Bongo Fury

Eyup everyone I've been having a few issues with coolant loss.
I'm topping the coolant up quite often,so to my mind eventually it will be pure water.

At the Bash Ady kindly pressure tested the system & all seemed to be ok, i've tested again this week & it's still ok.

Kirsty had a look for me & said it's probably the water pump but theres no sign of leaks so i've taken the (underneath) engine guards off ~taking it for a run crawl underneath (when stationary) & see if i can see any drips.

Anyway whatever the outcome i'm going to buy a new water pump (to illiminate things) seeing as i'm a pensioner i'm looking for the best deal i can get but would rather pay top price than buy rubbish! the prices seem to range from £30 to £80 which i've seen on ebay~heres a cheapy what do you Knowledgeable people think.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MAZDA-BONGO-FRIEN ... 1e5cb7157d

Triple/R wrote: Kirsty had a look for me & said it's probably the water pump but theres no sign of leaks so i've taken the (underneath) engine guards off ~taking it for a run crawl underneath (when stationary) & see if i can see any drips.

I MAY have said it MAY be the water pump if there's no sign of a leak from the tell tale



or any signs of water staining, then probably not.
I fitted one similar to that one from JAS for around the same price, this shows the difference between that & the original http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... mp#p429501

missfixit70 wrote:

Triple/R wrote: Kirsty had a look for me & said it's probably the water pump but theres no sign of leaks so i've taken the (underneath) engine guards off ~taking it for a run crawl underneath (when stationary) & see if i can see any drips.

I MAY have said it MAY be the water pump if there's no sign of a leak from the tell tale



or any signs of water staining, then probably not.
I fitted one similar to that one from JAS for around the same price, this shows the difference between that & the original http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... mp#p429501

Sorry i thought probably & maybe were quite similar descriptions but i'm probably wrong again anyway thanks for your input.

check for water pump leak when engine is stone cold and stopped ,you may find it weeps runs down the front of the engine and then looks as if the sump at the front of the block is leaking water,
you can push some kitchen roll around the tell -tale hole on the pump to see if it stains.

Tomo 53 wrote:check for water pump leak when engine is stone cold and stopped ,you may find it weeps runs down the front of the engine and then looks as if the sump at the front of the block is leaking water,
you can push some kitchen roll around the tell -tale hole on the pump to see if it stains.

Cheers Tomo~i will leave it on the drive overnight & try that.
EDIT~i took the engine cover off yesterday & Bongo stood on drive overnight but was no signs of water on drive this morning.

Do'nt know what to do went for a run came back it's been sitting on the drive for a couple of hours now & everwhere is dry~even crawled underneath but no sign of water or dampness around the water pump.

Any ideas anyone please.

Why do you think the water pump is the problem ?
Could you have a little leak from the radiator, and that most of it is evaporating before it gets as far as the ground ?

Any signs of excessive water in the engine oil or from the exhaust?

ey up ray
have you noticed any other symptoms at all.
check round the turbo water pipes when its running,it could be leaking into the turbo itself and being burnt away.

with that gadget you have,remove the header tank cap to let off pressure,then replace it,remove rad cap,if the header is on you will not loose any water,put the gadget on the top of the rad and run the engine until warmed up a little,the pressure noted on the gadget should be 0'8 bar or about that.if the pressure is up to 1'1bar then the system is over pressurizing and you know what that means,

now ive scarred you check the rad/header caps are NOT blowing off early,ive seen lots of the red caps that are not gen mazda ones that are faulty.remove the plastic cowel on the front and look when the engine is up to temp,you will usually miss this as the heat evaporates the coolant away.or fit new caps just in case its cheaper than the other option.
good luck,keep me informed.

g8dhe wrote:Why do you think the water pump is the problem ?
Could you have a little leak from the radiator, and that most of it is evaporating before it gets as far as the ground ?

Eyup Geoff~as i say it's been pressure tested to 1 bar & everything was fine~i thought if the test was alright that meant the hoses & rad were alright (no leaks)
is there anything else that the coolant system involves besides Rad~Hoses~water pump???

Velocette wrote:Any signs of excessive water in the engine oil or from the exhaust?

Eyup Velo~no the oil is fine no frothness at all.

Northern Bongolow wrote:ey up ray
have you noticed any other symptoms at all.
check round the turbo water pipes when its running,it could be leaking into the turbo itself and being burnt away.

with that gadget you have,remove the header tank cap to let off pressure,then replace it,remove rad cap,if the header is on you will not loose any water,put the gadget on the top of the rad and run the engine until warmed up a little,the pressure noted on the gadget should be 0'8 bar or about that.if the pressure is up to 1'1bar then the system is over pressurizing and you know what that means,

now ive scarred you check the rad/header caps are NOT blowing off early,ive seen lots of the red caps that are not gen mazda ones that are faulty.remove the plastic cowel on the front and look when the engine is up to temp,you will usually miss this as the heat evaporates the coolant away.or fit new caps just in case its cheaper than the other option.
good luck,keep me informed.

Cheers Ady~will nip out & have a go mate.

Check the rubber water pipe from the top of the block under the drivers seat, often cracked on the bend.

Ray..... your worrying too much Matey...... Steve & I told you at the bash.....

mikexgough wrote:Ray..... your worrying too much Matey...... Steve & I told you at the bash.....

I know what we discussed but i'm putting about half a cupful in about every 2 weeks,also i fitted my coolant alarm (so i could be alerted) & thought i would see if the coolant would find it's own level so did'nt bother topping it up,after about 3 week or so my alarm went off & the coolant was on the lower level so the coolant's going somewhere do'nt you think?

I know i'm a worrier Mike but it's doing me head in