My oil and power steering fluid bottles look the same

[antyler]

I was looking to quickly top of the oil in my mothers car which was about half to one quart low on oil.

I proceeded to grab the closest bottle of motor oil, which was actually power steering fluid.

i didnt look at the label until about half a quart of power steering fluid was mixed with the oil in the engine.

is it necessary to drain and flush the system of oil, or will the car be ok?

 

[woodie1]

If you use 5 quarts of oil when changing the oil and filter on her car and only put 1/2 a quart of power steering fluid in the engine I doubt there will be any harm unless she drives long distances at high speed in really hot weather.

My $0.02

EDIT: I would check the fluid level frequently as the power steering fluid will probably burn off rapidly.

 

[nissan720]

If you have avoided running the engine then I believe that you could get away with just changing the oil. You might as well change the filter while you are there and call it a scheduled oil change.

If you did run the engine I would proceed with flushing the oil as best you can and take this as an expensive lesson learned.

 

[antyler]

Yeah the lesson i learned was simply to read the bottle before dumping it in, simple enough. they really shouldnt make the bottle shapes the exact same for idiots like myself.

The car was driven a few hundred miles after this episode tonight. Driven in cool weather at the speed limit, and no problems arose. I am told that the power steering fluid will burn of rapidly, and probably acted as some sort of cleanser. At any rate, the oil will be checked and changed shortly.