Steering fluid in to coolant ...

[Ndx]

Hey Guys,

Friend of my ... She is a lady ...
she added 100ml of power steering fluid in to coolant ...
I told her to call mechanic .. and get it flushed .. she didn't start engine after that so that good i guess ... Any ideas how bad it was for cooling system ...

 

[Pablo]

Sure, blame the girl.

As long as you drain and flush, completely harmless. The worst problem would be with the hoses.

 

[flanso]

100 ml isn't very much and if she did not start the car it is probably just sitting on top of the coolant where she put it in since the oil has a lower specific gravity than the coolant. I would go after it with a turkey baster and get out as much as possible. A friend of mine, a retired machinist, used to put a cup of water soluble oil in his cooling system. "Good for the water pump bearing," he said. What your friend can't get out with the baster, she can just send through the system as a special treat for the water pump bearing, even though those bearings are sealed nowadays. I do not think it will damage anything.

 

[gomes512]

Into the rad or the tank? If tank I would just disconnect tank, drain it then flush with some acetone or the like.

 

[Kestas]

Originally Posted By: flanso
... A friend of mine, a retired machinist, used to put a cup of water soluble oil in his cooling system. "Good for the water pump bearing," he said...

The coolant never touches the water pump bearing. What other purls of wisdom did he pass on to you?

Acetone is too harsh on plastics. I'd use mineral spirits, detergent, or alcohol, but not acetone.

 

[onion]

I use dishwasher detergent for that sort of thing at the shop.

 

[pzev]

Agree, avoid using acetone. Denatured alcohol should work well for this.
Also, as another poster alluded to, the oil is probobly still sitting at the top of the rad, so got at it with a turkey baster or some other kind of suction device.

Hopefully the said mechanic doesn't charge you an arm and a leg for an otherwise easy and straight forward procedure. Any mechanic worth is tools should spend more than 30 minutes on this.

 

[flanso]

Actually, coolant does eventually get to water pump bearings which causes their demise. The water soluble oil prolongs the pumps life. Incidentally, he's 91 and his claim is based on his experience with Ford flathead pumps.