**** engine oil in radiator by mistake
 

dam im a dumbass just put engine oil in the radiator filler cap.... what should i do now i havent started it yet and i put about half a bottle of engine oil inside

Do not crank. Tow that sucker.

You had room in your radiator?

In the overflow tank or the radiator itself?

What I was trying to get at. Because your radiator shouldn't have 1/2qt free. And if it does, you have other issues. Also if it is actually your radiator, squeeze the hoses and suck all the oil you can out

radiator itself, half the quart was just an estimate probably less.... im scared as **** to do anything im super novice with cars


i can see the oil right there near the top what do you mean squeeze and suck it all out??

If youre a novice, dont start it, dont move it, have it towed to a shop or a dealer.

would you guys recommend bringing it to the dealer or a shop, would this **** up my warranty?

Get a turkey baster, there are hoses connecting to the radiator, squeeze them and water comes out of the top of the radiator, use the turkey baster to suck what you can out. Luckily oil floats.

You should consider looking at the bottle instead of guessing how much oil you poured in.


And please for the love of Christ don't work on your car ever again unless you're under supervision.

A shop, not the dealer

dam i know man i messed up royally :shakes head:

idk if i should even bother though trying to take anything out though, i rather go to a shop and get it all flushed professionally

Take as much as you can out. It's oil and floats. No damage has been done since you didn't start it.
EVEN if you did, I can't see it doing that much "damage". Radiator fluid in your oil is 1000000 times worse



I WOULD suggest you draining and refilling it yourself, but let's not take that risk.

Take off the upper radiator hose?

dam and i just taught of something else... if i get it towed since its in my backyard and kinda narrow they would have to tow it with the front wheels up atleast until it gets outside the backyard then switch to the correct back wheels up **** man...........





thanks that makes me feel a bit better... everyone else ive talked to made it sound like i did the worse thing possible i hope your right

So you put motor oil in the cap with the big hose attached to it or the cap on the clear plastic tank? Because you said you could see the oil.

big hose attached to it.. and yeah i can see the oil i guess whatever liqud was already in there was pretty full cause after about less than half the quart i stopped because it was about to overflow

Push the car out?

If it was my car, this is my plan of attack.
Turkey baster idea.
Drain the radiator
Flush it with a hose
Drain radiator
Fill radiator with water and a bit of dish soap
Run car with radiator cap off.
Drain, refill with water
Run car with radiator cap off.
Drain, refill with water
Run car with radiator cap off
Fill car with radiator fluid. Drive like normal

If it's that little oil and you pop off the upper hose, wouldn't all the oil come out? I can't see you being down on coolant far enough for the oil to be in the radiator.

I guess, but I feel it wouldn't all come out. Best would be if you could pump the fluid from the bottom up.

The thing with the oil is that it will cost and stick to anything it touches, so in my mind I don't want it to run anywhere else

Yeah, I'd rather be safe than sorry. Flush the whole thing.

how much does a radiator flush generally cost you think from a shop?

towing probably gonna cost like 100 then the cost of flush



so basically def dont take to dealer though right?

Do you know another shop to take it to? If not then take it to the dealer.

$60-70, you want them to do it a few times.


No dealer for you. At all




(Maybe a dumb series of questions... But... Do you have insurance? [A lot of companies offer free towing] Do you have AAA or equivalent? Do you think a few hundred bucks to fix this problem is a lot? How old are you?)

we get trans fluid mix in some systems when the coolers in the bottom of the rad cracsk and mix. After the rad is replaced(not suggestion you replace yours) we flush it out with a standard hose in the rad cap. While I do no suggest it, we have run degreaser through them in extreme cases. That being said, I would drain the system, flush it with a hose, re fill, and do it again after 5k miles. Next step, find a car mentor...

70 bucks wouldnt be too bad... thanks ill make sure to tell him i want it done a few timse

i have state farm wonder if they cover towing?

