pongobongo wrote:Hi,
Another coolant question.
My coolant is midway between Low/High - can I just top up with water?
Hmm.
Thanks
If you don't know the coolant type, then use Water only...... Don't mix coolants....
The general rule of thumb of Coolants are G11 is the boggo blue stuff you can buy at any car place equivalent. G12 is pink, and does not play well with other children - mix it with G11 and you'll get a horrible brown sludge.
G12+ is mainly used now, which mixes with anything – Mostly Red in colour, Notable Brands are Carplan Premium Red & Comma Extreme Red, VW & PSA group vehicles use it too and it is coloured Purple.
Any of them will protect fine against corrosion provided they are changed at the stated interval - which for G12+ is "never". But given the chances of any of us "never" draining the coolant for whatever reason, just use G12+. Plus, it can be purple too, so it has to be good.
So as you say you can use the Car Plan Premium Red and the GSF G12+ purple as a top up on a fresh import, obviously as Car Plan State in their specifications, "the mixing will negate the longlife properties of the Premium red" and you should IMHO replace the unknown on a fresh import with new coolant as the time/garage appointment allows. Jap coolant is OAT based, but with one exception and that is Toyota Red, for Toyota guys they should really "keep the faith" and keep using the Toyota Red as it is formulated for their engines.I have been talking to a chap who imports Jap cars from Skylines,Prius,Delica,Pajero,Bongo's,Cube's right down to Mitsuoka's....so he knows his stuff. They have the same issue with imports, some come in with yellow/green/red/blue coolants from Japan, shockingly they don't usually change the coolant for a known type but if needed (not very often very rare he says) they top up with a G12+ coolant.
You need to ask yourself, when was the last time you check the coolant level?..... and has the coolant "dropped" to a normal level between the Hi/Lo parameters?.....
Could be a leak or as many owners find..... not just Bongo owners....that the system finds it's own level.