Bongo Fury

Hi everyone

Wonder if anyone can help. We were out onSsat and noticed a small pool of water under Bongo upon parking. We put it down to wet weather and water collecting somewhere and then dropping off as we were parked on a hill. After engine had cooled husband checked coolant level and it was down a bit (about quarter of a litre) so he topped it up. We have a low coolant alarm and it didn't go off so bongo appeared to be ok. However upon checking this morning we needed to top up again (about half a litre) and there is def a leak out of the bottom. after topping up, husband went for short journey and then parked up. He says it leaks for about half an hour then stops.

Husband took to local garage (2 mins away). They said it was a hose but they couldn't get hold of one. We took it round to another local garage who said it might be the core plug not the hose so they are going to pressure test it to see where the leak is. Second garage are generally better than the first anyway so I am thinking they may be right.

My first question is how much will a core plug cost as they said it is a big job and secondly will this have damaged the cylinder head as now I come to think about it the low coolant alarm has taken longer than usual to switch off which would indicate a lower than normal coolant level but it then goes off and does not come back on again.

Any help appreciated.

apssrf wrote:Hi everyone

Wonder if anyone can help. We were out onSsat and noticed a small pool of water under Bongo upon parking. We put it down to wet weather and water collecting somewhere and then dropping off as we were parked on a hill. After engine had cooled husband checked coolant level and it was down a bit (about quarter of a litre) so he topped it up. We have a low coolant alarm and it didn't go off so bongo appeared to be ok. However upon checking this morning we needed to top up again (about half a litre) and there is def a leak out of the bottom. after topping up, husband went for short journey and then parked up. He says it leaks for about half an hour then stops.

Husband took to local garage (2 mins away). They said it was a hose but they couldn't get hold of one. We took it round to another local garage who said it might be the core plug not the hose so they are going to pressure test it to see where the leak is. Second garage are generally better than the first anyway so I am thinking they may be right.

My first question is how much will a core plug cost as they said it is a big job and secondly will this have damaged the cylinder head as now I come to think about it the low coolant alarm has taken longer than usual to switch off which would indicate a lower than normal coolant level but it then goes off and does not come back on again.

Any help appreciated.

If the LCA seem to bleep a little longer when you switch the engine is cold, this is normal, and more obvious now the days are colder. Something to do with the electrical conductivity of the coolant at different temps I think, but Haydn will know. But it may also be the coolant level being borderline - again Haydn will know.

For the rest I guess you have to wait until and see what the garage says after pressure testing. I recall someone else on here having a core plug problem (its rare though) so its worth having a search and read.

Good luck

Hi apssrf,

Core plugs only cost a £1/£2 Max,it is an easy job to change them if they are accessible.

Cheers Mal..

Thanks for replies. Garage say core plugs very inaccessible and if it is them it's a big job and may involve taking engine out - is this right???!!!

When you say " the LCA is taking longer to switch off" do you mean a few seconds or a few minutes ?? a few seconds probably is the colder weather.....a few mins would be cold low coolant and the alarm stops when it warms up and expands a bit..
Whatever you do make sure wohever does the haso/core plug knows how to bleed it when job is done...VERY IMPORTANT.

The LCA will go off (alarm) if the level in the tank drops below the screw./

Hi core plugs could be behind pump or turbo so those would have to be stripped off.
However I had the same, exactly the same problem as yourself. In fact I have had it twice now I think about it, first time was the large bore pipe at the front of the engine, second time was over the starter motor and heater feed pipe..

These hoses with bends wear from the inside due to particles of rust and develop pin holes which leak under pressure ie when the engine is hot but not when there is no pressure ie engine cold and pressure relieved through loss of coolant. Before you go messing with core plugs replace:
the Large Hose front of the engine driver side
The over the starter motor hose driver side
the hose from the core of the engine to the metal heater feed pipes passenger side.

Flush the system out and replace the coolant.

garage is doing a pressure test - won't that reveal the exact point where it is leaking?

Thanks

yes it will, and to be honest, its unlikely to be a core plug.more likely a hose,or metal pipe.i may be wrong,but i think ive seen somewhere on here that the low coolant alarm could take longer to go off if the coolant has not got enough antifreeze in.haydn could maybe clarify this,as you may have been filling up the leaking system with just water. or maybe the probe/screw may need cleaning.
i would also fit a gen mazda stat while the system is being worked on.

