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My wife just put windshield wiper fluid where the coolant goes.

Nick- very funny.

It's snowing and 26F here today. Does it need to be done right away? How much would a garage typically charge to do it?

This is not something I've done myself before. Where would I put the coolant/wiper fluid I drain out?
 
Nick- very funny.

It's snowing and 26F here today. Does it need to be done right away? How much would a garage typically charge to do it?

This is not something I've done myself before. Where would I put the coolant/wiper fluid I drain out?
 
if you can shop-vac out the resevoir, you are probably going to be okay so long as the car hasn't been turned on and circulated the fluid.
 
If it was just a small amount, do not worry about it. Now if it was like a whole gallon or two, then you should flush the system. It should be flushed anyway, but it is not super critical if the amount is small. All antifreeze has some alcohol in it, which is also what is in window wash, except that also has some detergent. Not much to worry about.
 
It was a gallon of fluid.

Good call on the siphon. So does everyone agree that siphoning out the reservoir is sufficient to prevent damage to the cooling system? Or does it need to be flushed?
 
what kind of car?

if she just poured it in an overflow tank, just remove it and dump it out. if she poured it in the radiator, or if your car has an expansion tank in the cooling system loop, flush it.
 
Drive it to your nearest service station asap. I wouldn't take any chances. This has the possiblility to destroy your engine. Granted, I think the odds are slim, but I would rather spend a few bucks and be sure than to spend a couple grand on a new engine.
 
Turkey baster and suck it out of the resevoir. I'm assuming she put it into the resevoice tank and not the actually engine coolant lid.
 
Has the engine been run since it was put in? If not, then just disconnect the line to the coolant resevoir and unbolt it, assuming you have access to it. It's quicker than turkey baster. Siphoning would work too, assuming yo uhave a long enough tube to use.
 
I would flush it, but that's me. Why did the car need a gallon of coolant? That's fairly concerning itself.
 
Our mercedes has the coolant lines connected to the washer reservoir. Looks like if the car gets low on coolant, it will suck water from the washer tank
 
Can't see how this would destroy the engine as many are saying. Only bad thing that I could foresee is that it corroding the cooling system if left in there too long. Washer fluid still has all the thermal properties of water, but it doesn't have the anti corroding properties of coolant.
As mentioned, just drain it out, flush it, and refill with coolant and you should be fine.
 
The engine hadn't been run yet when I asked. It has now been run.

Before I started it, I ended up siphoning out as much of the liquid in the reservoir as I could, driving to a gas station, and topping it off with half coolant/half water.

Its a 2001 Mazda Protege.

The car didn't need a gallon of coolant, it needed wiper fluid. Had the right fluid, wrong hole. (That's what she said.)

Taking it to a shop wasn't really an option. We're a one car family and needed to get somewhere this afternoon.

As soon as I have the time/money I'll probably get it flushed and refilled. Until then, I don't think I'm too concerned. There can't be more than an oz or 2 of wiper fluid in the system.
 
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