Dear Car Talk:
I had my Kia Sorento warming up and decided to add some windshield washer fluid before driving away. I accidentally poured it into the antifreeze container.
As soon as I noticed what I was doing, I shut the car off and then sucked all the washer fluid from the container with a turkey baster.
Do I need to have the car towed to a garage to empty the radiator to see if there is damage? Or can I just refill the container with antifreeze and not worry about damage or fire hazards to my engine or radiator? — Rita
The most important thing to do going forward, Rita, is to make sure you wash the turkey baster thoroughly before next Thanksgiving.
You did exactly the right thing. As soon as you noticed your mistake and finished slapping your forehead, you shut off the car and sucked out the washer fluid out.
That plastic container is actually the coolant’s overflow bottle. The cooling system draws coolant from there when it needs more and pushes fluid back up into that bottle when it needs to relieve pressure.
Most likely neither of those activities was occurring as your car was warming up. So, I don’t think the windshield washer fluid ever mixed with your coolant. Plus, the windshield washer fluid, especially in a very small quantity, is not going to harm your engine. The washer fluid contains a type of antifreeze, too, along with water and soap.
In a larger quantity, washer fluid might reduce your cooling capacity and increase your risk of overheating. If you’re worried about it, you can always ask your mechanic to flush your cooling system and refill it. That’s not a big job.
But I’d probably just refill the overflow bottle (with coolant!) and drive it. And as long as you don’t see soap bubbles floating up from your front grill and hear the theme music for “The Lawrence Welk Show” while waiting at a traffic light, I think you’re probably fine.
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