Bongo Fury

Picked up a new Bongo last week, (sold our V6, and swapped it for a diesel). The new one has been regularly serviced and is only 68k miles, but at some point in the last 12 months it's had a new radiator. Engine runs a bit rough (it's been standing for a while unused), and smelt hot when we got it home (had been running for about 90 mins whilst we looked at it and then drove home in traffic. Also noticed a small puddle underneath the engine about 12 hours later (not oil, doesn't smell of antifreeze, and we didn't use the aircon the previous day). Also, during the drive home, the temp gauge suddenly dropped to the bottom and didn't move, it still didn't move on the way to the garage that day either Is thas just a wire come loose, or are there indictions of coolant/water pump problems....?

the rad could have been changed for a genuine reason because they are known to leak fron the top seal where the alloy butts up to the plastic

the temp could be a wire or a dodgey switch

was the leak water??
did you check the header tank to see if it had lost any water ?

were the engine fans coming on when stuck in traffic ?

I guess the leak must have been water: no smell and no mark on the drive now it's dry. No visible loss from the header tank (when cold, it's above the max mark). Don't know about the fans cutting in, as my wife drove it home... THanks for the tips

Ave a look & see if your "small puddle" isn't coming from the gutter tube under the windscreen..?

I've had a couple o scares from that one.. The tube drips right on a hose join.. & the other one was when my screen had defrosted on a relatively dry day & left a puddle under the van!

let the car run for a bit while standing, then lift the seats and check for pinhole leaks, these are very hard to spot as they only open when the engine is to temperature and the water system pressurised and dont necessarily lose that much water. temp guage acting like that could indicate an airlock?water pumps are metal construction, so tend not to suffer from the impeller wear of the VW and other plastic constructs,and faults tend more to be leaks and noisy bearings.

Just because the seller said he had the car regularly service dont always take that as gospel and as the other members say, having a rad changed is not an indicator of problems, i'm presently trying to batter the bosses here to put a bargain combo rad/stat change out package together as its these that so often cause problems for the vehicles.
Julian

Puddle could have been air con condensate drain if no smell or residue, but the fact that you had that hot smell & the temp gauge is playing up, I'd be wary.
Are the heaters getting hot (if not it may indicate airlocks)?
Temp sensor is above the top hose under the driver seat.

If you want a garage to have a look at it, see this post:

http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... ge#p409774

I think it's in your area? Or Ian Taylor in Market Drayton?

Could be something simple like a loose temp gauge wire, but where coolant is concerned it's better to err on the safe side.

I had similar issues when I bought mine.

If the gauge drops and/or your heaters are cold you've probably got an airlock. This happened to me before my head gasket blew. I think there was a stubborn airlock in my heater (heater hoses were almost completely blocked!) and this shifted to the head and stuck there. The temp gauge dropped all the way down, then I heard a hiss and smelt antifreeze.

Whenever, I've had a leak or an airlock the engine has played up and sounded 'rough'. Each time I've solved the problem I've been amazed at how much quieter and smoother the engine has sounded.

Mine had supposedly been 'serviced' which I think meant someone had changed the filters and topped up the coolant and not bled it. Someone who didn't know what they were doing.

I see you are in West Mids.....you didn't buy it in Birmingham did you? There is one very dodgy guy that sells Bongos there BTW.

Get it checked out by someone in the know. As I found out, hoses are a lot cheaper than a blown head gasket.