You MUST be young. Yes, they usually cover towing up to like $125, unless you opted out of it, even though it only costs like .50/month

Dude here

Its not really that big of an issue, get out what you can(try to get most of it), fill it up with coolant and drive the car for a week. the rest of it will end up in the overflow resrvoir after the week and all you will have to do is pop the resrvoir off and clean out like it was a piece of Tupperware. trace amounts of oil wont hurt anything. easy way out is to just take it to get flushed in which case i would just get out as much as i could, fill it with coolant and just drive it to a local garage. Like DE said if you had put coolant in your oil that would be different (would mean changing the oil immediately and running a little diesel or kerosene in the oil for a little bit and then changing it again, still not the end of the world unless it was driven with the coolant in it).

This is the most hilarious thread I've seen so far. You seem totally clueless about cars it sounds like and you shouldn't be the one adding fluids. Why were you adding oil in the first place?? Did you check the headlight and blinker fluid while you were at it? JK :bowrofl:

When you get it towed make sure they put it on a flat bed truck and they have boards or something to decrease the initial slope when they are loading it. Also, make sure they use the tow hook and not anything else. You have a tow hook in the trunk that installs in the grill of the car left side. Some tow companies have no idea how to load our Zs and I don't want to see your next post saying your bumper is all messed up.

You might already know these things but you did put oil in your radiator so just making sure. GL :driving:

^started more prick than me. Ended up helpful :tiphat:

Clam yo tits everyone. Yes OP is a dumbass, but this is not a huge deal. Drain, flush (several times well), and fill your radiator. Here's a semi DIY.

I would also say, do it your damn self, cause a shop is just gunna do a drain, quick flush, and fill. Not the thorough flush that you want. However, you ARE the one that put oil in the radiator in the first place, so herein lies our conundrum.

Were you just trying to top up the oil? Or were you in the middle of an oil change and added the new oil into the radiator by mistake? Just want to make sure that you didn't drain the oil … and now are so "fussed" about the radiator that you've forgotten that there's no oil in the engine. That would not be a pretty picture if you (or the shop) started it up without any engine oil.

You seem like a young kid on a budget and no clue about cars or about the coverage your insurance company provides. I suggest you let your parents take care of this for you.
But kudos for coming on the forum and admitting you made a mistake.
The guys here have given you loads of suggestions on what to do. I suggest you listen to then

I'm sure your father knows someone that can help you guys get this taken care of. Or maybe you have a friend that knows about cars, everybody does :).
Good luck, and lesson learned.

took the words out of mouth superdave, op you are a dumbass lol.... just wondering op, how the hell could you not tell the difference oil from water?

This cannot be real :icon14:

OP are you a chick?

I would also be worried about all of your hoses that have coolant running through them. They may swell due to coming into contact with oil once you start doing a thorough flush to get the oil out when the car is running and circulating coolant through the system.

At the Ford dealership that I work at, diesel fuel got mixed in with a 6.0's coolant. We had to do a thorough flush like others have mentioned. We had to also replace all hoses that have coolant going through them and the thermostat as well. The coolant hoses swelled up like a mofo. Something to think about.

While the oil will degrade the hoses/seals over time and can coat some of the interior surfaces, it's not the end of the world.
As per DE-and-a-half:
1) get a baster and suck up all the oil that you can
2) using a funnel and small tube to get below the oil, add some water or antifreeze to the radiator.
3) repeat until you can't suck up any more oil and then
4) slowly overfill to push out any remaining oil. A half-quart or less should do it.

It may help to raise the side of the car that the cap is on so the oil will migrate to the opening.

There will still be some oil clinging to the radiator but it shouldn't be enough to do much short-term harm. I suggest that you change the antifreeze soon to clear out any remaining oil.

Dude, way to technical for the OPs mechanical level. Although I agree completely, I think the best thing is for him to let a professional deal with it.

I do admire him for posting it on the internet for help though.