If You Think Women Are Dumb About Cars...

[Sheryl]

I put motor oil in my radiator by mistake.

Actually, I do know quite well the difference between the radiator and the oil resevoir or whatever it's called, I had both uncapped with the intention of putting water in the former and a liter of oil in the latter (chronic oil leak, old car) but my mind drifted as I was pouring the oil and...I put it (about 1 Liter) into the radiator. (At least I didn't put water in the oil thingy too).

I then tried to unscrew the cap at the bottom to drain the mess out but it broke off in my hand leaving the radiator permanently sealed at the bottom (like I said, old car).

Then I figured that as oil generally floats on water, it would settle towards the top of the radiator, and I insert a garden hose as far down as I could and began flushing out. From time to time did a bit of siphoning too.

I've removed a whole lot of it but certainly not all.

So my question is..how bad is this? As in, if I proceed to drive my car, what is going to happen????

Appreciate advice.....

[mikethevigoman]

I put motor oil in my radiator by mistake.

Actually, I do know quite well the difference between the radiator and the oil resevoir or whatever it's called, I had both uncapped with the intention of putting water in the former and a liter of oil in the latter (chronic oil leak, old car) but my mind drifted as I was pouring the oil and...I put it (about 1 Liter) into the radiator. (At least I didn't put water in the oil thingy too).

I then tried to unscrew the cap at the bottom to drain the mess out but it broke off in my hand leaving the radiator permanently sealed at the bottom (like I said, old car).

Then I figured that as oil generally floats on water, it would settle towards the top of the radiator, and I insert a garden hose as far down as I could and began flushing out. From time to time did a bit of siphoning too.

I've removed a whole lot of it but certainly not all.

So my question is..how bad is this? As in, if I proceed to drive my car, what is going to happen????

Appreciate advice.....

Ihope no one i know is reading this ,schhh but i did the same to a customers car years ago,, i flushed out as much as i could and hoped for the best, i consider it was ok if you got the bulk out, she ( the lady customer ) never came back !,.. why we can only guess why , ,. i dont think its a problem, just keep your eye on the temp guage and do a flush as soon as possible,. Edited December 14, 2007 by mikethevigoman

[jayenram]

I'm not sure if it will cause any problem but I would:

Disconnect the bottom hose on the radiator; it should then drain both the radiator and the engine.

Or better still take it to a garage and pay the Bht 100.00 for them to do it.

[John 1]

Nice post at least we can all make mistakes, For a lady I would do as the other poster says 100bt at local garage where they do oil changes and it's fixed.

[Murf]

If you come to sell the car, and they look in the radiator, they may well thing the engine is buggered!! 555+

[goldfish]

What Mike suggested is probably your best bet, but maybe flush it thru a couple more times. It is a hot country and correctly functioning cooling systems are quite handy. We all make mistakes, all part of being human. Doing an oil change on my own car once, I was pouring in the new oil when it slowly dawned on me the noise of the flowing oil was a little louder than it really should be. It was then that I replaced the sump plug

[VocalNeal]

I put motor oil in my radiator by mistake.

Well at least the water pump will be lubricated

Either drain the whole system as suggested or when the engine is cold dump a dozen egg whites in there run the engine for a short while, do not cook the eggs, then do your garden hose trick. Egg white is an emulsifier and will bond with the oil.

Me i'd just chuck some new coolant in, as your flushed all the old stuff out, and drive away.

Edited December 14, 2007 by VocalNeal

[Gary A]

Just forget it. It won't hurt anything. Keep a closer than normal eye on the temperature gauge and if it runs normal, you're home free.

[Crossy]

I know someone, male (not me) who put anti-freeze in the oil filler and drove off. Wrecked the engine

To sheryl, as others note, remove the bottom hose (actually, considering your luck with cars, pay someone to remove the hose) and flush the system. Install new coolant (not just water) and you'll be fine

Edited December 14, 2007 by Crossy

[bino]

Stupidest thing I ever did was to forget to replace the oil filler cap after adding some oil- left it sitting on top of the air cleaner. Raised a dent in the hood when I slammed it closed.

My $0.02... I can't see any further damage happening. After draining the system and flushing it out as described above, keep an eye on the color of your coolant water. When oil gets into the coolant from a blown head gasket, the coolant will have a chalky grey color like primer paint.

If you see this - flush it again. If it stays clear, you are home free.

[Sheryl]

Many thanks for the tips. I'm particularly intrigued by the egg white angle but think for now will stick with trying to locate and remove the bottom hose & drain thusly.

As for the paying somebody to do it....I would if I lived in Bangkok but the whole reason I was the one doing the maintainance shtick in the first place was that the so-called auto mechanics out here in the boondocks are...well, let's say a few notches above the so-called electricians by not by a whole lot.

