Bongo Fury

ive just got my freeda back from the garage, it went in cos i thought the exhaust was leaking by the manifold again, the good news is its not, but the mechanic reckons the head gasket has gone but ive not lost any water and it hasnt overheated, he has come to this conclusion cos ive got oil leaking from somewhere, which he reckons is the head gasket? i thought the head gasket kept water at bay and not oil? but im not a mechanic, and he reckons the smell is the oil being burnt off as the engine heats up? so what im asking is, is he right? is there some common oil leak on them, ive got no oil patch on my drive though, but he did show me the oil on the block and there is more on the drivers side than the passengers and its all low down, on the level where the fuel pump is, nowhere near the rocker cover where i was hoping, and there seems to be quite a lot. but on the passenger side there is some oil by the rocker cover so that needs to be addressed anyway, and also the oil is still oily coloured no water in there, its a 2.5 diesel n reg by the way.

thanks in advance

justin

That oil sounds perfectly normal to me.....they nearly all have it to some degree on the drivers side front'

Get it to a Bongo friendly garage if you are worried

jutwit wrote:ive just got my freeda back from the garage, it went in cos i thought the exhaust was leaking by the manifold again, the good news is its not, but the mechanic reckons the head gasket has gone but ive not lost any water and it hasnt overheated, he has come to this conclusion cos ive got oil leaking from somewhere, which he reckons is the head gasket? i thought the head gasket kept water at bay and not oil? but im not a mechanic, and he reckons the smell is the oil being burnt off as the engine heats up? so what im asking is, is he right? is there some common oil leak on them, ive got no oil patch on my drive though, but he did show me the oil on the block and there is more on the drivers side than the passengers and its all low down, on the level where the fuel pump is, nowhere near the rocker cover where i was hoping, and there seems to be quite a lot. but on the passenger side there is some oil by the rocker cover so that needs to be addressed anyway, and also the oil is still oily coloured no water in there, its a 2.5 diesel n reg by the way.

thanks in advance

justin

mmmmm.... Did your garage sniff test the motor before coming to that definate conclusion?
I would start at a rocker cover gasket and clean up the "oil" leak...then watch for a few days..... I'm saying this as you are saying that there is no water in the oil and the offside could be from the egr as they usually do that. You could also have a small weep at the diesel pump too.....I would get some Muc Off Bike degreaser or similar......spray on and wash off and go from there .

As well as what they said, drivers side oil leak could also be due to oily crud coming through the air intake & leaking out of the elbow due to the egr system and/or rocker breather (which vents into the aie intake). As has been said, oily leaks on a bongo are pretty common.
What symptoms made you think the exhaust manifold was leaking in the first place?

missfixit70 wrote:As well as what they said, drivers side oil leak could also be due to oily crud coming through the air intake & leaking out of the elbow due to the egr system and/or rocker breather (which vents into the aie intake). As has been said, oily leaks on a bongo are pretty common.
What symptoms made you think the exhaust manifold was leaking in the first place?

Probably this.....and he reckons the smell is the oil being burnt off as the engine heats up

Cheers..

As well as what they said, drivers side oil leak could also be due to oily crud coming through the air intake & leaking out of the elbow due to the egr system and/or rocker breather (which vents into the aie intake). As has been said, oily leaks on a bongo are pretty common.
What symptoms made you think the exhaust manifold was leaking in the first place?

ive had trouble in the past with the exhaust to manifold gasket before its chews it up every couple of months, so just thought it was that again, and i blanked off the egr about 6 months ago, on both ends, could it still be that maybe?

Can't still be the egr if it's blanked, but unless you've had the inlet pipework & manifold of & cleaned it all out, it'll be dripping out for a while to come, it's amazing how much crud builds up in there. Check the breather hose coming out of the rocker cover on passy side, which goes around the back of the engine into the air inlet hose before the turbo, see if it's very oily inside. If so, there's a good chance the intercooler needs a bit of a clean out as this oil mist will get forced around through the air intake system & the intercooler is the lowest point.
If you're getting smells in the cab (possibly accompanied by slightly louder engine noise?), I'd suggest "adjusting" (with a bit of gentle persuasion with a hammer ) the clamps that hold the seats down, so that it pulls it down tighter, they do work loose. This is not curing anything I know, but it may make your drive a tad more pleasant, just about every bongo I've looked at needed those brackets bending so they tighten down properly.
Are you hearing the screeching/whistling noise associated with exhaust manifold leak? Or is there any sign of sooty deposits where it is blowing out? Are all the visible studs in place & tight?
If you are not losing coolant or have any other indication of HG issues, I doubt that is the case, it does basically keep oil & water & combustion process seperate from each other.
Have a feel around the diesel pump to see if it's leaking, but as Mike says, clean it all up, check your rocker cover bolts are nipped up (not too much), then see where it's leaking from, could even be steering rack top pinion seal leaking & blowing back when driving, another common issue. To check that check the reservoir under drivers seat to check level & lift the bonnet, follow the steering column down until it reaches the steering rack, if it's leaking, that's the most likely point.
None of these issues are major ones, they are usually relatively easily sorted.

the manifold has had a new gasket and studs last year, and cant see any soot around it, i will check all those other things and clean it up and let you all know, also going to put a new rocker cover gasket just to be on the safe side, is that an easy job on a bongo? done loads of them over the years but access is a lot better on a normal car that hasnt got a big bar going over the engine.

thanks guys feeling much happier already

it takes about 10 minutes to remove the plate over the engine

look at glow plug changing faq sheet

may be do them at same time