Hello everyone,

I have inadvertently put some anti-frost washer fluid in the engine coolant reservoir.
What is the best course of action I can take to remedy?
Just emptying the coolant reservoir would be enough?

On a side note, I have driven a dozen of miles of already, could some of the anti-frost washer fluid gotten into the engine? Is it something I should be worried about?

Thanks for any help.
Nicola

 

For the amount of money that one of these vehicles costs you should have the entire cooling system drained, flushed, and refilled with appropriate coolant.

 

As in windshield washer fluid?

 

Pretty sure that's what he means.

 

Yes Anti-frost Windshield Washer Fluid is what I meant.
In the end it was lighter than the coolant fluid and of a different color (blue). I could easily see it separated from the coolant fluid.
I have bought a siphon pump at a nearby shop and sucked it out of the coolant reservoir box.

I have then driven for about 450 Km this afternoon, with no issues, coolant temperature being pretty much stable around 90°C as usual. And no bubbles or foam in the coolant reservoir box, which is another thing I was told to look for in such a case.

 

You may have dodged a bullet because it was floating on top of other coolant in the reservoir and the system draws from the bottom when system needs it.
My .02 of course
STEVE

 

Ha nicola, I did the same thing 6 months ago. Couldn't believe I did such a dumb thing and luckily caught the maneuver before I added too much. I pumped out the reservoir and since the fluid floated on top of the coolant, I was able to remove it all. Difference was I did not drive it, so I didn't worry about it. You might want to flush it out and replace the coolant.

 

If this is the Einszett German brand of Anti frost then your fine as its mostly alcohol and other than not having an additive to protect rubber seals and gaskets its very close to our propylene glycol antifreeze our engines use. Had a buddy in Germany who used this exclusively for coolant in the old methanol based coolant systems because it was cheap and worked better than those old formulas.

 

Yeah, me too, I was in a hurry, but still...

 

Very good and interesting info here.
My anti-frost was from Aral, the gas station chain brand.
It is a concentrate formula, I do not know what's exactly inside, but a test found that it is very gentle on plastic and rubber materials, as well as on the body painting.

http://www.autobild.de/bilder/winter...189.html#bild5

I hope that even the few milliliters that might have gone around in the circuit are not going to cause a problem to the cooling system seal.