Okay..........we left it at the garage. At 0830 this am I took the fact sheet in about how to change the coolant properly. They said they have done it before on Bongos and not had any probs. At 1330 I phoned and they said they had replaced two hoses and done a full coolant change (was this enough time to do it properly??). Two probs - they said they had 'adapted' some hoses off another car as you can't get Bongo ones and also the helpsheet has clearly not been looked at (no folds on the corners etc).

We normally use a garage 80 miles away who I know did the last coolant change properly 2 years ago. My question is:

1 - if they have not done it properly how will we know? We have a low coolant alarm fitted but that's all so I guess if the hoses are a problem and leak we will know about that but if temp starts going up we will not as we only the Bongo temp guage.

2 - should we drive it up to our garage 80 miles away and get them to replace the hoses with proper ones and do a full coolant change again 'just in case' but if garage today have done it wrong will we get that far or may we may make matters worse!!! But then what option do we have as we cannot do it ourselves..........

problems problems problems

Many thanks

apssrf wrote:Okay..........we left it at the garage. At 0830 this am I took the fact sheet in about how to change the coolant properly. They said they have done it before on Bongos and not had any probs. At 1330 I phoned and they said they had replaced two hoses and done a full coolant change (was this enough time to do it properly??). Two probs - they said they had 'adapted' some hoses off another car as you can't get Bongo ones and also the helpsheet has clearly not been looked at (no folds on the corners etc).

We normally use a garage 80 miles away who I know did the last coolant change properly 2 years ago. My question is:

1 - if they have not done it properly how will we know? We have a low coolant alarm fitted but that's all so I guess if the hoses are a problem and leak we will know about that but if temp starts going up we will not as we only the Bongo temp guage.

2 - should we drive it up to our garage 80 miles away and get them to replace the hoses with proper ones and do a full coolant change again 'just in case' but if garage today have done it wrong will we get that far or may we may make matters worse!!! But then what option do we have as we cannot do it ourselves..........

problems problems problems

Many thanks

I hate it when garages say stuff like:

They said they have done it before on Bongos and not had any probs.

It makes me want to reply "OK, so you'll give me a guarantee that if it overheats and cracks the head, you'll fix it free of charge?"

Confidence in them drops further when they talk about not being able to get Bongo hoses when, for hte most part, you can.

Are they making it up as they go along?

The low coolant alarm will be of limited use as protection against a bad bleeding job . I think you are entitled to ask them EXACTLY what mods/replcement hoses they did, and how they went about the bleed procedure. You can tell them from us that we are rightly wary as we have heard before of garages that claim to have known how to bleed a Bongo and yet messed the job up with expensive results. Nothing personal in all this - its just the facts, and they should accept that and justify their behaviour properly with full explanations on what they did and why it is sound.

Give your garage a ring and ask 3 question's.
Did they follow the instruction sheet you left with them.
Did they use the bleed hose under the passenger seat.
Did the ensure the thermostat had opened by feeling the bottom hose.

Also did they flush the rear heater through by removing one of the rear heater hoses.

haydn callow wrote:Give your garage a ring and ask 3 question's.
Did they follow the instruction sheet you left with them.
Did they use the bleed hose under the passenger seat.
Did the ensure the thermostat had opened by feeling the bottom hose.

Also did they flush the rear heater through by removing one of the rear heater hoses.

This last one doesn't matter so much as long as they didn't remove the rear heater drain plug and drain that section (I've used this cheat on my coolant changes so know this to be true ), so focus on the first three points above.

Also, watch for any settlement in the header tank (which the LCA should alert you over anyway) as that might indicate a bubble had 'burped' out of the system, though that doesn't mean all entrapped air will have burped out, just posisbly that the garage hadn't bled the Bongo well enough.

Quote....two hoses and done a full coolant change

To do a full coolant change/flush they would need to drain the rear heater.......not doing this means you are running the risk of mixing coolants....
It's not a simple task to get 13 liters out of a bongo

As a slight aside, core plugs can and do go. Mine went last year, it was on the back of the block and the gearbox had to be dropped. It had rusted through as someone had used water at some point to top up

Interested to know who this outfit in Cottingham is . . .

I work in Hull & there are a fair few members in that area that regularly ask if there are any Bongo spannermen in that neck of the woods, the nearest seem to be Thirsk, York or Leeds.


If they've done loads of Bongo work, you can bet your arse it ain't been any of ours.


Sounds fishy.


Get a second opinion. Pronto.