of the bolt hole and smoking! Then I ran out of diesel I did not have the time to finish bleeding it out before the MOT.

It covered the 3-4 miles to and from the garage OK the temp gauge was spot on so fingers crossed it will be OK.

hope its an easy fix for you and no damage has been done, dread to think how on earth it got missed off thoe.

If it was a head bolt then the head was sealed properly, so will show as a head gasket problem I would presume, I would get the garge to sort it at their expense, then at least if the worst has already happened then they wont cover it as you have done work on it.

As for radiator fans, have they wired it up so they are constantly on for a reason??, Just speculating here but, if they couldnt bleed your bongo as they couldnt get the air out because the dimwits hadnt realised they had left a bolt off , then they may have wired up the fans so its going to keep the engine cold to mask their mistake.

I would get them to sort it, then your covered if the heads already gone.

But i could be totally wrong, good luck anyhow

Cheers Wayne

I'm kind of hoping the only consequence is the oil leak

I hoping perhaps they just set the fan to run constantly while they were working on it and forgot there could be an innocent explanation. I can't remember what triggers the radiator fan.

Rob.

The hole is where a bolt (with a 12ml head) should be, it fits into the aluminium case on the front cover of the engine. There should also be another bolt (same size) inside the rocker cover... These 2 bolts don't usually come with the new set of head bolts and it's not the first time I've heard of one (or both) of them missing after a head refit.

It's possible that the loss you now mention is due to the missing bolt and the fan could be running all the time because the engine is running too hot, due to air in the system (because of the water loss).

The fan's triggered by the sensor/switch under the inlet manifold and can the fan can also run all the time if the switch is disconnected or broken.

Once you've fitted the bolt and topped up, fingers crossed for you that it'll bleed OK.

Thanks for the info.

The orignal water loss was due to cracxked head / cracked block and a shot core plug.

I have fixed the fan, plugged the sensor back! The cable was hanging in the air I did spot the sensor in the block yesterday but I could'nt see any wires anywhere near it but after what you said I had a better look and hey presto.

Have you got anymore info on the bolt as in how long etc is it a standard ford/mazda bolt I can get over the counter?

I've also replied to your pm.
Mazda main dealer will be able to supply the bolts. On their diagram it will show all the head bolts... you need the 2 small ones (12ml heads) at the front of the head. (The other bolts shown on the diagram will be the larger head bolts).

Thanks a lot I will get the bolt and cross my fingers.

What a nightmare I finally gave up on Ford and Mazda being able to supply the required bolt so I tried to just source any bolt of the right size. I finally found a bolt for the Land Rover that fits. The head of the bolt is a little small but it seems to do the job. Land Rover part # FC108247.