None of the local gas pumps have the slightest concept of even checking the oil (I actually got out and demonstrated several times for the staff at the one nearest me, but to no effect. They still don't get it.). Whenever I fill up the gas I have to watch like a hawk to make sure they don't put in diesel by mistake ..it's a "rot geng", not a pickup, and the diesel pump nozzles don 't even fit correctly, but this did not deter local gas station attendants in the past from getting diesel in with very bad results....

I own no less than 3 car repair guides (of the "for dummies"variety) and believe me, it ain't because I enjoy this stuff.

(Own a whole shelf of home repair books and have graduated well beyond the "dummies"series in that arena, for the same reason, but that's a whole other set of stories....!)

BTW after posting I devised the method of using a 10cc syringe to aspirate the very top layer off the radiator contents, should have done that from the start, it works quite well. But will still do the hose drain thing.

Tempting tho the egg whites are I think I'll pass on those...it is going to be hard enough to explain matters if worse comes to worse and I have to bring the car to one of the so-called local repairmen, between my less than perfect Thai and their highly questionable wits. I imagine that if I invest a good 15 minutes accompanied by pantomime and visual aids I could get across the öils's in the radiator"concept but "egg whites are also in the radiator"???

[otherstuff1957]

The egg white thing works really well with pre-1970 cars, but I'd be very leery about trying it with a newer car! If you had any 'hot spots' in you cooling system, the eggs would cook & cause a blockage. With older cars, the water passages tended to be bigger so this wasn't a much a concern.

[funfun]

Many thanks for the tips. I'm particularly intrigued by the egg white angle but think for now will stick with trying to locate and remove the bottom hose & drain thusly.

As for the paying somebody to do it....I would if I lived in Bangkok but the whole reason I was the one doing the maintainance shtick in the first place was that the so-called auto mechanics out here in the boondocks are...well, let's say a few notches above the so-called electricians by not by a whole lot.

None of the local gas pumps have the slightest concept of even checking the oil (I actually got out and demonstrated several times for the staff at the one nearest me, but to no effect. They still don't get it.). Whenever I fill up the gas I have to watch like a hawk to make sure they don't put in diesel by mistake ..it's a "rot geng", not a pickup, and the diesel pump nozzles don 't even fit correctly, but this did not deter local gas station attendants in the past from getting diesel in with very bad results....

I own no less than 3 car repair guides (of the "for dummies"variety) and believe me, it ain't because I enjoy this stuff.

(Own a whole shelf of home repair books and have graduated well beyond the "dummies"series in that arena, for the same reason, but that's a whole other set of stories....!)

BTW after posting I devised the method of using a 10cc syringe to aspirate the very top layer off the radiator contents, should have done that from the start, it works quite well. But will still do the hose drain thing.

Tempting tho the egg whites are I think I'll pass on those...it is going to be hard enough to explain matters if worse comes to worse and I have to bring the car to one of the so-called local repairmen, between my less than perfect Thai and their highly questionable wits. I imagine that if I invest a good 15 minutes accompanied by pantomime and visual aids I could get across the öils's in the radiator"concept but "egg whites are also in the radiator"???

earlier post sujests taking bottom hose off and drain, Good idea and def do!

eggs leave alone they can block little waterways etc! Not do!

flush out coolant system, textbook, but not on an older car can make more problems, Not do!

just drain and refill and if you have same problem with bottom hose as you did with radiator drain plug, just undo top hose and run engine for a min should pump most of it out!

Good luck

chris

[Crossy]

One last must do Sheryl.

Go and buy new hose clamps (Jubilee clips) BEFORE removing the hose, then when it breaks you'll have a new one

EDIT A can of WD40 would also be a wise investment

Edited December 15, 2007 by Crossy

[djinn]

The OP remembers me one of my best mistakes

I was just out of university with mechanical engineering diploma (specialization:car design)(hum)

Was in my mother's garage.Needed to add oil in my Toyota Supra.Took an oil can and began to refill.Smell was not exactly the oil smelling.The can was full of thinner .....

So called a mechanic friend who had the equipment to lift the car.We changed 2 times the oil and ...never any problem.Lucky I had no flu when this happened so I could smell the "oil"

[funfun]

One last must do Sheryl.

Go and buy new hose clamps (Jubilee clips) BEFORE removing the hose, then when it breaks you'll have a new one

EDIT A can of WD40 would also be a wise investment

top reply!

[Guest mascot]

If you are going to undo the hoses, I sugest you renew the hoses along with the clamps/jubilee clips as it might stop further problems with the old hoses at inconvenient times.

[Crossy]

If you are going to undo the hoses, I sugest you renew the hoses along with the clamps/jubilee clips as it might stop further problems with the old hoses at inconvenient times.

