Green and bare it?

[Nashers]

Woke up this mornin' found my coolant was low (less than half low). Will need to top up a little before going to trusted garage. 6 hoses replaced 2 months ago. Wimped out of siphoning but coolant looks to be green. Mustn't mix, I know.
What colour would you usually use for 96 diesel Bongo please?
Thank you.

[francophile1947]

Ask the garage what they used - it won't hurt to top up with distilled water in the meantime.
When you say half low, do you mean half way between the fill and full lines?

[Nashers]

Hi Supreme
No it's half-way from bottom towards low line (actually lower than that). Garage not open till Monday
Ta
Clive

[francophile1947]

When did you last check it?
If there are no obvious leaks, you should be OK to top it up with deionised water to test it.
If you checked it recently, there must be a leak - run the engine up to temperature and look for a fine mist spraying from a pinhole somewhere. Do you get steam from the exhaust?
Also consider fitting a low-coolant alarm - it's a lot cheaper than an engine

[Nashers]

Thanks, John

[bigdaddycain]

Sound advice john... Any signs of a trickle of coolant running down the side of the expansion tank nashers? There was a guy on here recently who needed a new header tank cap, as it couldn't hold the pressure properly. You'll see on removal of the cap a pressure release via a spring diaphragm,this should move under pressure.

[Nashers]

Possibly. Just a few little marks - not wet or greasy. Possibly from the 'overflow' hose? (When I ran the engine for 10 mins, the level came just above the 'low' line )
Thanks

[bigdaddycain]

Keep us posted on what the garage turns up nashers? Hope it's not a big deal, and a nice simple fix for ya!

[Nashers]

Thanx for your comments, Supreme one. I see you've not posted very often. (joke)
Because time is against me a little (going camping up to Orkney in two days time) I did some jaw-jaw over the phone with the garage. They reckon the new hoses may need "settling down." They had used green grade coolant. So I got some up the road, diluted 250 cc with ionised water and smacked it in. Everything is holding up so far. It makes the garage sound a bit iffy but I do trust them because of their good record so far. Today, I've checked all fluid levels including the coolant. All seems agogo. (Irrelevant comment: wife and I are looking for possible conversion - not religious but of the Bongo kind)
Cheers, SB and all