Oops, anti-freeze as engine coolant?

Jjaden · 01-09-2010, 08:46 PM

So for the first time since I've owned my Z, I needed to top up with wiper fluid / Anti - freeze.

I was doing this in the garage tonight and there was barely any light.

My last vehicle had the location of the wiper fluid in the exact spot the Nissan has the engine coolant, so being a creature of habit topped up my engine coolant with anti - freeze before I noticed.
I
My question is this, obviously this isn't ideal, what are the ramifications? Should I leave it parked until Monday morning and take it directly to the shop to have it flushed?

quadsbaby · 01-09-2010, 09:42 PM

Wiper Fluid / Anti-freeze / Engine coolant are pretty much all made up of the same stuff. Even if the recommended Nissan antifreeze is an organic-acid base (not sure) it shouldn't be a big deal. Just realize that that "top-off" is not any sort of special long-life coolant, so you might want to change your fluid a bit earlier than normal.

ChrisSlicks · 01-09-2010, 09:56 PM

Probably no big deal. Anti-freeze windshield fluid is a mixture of water and methyl alcohol, anti-freeze coolant has water, glycol alcohol and additional anti-corrosive additives. Both are water soluble and good to well below freezing so for the small amount that you added you wont notice any detrimental effect. Basically you just diluted your anti-freeze a little.

kenchan · 01-09-2010, 10:51 PM

hahaha, i would siphon it out. unless you started the car and coolant low, it's contained in the reserve bottle. dont start the car and just siphon all of it out and then add the correct coolant to the middle. done.

nogoodname · 01-09-2010, 11:10 PM

some anti-freeze has that Teflon stuff.... which one did you use?? the pink one from Canadian Tire?? or the blue one??

Jjaden · 01-10-2010, 01:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nogoodname

some anti-freeze has that Teflon stuff.... which one did you use?? the pink one from Canadian Tire?? or the blue one??

Actually I used the yellow RainX one.
Seems like it's not a major issue which is a relief, I did feel pretty stupid as soon as I realised what I had done

kannibul · 01-10-2010, 01:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quadsbaby

Wiper Fluid / Anti-freeze / Engine coolant are pretty much all made up of the same stuff. Even if the recommended Nissan antifreeze is an organic-acid base (not sure) it shouldn't be a big deal. Just realize that that "top-off" is not any sort of special long-life coolant, so you might want to change your fluid a bit earlier than normal.

Wat?

No...

Wiper Fluid = Alcohol and Water

Anti-Freeze = Ethalin Glycol (sorry for spelling), with maybe an additive.

Pre-Mixed Anti-Freeze = Ethaline Glycol and Water with maybe an additive at 50/50 ratio.

Anti-Freeze = Engine Coolant - the terms are interchangeable.

Wiper fluid is not either of those.

kannibul · 01-10-2010, 01:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nogoodname

some anti-freeze has that Teflon stuff.... which one did you use?? the pink one from Canadian Tire?? or the blue one??

Teflon, in any form, is bad for cars, and is 1000% useless. More harm than good...

kannibul · 01-10-2010, 01:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisSlicks

Probably no big deal. Anti-freeze windshield fluid is a mixture of water and methyl alcohol, anti-freeze coolant has water, glycol alcohol and additional anti-corrosive additives. Both are water soluble and good to well below freezing so for the small amount that you added you wont notice any detrimental effect. Basically you just diluted your anti-freeze a little.

Not glycol alcohol. Ethylene Glycol.

Big difference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycyl_alcohol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene_glycol

quadsbaby · 01-10-2010, 06:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kannibul

Wat?

No...

Wiper Fluid = Alcohol and Water

Anti-Freeze = Ethalin Glycol (sorry for spelling), with maybe an additive.

Pre-Mixed Anti-Freeze = Ethaline Glycol and Water with maybe an additive at 50/50 ratio.

Anti-Freeze = Engine Coolant - the terms are interchangeable.

Wiper fluid is not either of those.

Yes.

Wiper Fluid = Water, Alcohol (either isopropanol, methanol, or ethanol), and often Ethylene Glycol (to keep the wiper fluid from freezing in colder climates).

Engine Coolant = either Ethylene Glycol or Propylene Glycol or Organic Acid + Corrosion inhibitors... very rarely (I think mostly in the UK now, methanol is used as a substitute for glycols).

Engine Coolant is a subset of Antifreeze, so not all antifreeze is considered engine coolant. Given the way the OP described it, I assumed he meant antifreeze wiper fluid, which would be Methanol + Ethylene Glycol, which would be fine for his engine coolant as the added methanol's not going to really be a problem. Even if he used wiper fluid without antifreeze, it's still not a huge problem as long as it's just a top off.

Jjaden · 01-10-2010, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quadsbaby

Yes.

Wiper Fluid = Water, Alcohol (either isopropanol, methanol, or ethanol), and often Ethylene Glycol (to keep the wiper fluid from freezing in colder climates).

