Bongo Fury

A quick history -

April - Overheating, water spurting out of the expansion tank. Coolant system flushed through, thermostat removed and £1000 later I've got a new head gasket.

May - Car overheats - A new radiator! £300.

July (Monday) - Water is leaking from the expansion tank. I take it back to the garage and they are convinced it is due to gunk in the coolant system that blocks the little pipe out of the header tank to the engine. They flush it through on Monday, I drive it home, it overheats and coolant comes out of the expansion tank again.

Tuesday - repeat the above.

Wednesday - I've spent the morning with a hosepipe sending water through the top radiator pipe and back through the little one from the expansion tank. It comes out v. brown at first. Bled the air out of the little pipe tucked under the passenger seat the way the guy in the garage showed me.

I've noticed that even when the engine is idling there is a lot of bubbling and boiling in the expansion - is this normal?

What's happening?!!!! I did see the insides of one of the radiator pipes (loads of rust in it) and the mechaninc is convinced it's gunk blocking the system. Can this be right? Anyone have any ideas that will get me on my ferry next week?

Try flushing it from several places

wonkanoby wrote:Try flushing it from several places

Thanks mate, where else?

To be honest, I hadn't bled the system (and I don't think the garage had) as thoroughly as in the video on you tube. I reckon that could account for all the gurgling, bubbling and overheating since the garage flushed it through on monday - air in the coolant.

What do you think?

It really does need to be bled correctly, ie as thoroughly as in the video on You Tube. That is the way to do it, so if you haven't done it like that, do it now!!!!!

Alison01326 wrote:It really does need to be bled correctly, ie as thoroughly as in the video on You Tube. That is the way to do it, so if you haven't done it like that, do it now!!!!!

I will do. I'm a bit puzzled as to why the garage didn't do that?

jody wrote:

Alison01326 wrote:It really does need to be bled correctly, ie as thoroughly as in the video on You Tube. That is the way to do it, so if you haven't done it like that, do it now!!!!!

I will do. I'm a bit puzzled as to why the garage didn't do that?

It's because they think they know better........

It's why some people end up paying out loadsamoney - because some OTHER people will not follow the instructions.

PS If you put your location up in your profile there maybe someone local to you who can help you do it properly.

scanner wrote:

jody wrote:

Alison01326 wrote:It really does need to be bled correctly, ie as thoroughly as in the video on You Tube. That is the way to do it, so if you haven't done it like that, do it now!!!!!

I will do. I'm a bit puzzled as to why the garage didn't do that?

It's because they think they know better........

It's why some people end up paying out loadsamoney - because some OTHER people will not follow the instructions.

And they told me to ignore the advice on here! Honestly, the mechanic said that once I'd flushed it through all i had to do was fill up the header tank and then gently lower the bleed pipe until water comes out.

I feel robbed...

scanner wrote:

jody wrote:

Alison01326 wrote:It really does need to be bled correctly, ie as thoroughly as in the video on You Tube. That is the way to do it, so if you haven't done it like that, do it now!!!!!

I will do. I'm a bit puzzled as to why the garage didn't do that?

It's because they think they know better........

It's why some people end up paying out loadsamoney - because some OTHER people will not follow the instructions.

PS If you put your location up in your profile there maybe someone local to you who can help you do it properly.

North Devon, Braunton. Any help would be appreciated!

You could call John @ Westward Leisure - he's the other side of Bideford & knows Bongos pretty well.

Initial thoughts: Bubbles in coolant could be a sign of one or more of the following:

- Combustion gases in the cooling system (head gasket, cracked head)
- Air in the system - bleed & re-bleed several times
- The coolant is boiling which will occur at a lower temperature than normal when the system is not pressurised (as would be the case if the expansion cap was left off)

Whoever your mechanic is sounds like he doesn't know what he's doing with bongos TBH. It is very rare for it just to be a head gasket, it is usually a replacement head needed, Allans in Plymouth doesn't charge much more than £1k to do just that, if you can talk to him, I would.

That wonderful advice from a "professional" could cost you (and has cost others!) a great deal of money - you know what to do next time you want any work done on your Bongo - go elsewhere.

Do NOT drive any distance whatsoever until it has been bled properly.

missfixit70 wrote:Whoever your mechanic is sounds like he doesn't know what he's doing with bongos TBH. It is very rare for it just to be a head gasket, it is usually a replacement head needed, Allans in Plymouth doesn't charge much more than £1k to do just that, if you can talk to him, I would.

He sent the head away to test it for cracks and it came back as just being the gasket. The mechanic was surprised this was the case but said it wasn't impossible.

They're honest guys, but like you said - they probably don't know what they're doing with such a sophisticated piece of kit

Simon Jones wrote:You could call John @ Westward Leisure - he's the other side of Bideford & knows Bongos pretty well.

Initial thoughts: Bubbles in coolant could be a sign of one or more of the following:

- Combustion gases in the cooling system (head gasket, cracked head)
- Air in the system - bleed & re-bleed several times
- The coolant is boiling which will occur at a lower temperature than normal when the system is not pressurised (as would be the case if the expansion cap was left off)

Thanks mate. What do you mean by this point?

The system should be pressurised, which allows higher temps in the system before the coolant boils. If there is a leak of any sort, there will be localised boiling which will lead to airlocks.

jody wrote:

missfixit70 wrote:Whoever your mechanic is sounds like he doesn't know what he's doing with bongos TBH. It is very rare for it just to be a head gasket, it is usually a replacement head needed, Allans in Plymouth doesn't charge much more than £1k to do just that, if you can talk to him, I would.

He sent the head away to test it for cracks and it came back as just being the gasket. The mechanic was surprised this was the case but said it wasn't impossible.

They're honest guys, but like you said - they probably don't know what they're doing with such a sophisticated piece of kit

Even if it was tested at working temp (which I doubt) there is a good chance the cracks would not show up, or they would only appear due to the stresses of being torqued down again. Most people that reuse the old head usually end up having to replace it within 6 months I'm afraid.