Coolant for a 2002 2.5 V6 Petrol

[steerpike]

Sorry if this has been asked a thousand times over, but I'm collecting my first ever Bongo tomorrow. It's a 2002 with 55k (miles not km), V6 Petrol. It has a coolant alarm and current owner says its never gone off.

I've read about the dangers of a coolant leak or running dry and have seen a few vids on how to check coolant levels.

I'd just like to know what people might recommend to top up the coolant with should I need to. I'll keep some in the van. Assume the summer/winter mixes will be different?

Thanks in advance

[g8dhe]

The V6 isn't as bad a the diesel, but they all have similar amounts of piping around the vehicle which can age so its worth getting your garage to check all the rubber and metal pipes.
Red OAT coolant with a 5 year life is normal, but don't mix the different colours unless its clearly marked as being compatible like Prestone Yellow.

[teenmal]

Ask the person that you are buying the vehicle from, if they don't know, drain and thoroughly flush the system and renew antifreeze.

[Hazzobongo]

General rule is to use the same colour coolant thats already in there unless you completely flush the system then you can fill it with whatever colour you like. Just open the coolant resorvoir after you get the van and have a look, its either red or green and anyone you buy in whichever colour will be exactly the same chemical makeup but the two different colours will not mix.

[haydn callow]

If the coolant alarm fitted to your bongo is one of ours, if you refill with red OAT antifreeze it may give you false alarms for a while as red coolant coats the inside of the engine (when new) and so coats the alarm screw in the header tank. If the coolant is blue I would suggest staying with blue…..red is good but bare in mind the above.