Living with a 25 year-old vehicle is never dull, and over the course of the first half of this year, there has been a fair bit of work done both under and inside the Bongo. Some of this has been planned upgrades and routine maintenance. There have also been some unforseen and potentially exciting component failures to deal with, one of which resulted in a very anxious trip to Aberdeenshire and back with fluids leaking everywhere! I’ve been lucky enough to manage everything required myself this year so far, and my knowledge of the workings of my vehicle has increased no end!
April saw me overhauling the low coolant alarm system – it had begun to sound intermittently whether the coolant was low or not, and would sound continuously on occasion – pretty stressful! I also tackled that badly rusted gearbox oil pan, sourcing a brand new replacement one for a Ford Ranger ( Bongos and Rangers share many drivetrain components) and I treated the transmission to a flush and new filter while I was doing the pan anyway. The pan was flagged up by the garage last year, as a potential future problem, having become so rusty (it hangs down in the spray under the vehicle and behind the belly pan) that it was in danger of becoming porous. There was no point in putting it off hoping it would fix itself! The job was actually not too bad, everything came apart okay, and the nice new parts went on a treat. peace of mind, and satisfying to replace the gearbox fluid too.
May was…. exciting! I had used the van as support vehicle for my son’s Rob Roy Way cycle trip, and it had behaved faultlessly. Unknown to me, however, a little time bomb had gone off underneath, and a rusty power steering pipe had become so thin in one place that it started to seep fluid, a little at first, and only really started to spray out on our Bank Holiday trip to Tarland in Aberdeenshire! We managed to complete the trip, by topping up the fluid as we went, but the leak had sprayed everything underneath, as well as the tailgate, wheels and exhaust with escaping power steering fluid. Nasty!
The leak had resulted in a bit of fluid getting onto the rear brake pads too, and this prompted me to get the whole braking system off and replaced. I had gotten the front discs and pads done a few years back at Bongo Spares, but all four discs were looking badly corroded, and the van had developed a shuddering under braking that can only mean a warped disc. I sourced all the parts – discs, pads, guide pins, shims – and once they all arrived and the weather gave me a window, I set to work. And what a job it turned out to be! A lot of the parts hadn’t been off for a very long time, bolt heads were badly rusted and no longer fitted the correct spanners, plus the pads were stuck solid in both front calipers!
Eventually, everything came off that was supposed to, and all the calipers and brackets got de-rusted and treated before everything got re-assembled with shiny new parts. It’s so very satisfying to refit with new parts, and once thewheels were refitted, a test drive proved that the brakes were significantly better than before – plus no shudder!
While I had the van up on axle stands I decided I needed to take a look for potentially MOT-failing corrosion underneath. This I have been putting off, as I suspected there might be an issue with the rear crossmember, or behind the bumper, or perhaps the corners of the floor behind the wheels. So, up she went again, and I got some powerful degreaser in the pressure washer to remove flaky underseal, plus the residue from the power steering leak. I rinsed everything off with the high pressure lance, left over night, then crawled underneath to inspect….and everything is, in fact, solid! True, there is some surface rust, not unexpected under a 25 year old vehicle, but no “soft” bits, and nothing that needs welding for now. I brushed on a liberal coating of rust treatment (I know, it won’t actually kill it, but it does put a glaze on the surface preventing water getting to it) before the really messy job of painting on underseal. Horrible stuff, and working on your back painting above you is not ideal!
I also had to replace the rear fog light. Over the spring and more recently it had just refused to work. I traced the wires, and everything seemed okay, but the light fitting was bent and buckled so the lense wouldn’t come off to get to the bulb. Time for a nice new one! I rewired at the rear light cluster, fitting a waterproof plug and socket here, heat-shrinking over soldered connections and tucking everything inside the rear quarter. I fitted the new light, then started at the switch and dashboard end. There were a few poor connections here too, so everything got replaced, new fuse holder, new ground wire, and now all works perfectly.
So, it has been a busy time! We’ve had a few trips away, but my “tinker time” in the driveway has been…extensive! I’m not too downhearted though, a lot of this work was overdue (the foglight has been intermittent for over a year!), and some, like the brakes, is something that any high mileage vehicle will need from time to time. Although Ali Bongo obviously had a very caring owner when first imported, it’s fair to say some of the more recent ones have neglected the basics, and time eventually comes round that things need replaced or repaired. My continued improvement programme goes on!
The sense of satisfaction from tackling these jobs myself is huge, and I’m proud of being able to complete the work, saving very expensive garage labour bills, learning about my old van, as well as having the peace of mind that the work has been done. A lot of it was the first time I had tackled that kind of job, and even then, it’s been nearly twenty years since I did any kind of mechanic-type work before the Bongo arrived. It’s scary at times – bolt heads too badly rusted and sockets spinning, siezed components, and if it goes wrong, left with a very expensive pile of scrap on the driveway! But the confidence has grown, and so far – touch wood! – I haven’t been stuck. Everything has, eventually, reluctantly come apart. I’ve been able to get new parts for almost everything ( no new power steering pipes, although I didn’t try Mazda direct, but got good used pipes), and although it hasn’t been cheap, these are all jobs that I should never need to do again.
To summarise…..
Gearbox oil pan, gasket, filter, bolts, fluid flush and replace. £270
Power steering pipes, fluids. £75
Brake discs, pads, guide pins, shims. £250
Fog light rewire, replace. £20
Coolant alarm overhaul. £10
Underseal prep, rust treatment, underseal. £50
Finally…..
Unfortunately, had to replace all four tyres! I fitted tyres when we got the van, so September 2018, and although they have only covered 16k miles, they were showing cracking on the sidewalls and between the tread segments. Not good!! A combination of sitting around during the Lockdown, other than a quick run to the supermarket every coule of weeks, and them being cheap budget tyres as well, I suppose. I took the opportunity to go up a size on the sidewall (acceptable 3mph error at 70mph on the speedo) which gives us 10mm taller, so slightly more ground clearance, but also softer over the bumps and potholes. The ride has been noticably improved. And, I think the van sits nicely with these filling the wheel wells a bit better.
We’ve had trips to Kirkcudbright, Tarland, Moffat, Dingwall and back to Moffat so far this year, and we are looking forward to a return to Tarland in October to explore this hidden gem a bit more. And of course there’s the Scottish Bongo Bash (unofficial!) arranged for Solway View in September. With work commitments meaning a few weeks away during August, September and October, we will be unlikely to get much opportunity for any weekend off-the-cuff trips, but you never know!
After Moffat last week, the bedding got washed and aired before repacking, the food stocks got replenished, tea and coffee topped up, and the fluids checked before a wash and polish. So, we are ready to go – just pack a holdall, fill up the water, stock the fridge and fill the tank with fuel. We can be on the road in about half an hour, and this year’s adventures have only reaffirmed our love of Ali Bongo, campervan life and our beautiful country. I’m happy with the work I’ve carried out on the van, and in a few weeks I will be putting it in for the annual MOT test, pretty sure that everything is as good as I can make it, and barring anything unforseen, we can look forward to yet another year – our fourth!! – with Ali Bongo, exploring the road less travelled, as well as returning to some of our favourite spots.
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Ali Bongo's adventures 