Bongo Fury

Hi, been a member for 3 years while I've had my bongo which I bought from a member on here, its been great for 3 years (battery issues excluded) until this weekend.... we drove up to northumberland from glossop the coolant alarm sounded on the way over the hills so stopped at a garage on the other side to top up (been through 1lt in 2 years so suspected a minor leak), the cap felt cool so popped it open and a rusty, thick gloopy lava like substance erupted from it. not for long 2-3 secs, so let it cool and refilled on the way up the coolant alarm went off a couple of times but intermittently so continued with a mental note to fill up once settled up there.
Got to Northumberland with no probs, couple of days van refilled with coolant was doing a short drive before heading back home, after a couple of miles the temperature gauge shot up so we pulled over and as i stopped steam came out from under than van (drivers side) and coolant cames splashing out from under bongo on passenger side. called RAC but (5 hour wait!!!) ended up calling local garage who said it looked like rusty bits in coolant causing come kind of blockage so he did what he could to get us going filled up with water (3litres) and coolant and off we set ont he 3 hour trek home.
all the way home the temp gauge kept shooting up to the red and then within a mile before i could even react dropped back down to half way, this happened 3/4 times before coolant alarm went off. so near knaresborough pulled off let it cool completely and refilled with water (all we had) prob abouit 3 litres and carried on with no more probs back to glossop.
got it into the garage (top marks in romiley if anyone knows it- good rep and guy has owned bongo's) the guy in there seems really clued up but the news came today that they have flushed the coolant and are having the same problems once back at garage coolant flooding everywhere, he thinks gasket has gone or (head) cylinder which will be £650-700 to put replace but then that could escalate with more and more knock on effect from there (hoses etc). so thinking its only worth about 1k overall thinking its going to have to go on ebay for spares or scrap!!??
sorry for the long message but bit desperate as once its gone its gone and spent last summer doing self conversion so gutted any ideas??

Oh dear.

Which engine do you have? The diesel and V6 need to be bled if coolant drops below the header tank.

Since you have a conversion I'd have it repaired as you won't buy any sort of camper for £600.

Really bad news for you, though.

Hi Bob

thanks for getting back to me- its a 2 wheel drive diesel. the conversion was diy so really pretty basic its just the hours that I put into it etc, just wondered if anyone has had experience of fixing this kind of thing can it have a massive knock on effect afterwards I dont want to pay out £800 (incl vat) then another couple of hundred on 2x batteries for a number of other things to just fall off afterwards!! Always knew the coolant thing was a big issue but thankfully never for me til this weekend ...sigh!

£800.00 sounds cheap to me, if that is for a supplied and fitted head with new bolts and all the gaskets etc, guarantee and follow up checks if need be ? Though a lot depends on if the person actually knows what they are talking about or blagging it. A blagger worked on my Bongo and completely destroyed the head so be very very careful who you choose.

Not sure a head kit is about £550.00

http://mazdabongo.com/catalog/mazda-bon ... diesel-95/

And what? 6-7 hours labour to remove the old fit and test it + your diagnostics so far ? A proper bleed takes 1-2 hours. Seems cheap.

Sorry to hear about this, depressing and stressful times when the head is suspected.

I know tell me about it!

we have already agreed to pay £120 for the time spent draining the coolant the refilling which I was aware of and this was done to determine what the issue was, the garage have been recommended to me as they do specialise in Bongos and in fact the owner used to have a couple so I do trust them but am just worried that even if i pay the money to have it fixed with its rusty arches, dodgy batteries etc and whatever may occur as a result of the fix does it risk turning into a bottomless pit?
think ebay is calling sadly!

BB123 knows all about this and the costs!

Sounds a very reasonable price.
Defo budget for a new head.
Then there are some things which are a given to replace if they are still original or because of the overheat (pump, stat, temp sensor).
They will also need to find the original cause, probably a leak somewhere. With luck they have been able to do this with the old head still in place otherwise this is where budgeting could get difficult.

Push come to shove, selling the van for parts will leave you worse off than if you get it back up and running before selling. Subject to its condition!!

I fear the bill to sort everything so it doesn't happen again could be nearer £1500 since almost always a new head is needed, and new radiators, water pump, thermostat etc are probably called for. If its a rusty example anyway then more big bills may come along soon. If you have the money for all that and the rest is in good condition then i might still say its reasonable as a way of getting a good campervan. But if money is tight it'll just leave you worrying i think.

Sorry to hear of your troubles

But scrap/ parts or repair it is a hard decision you will have to make
Is it your only vehicle
if your only going to buy something to replace it for a couple of grand
You might buy a pig and be better off spending the £2000 on repairing what you have
Is it going to need welding underneath soon , that can be a few hundred if bad
If engine and chassis is good
with a new head , rad and hoses you should be good for years to come
Hard decisions
Good luck

Thanks for comments but I'm just not sure I'd trust it again which is a shame but with the head and hoses on top of what I can prob see coming up with the annual arch welds maybe new tyres and 2 new batteries I think our 'Tilly' is gonna have to move on!
Wish you guys all the best with your bongos and hope to join these pages again sometime in the future for what is a constant source of knowledge and experience!

Obviously a difficult decission, one to be considered carefully, of course.

Remember you're welcome here whatever you decide and whatever you drive.

Must be hard to make a call like that, comes down to current condition and how much you paid for the vehicle from the start and of course current personal cash flows. That price was very low for a head change IMO. I just cannot imagine someone doing that in 7 hours. Might be wrong.

Swear I could see a new head was £349.00 not long ago somewhere, but that might be the head with no other new parts.