Engine Coolant = either Ethylene Glycol or Propylene Glycol or Organic Acid + Corrosion inhibitors... very rarely (I think mostly in the UK now, methanol is used as a substitute for glycols).

Engine Coolant is a subset of Antifreeze, so not all antifreeze is considered engine coolant. Given the way the OP described it, I assumed he meant antifreeze wiper fluid, which would be Methanol + Ethylene Glycol, which would be fine for his engine coolant as the added methanol's not going to really be a problem. Even if he used wiper fluid without antifreeze, it's still not a huge problem as long as it's just a top off.

Yes you are correct to assume I used antifreeze wiper fluid. I only added about a third or a container. After reading the thread it appears I would be ok not worrying about it and will be just fine driving around.

chris410 · 01-10-2010, 09:57 AM

If you did not drive (or even if you did) you could probably get away with emptying out the coolant over-flow and fill with water/coolant rather than have the entire system flushed. I've made this mistake as well, and I was fine after I cleared out the over-flow.

ChrisSlicks · 01-10-2010, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jjaden

Yes you are correct to assume I used antifreeze wiper fluid. I only added about a third or a container. After reading the thread it appears I would be ok not worrying about it and will be just fine driving around.

The RainX washer fluid has other additives that will leave a residue on surfaces and repel water molecules, not a good thing for your engine. If you haven't started the car just drain the overflow tank, assuming that is where you added the washer fluid.

370Zsteve · 01-10-2010, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kannibul

Wat?

No...

Wiper Fluid = Alcohol and Water

Anti-Freeze = Ethalin Glycol (sorry for spelling), with maybe an additive.

Pre-Mixed Anti-Freeze = Ethaline Glycol and Water with maybe an additive at 50/50 ratio.

Anti-Freeze = Engine Coolant - the terms are interchangeable.

Wiper fluid is not either of those.

Kannibul, you always seem to beat me to the punch. +1 rep

althought there are trace amounts of ethylene glycol in some washer fluids.
edit: rep'd you yesterday, mebbe next time

IDZRVIT · 01-10-2010, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenchan

hahaha, i would siphon it out. unless you started the car and coolant low, it's contained in the reserve bottle. dont start the car and just siphon all of it out and then add the correct coolant to the middle. done.

This is the best course of action and is not that difficult to do.

01-09-2010, 08:46 PM	#1 (permalink)
Jjaden Track Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Ontario Posts: 821 Drives: 370Z/MAT SILVER/6MT Rep Power: 17	Oops, anti-freeze as engine coolant? So for the first time since I've owned my Z, I needed to top up with wiper fluid / Anti - freeze. I was doing this in the garage tonight and there was barely any light. My last vehicle had the location of the wiper fluid in the exact spot the Nissan has the engine coolant, so being a creature of habit topped up my engine coolant with anti - freeze before I noticed. I My question is this, obviously this isn't ideal, what are the ramifications? Should I leave it parked until Monday morning and take it directly to the shop to have it flushed?

01-10-2010, 09:57 AM	#12 (permalink)
chris410 Enthusiast Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Virginia Posts: 345 Drives: 10' GT500 Rep Power: 16	If you did not drive (or even if you did) you could probably get away with emptying out the coolant over-flow and fill with water/coolant rather than have the entire system flushed. I've made this mistake as well, and I was fine after I cleared out the over-flow. __________________ Chris Current: 2014 WRX Stage I + SPT / 2013 Hayabusa 202HP Former:09 370Z 7-AT PW/Ark Type 2 exhaust/Evo R lip/TSW Nurburgring carbon

01-09-2010, 09:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
quadsbaby Base Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: California Posts: 14 Drives: Trying to get a 40th Rep Power: 16	Wiper Fluid / Anti-freeze / Engine coolant are pretty much all made up of the same stuff. Even if the recommended Nissan antifreeze is an organic-acid base (not sure) it shouldn't be a big deal. Just realize that that "top-off" is not any sort of special long-life coolant, so you might want to change your fluid a bit earlier than normal.

01-09-2010, 09:56 PM	#3 (permalink)
ChrisSlicks A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: North East Posts: 6,203 Drives: 09 370Z Sport M6 Rep Power: 653	Probably no big deal. Anti-freeze windshield fluid is a mixture of water and methyl alcohol, anti-freeze coolant has water, glycol alcohol and additional anti-corrosive additives. Both are water soluble and good to well below freezing so for the small amount that you added you wont notice any detrimental effect. Basically you just diluted your anti-freeze a little.

01-09-2010, 10:51 PM	#4 (permalink)
kenchan A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: N/A Posts: 76,801 Drives: N/A Rep Power: 141521	hahaha, i would siphon it out. unless you started the car and coolant low, it's contained in the reserve bottle. dont start the car and just siphon all of it out and then add the correct coolant to the middle. done.

01-09-2010, 11:10 PM	#5 (permalink)
nogoodname Lifetime Premium Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Montreal Posts: 22,357 Drives: E46 M3 Rep Power: 1765	some anti-freeze has that Teflon stuff.... which one did you use?? the pink one from Canadian Tire?? or the blue one??