Yep, another top notch sggestion

Just a thought, does a hose failure ever occur at a CONVENIENT time? Mine have always failed in the rain / snow / dark / middle of nowhere (or a combination of all four), never on a nice sunny afternoon outside a car accessory shop

[micksterbs]

If you are going to undo the hoses, I sugest you renew the hoses along with the clamps/jubilee clips as it might stop further problems with the old hoses at inconvenient times.

Yep, another top notch sggestion

Just a thought, does a hose failure ever occur at a CONVENIENT time? Mine have always failed in the rain / snow / dark / middle of nowhere (or a combination of all four), never on a nice sunny afternoon outside a car accessory shop

Ha-ha! Exactly. It's the middle of Salisbury Plain, 1.30 in the AM and lashing it down. Still, no probs; I'll just get that torch from the boot and... Bugger.

As far as oil mishaps are concerned, err, a 17 year-old Alfa Romeo apprentice who shall be nameless, did, in 1974, forget that he had already filled the engine with new oil and, after tea-break, put another load in. Was a bit sluggish and smokey on the roadtest. Strange, that...

[Lancashirelad]

The last post reminds me of the appprentice on his 1st day at the haulage co. Was sent to go & check a truck in the yard for oil & water levels. An hour later still hadn't returned...... boss walked out to go & see what he was up to. Still merrily pouring oil into the filler tube. "was it very low?" "yes" "how many litres have you put in now"? "about 40" "what?" "well its still not upto the top of the filler neck yet like the water is".

The forgetting to replace sump plug trick has been done many many times, so don't feel bad about that.

Forgetting to replace the filler cap? Lucky you noticed it as its presence felt thru' the bonnet, had it not done so you would have gone down the road with it off and finished up with a very smelly, smokey, and dirty engine bay.

eggs: hmmm. old fashioned way, chuck one or 2 in, shell and all to cure a radiator leak.... temporalily. works too. but not if there's anti freeze in the system.

As for the OP's problem, safest way would have been 1. DO NOT run engine. 2. Get new radiator fitted.

If money tight/ car old, flush radiator with petrol. water won't wash oil away. Then put in a tin of "Radiator flush" (+ water) & run engine according to instructions. Flush with water & refill with clean water.

Yes technically a little oil in the water won't do any harm, but it coagulates with the water & causes a horrible creamy type grey mess. Any potential future buyer will think the cylinder head gasket has gone.

Edited December 30, 2007 by Lancashirelad

[Thanyaburi Mac]

I put motor oil in my radiator by mistake.

Actually, I do know quite well the difference between the radiator and the oil resevoir or whatever it's called, I had both uncapped with the intention of putting water in the former and a liter of oil in the latter (chronic oil leak, old car) but my mind drifted as I was pouring the oil and...I put it (about 1 Liter) into the radiator. (At least I didn't put water in the oil thingy too).

I then tried to unscrew the cap at the bottom to drain the mess out but it broke off in my hand leaving the radiator permanently sealed at the bottom (like I said, old car).

Then I figured that as oil generally floats on water, it would settle towards the top of the radiator, and I insert a garden hose as far down as I could and began flushing out. From time to time did a bit of siphoning too.

I've removed a whole lot of it but certainly not all.

So my question is..how bad is this? As in, if I proceed to drive my car, what is going to happen????

Appreciate advice.....

Sheryl

Hey, see below, from a former USAF guy up at Korat in 1972, he was a mech on the C-121 "Connie," one of the recon birds.

Mac

Mark tells of an interesting experience servicing the Constellation. I had a very interesting day once as pertains to servicing, and it could have been a disastrous one. The pilot was making his walkaround which included opening the fuel tank petcocks for a second to observe tha condition of the fuel. The fuel from number three tank that got onto the tire looked strange, as it left a residue. Upon investigation, it was found that both of my main inboard (takeoff) tanks had been filled with a couple of hundred gallons of engine oil. We had some real winners in the maintenance squadrons in those days; As the folks who were stationed at Otis AFB can attest.

[Sheryl]

Many thanks for all the tips.

I've been driving the car without -- KNOCK ON WOOD -- any problems....and being a lot more observant when topping off the oil these days

[wilko]

Are you sure you're not using a female ID to cover over the mistake and loss of face if you were a man??

The best advice is to pay to have the "cooling system" i.e. where the water should be, cleaned out....this will only cost a couple of hundred baht or so.

Your didn't put water in the oil I take it? that would also require the oil to be flushed out.....who knows, while they're at it they might find out why it's leaking oil too!

[pattyboy]

Along these same lines...I had a mid-70's Cutlass Supreme many moons ago and was doing a little maintenance on it one Saturday when I noticed the brake fluid level was a little low in the master cylinder. It was only down a bit and I wasn't too concerned about it, but my neighbour happened to come along at that moment and grabbed a bottle of automatic transmission that was in the truck of the car. He insisted that it was virtually the same stuff as brake fluid and assured me that it would be fine to use it to top up the master cylinder. As it turned out, this was a huge mistake because a car's brake system -- lines, calipers, etc all have a rubber lining, and automatic transmission fluid (as I now know) breaks down rubber. In the end, the entire brake system had to be replaced, which cost a small fortune. The two main lessons I learned from this were 1) never take auto mechanic advice from your non-mechanic friends/neighbours, and 2) only put the the proper type of fluids in the proper places in your car.

Edited January 3, 2008 by pattyboy

[Thaiboxer]

Years ago when we lived in the States, I got to know several delivery drivers who were working with me. According to a coworker, this guy who had worked there before I started made a "little" mistake when it came to topping up on fluids.

This guy (who had had some serious fender benders before) was getting his company van ready for the day's deliveries. In checking the fluids, he felt the thing needed water. He found a garden hose and added the water. Later on down the road, the engine siezed and the mechanic who took care of our vehicles found the cause: our driver had filled the crankcase with water rather than the radiator. When asked why he did this, his response was "She was thirsty, so I filled her right up."

Hose water isn't the best thing, but will do for a quickie if distilled water isn't available. However, filling the crankcase takes the cake!!

[Lancashirelad]

Hose water isn't the best thing, but will do for a quickie if distilled water isn't available. However, filling the crankcase takes the cake!!

eh? Are we talking cooling systems or batteries here?

Distilled water for a battery, yep, sure.

For a cooling system? Absolutely any type of water will do so long as its wet! You could even supply "your own" in an emergency ;-)

The cooling system should also have a corrosion unhibitor added as is built into anti-freeze in cooler climes.

Edited January 4, 2008 by Lancashirelad

[Theyreallrubbish]

I thought this was going to be thread about how women are dumb about cars, but its about maintenance instead.

Never mind, I'll still tell my car related dumb woman story.

I went to Chiang Mai for a holiday there and a friend lent me their 30 year old Mercedes to drive around in that was in pretty bad shape. While there I met a woman from Bangkok who was also on holiday. We spent a few days together, driving out to lakes for picnics and to restaurants etc.

After we both came back to Bangkok we continued to spend time together. One day she said her dad had bought a Mercedes. I asked her what type and she said, "A new style one" I pressed her on the model number wanting to know whether he'd bought an S class, E Class, SL, etc. but she had no idea and just kept repeating "The new style one"

So for the next few days when we were on the road I'd point out new Mercedes and ask if her dad had one of those and she kept saying no, he has the new style one.

About a week later she suddenly points to a car and says, "That's the one my dad has!" She was pointing at a 30 year old heap of a Mercedes like the one I'd had in Chiang Mai. I told her that was an old car and she said, "No its the new style, like the one you had!"

So she was so dumb about cars that she thought a 30 year old car was a brand new style because she'd never seen that style before!

(As a plus, over the course of 6 years we were together in Thailand she crashed 8 cars. Luckily only one of them was mine as I forbid her to drive my car and her family were understandbly reluctant to keep giving her new cars! You wouldn't believe how she managed to cause some of those crashes if I told you while swearing on the bible)

[Thaiboxer]

Lancashirelad...On several occassions I've used regular tap water for our old tub. However, if you use standard water too often it could leave deposits inside the cooling system which may lead to blockages later on. Correct me if I'm wrong, but regular water does contain a certain amount of impurities.

As to using "human" coolant, I once saw that in a movie titled "Red Dawn", which dates from around 1984. Somebody also said Diet Coke could be used (guess the regular one isn't good due to the sugar content) if you're without water. For batteries, distilled is in order. Too bad the maintenance free ones so common in the States aren't for sale here; or perhaps I haven't seen one yet. All the batteries I've had need the distilled water every now and then, plus in this climate they give about two years of service before giving out on you.

[Lancashirelad]

Lancashirelad...On several occassions I've used regular tap water for our old tub. However, if you use standard water too often it could leave deposits inside the cooling system which may lead to blockages later on.

old wives tale. You'd have to have some very hard water with big lime stone deposits in it (not usual in Thailand?) to make the slightest impression. However, as i said (& please forgive my earlier typo which i can now no longer correct) coolant water should always have corrosion inhibitor addded.

[PattayaParent]

Lancashirelad...On several occassions I've used regular tap water for our old tub. However, if you use standard water too often it could leave deposits inside the cooling system which may lead to blockages later on.

old wives tale. You'd have to have some very hard water with big lime stone deposits in it (not usual in Thailand?) to make the slightest impression. However, as i said (& please forgive my earlier typo which i can now no longer correct) coolant water should always have corrosion inhibitor addded.

My electric kettle's heater coil definitely has furring on it, and we use bottled water in it????