Help! Car emergency!

[Jeanied]

Have I completely wrecked the car engine by putting screen wash (neat) into the coolant bottle?
Daft mistake - and I realised just after I had poured a half pint of neat screen wash into the wrong plastic section under the bonnet. (The screen wash bottle was frozen solid so I used neat to keep it all from freezing again)
Will I ruin the engine by driving it to the garage (3 miles) to get them to change it in the morning? Or is it a 'call out the RAC' job. (I guess this is where I discover my membership won't cover coming out to me at home!)
Kicking myself now.

[FionaH]

To be on the safe side I would say don't drive the car! You don't want screen wash all round your engine!

[Pumpkin Becki]

Jeanie, it's probably no real consolation, but I'm doing a bit of a search for you and it looks like its quite a common mistake judging by the number of results I'm pulling up!

[Pumpkin Becki]

One person says this

Windshield Washer is usually nothing more than water, soap, and some type of alcohol to keep the formula from freezing in the winter. Since coolant is also basically water, and glycol (the ingredient that keeps it from freezing and boiling over), it wont be a problem. The alcohol will simply evaporate due to the high temperature, the water will mix with the rest of the water in the cooling system, and the soap is in a minute enough concentration to do absolutely nothing.

Therefore, no worries!

[Pumpkin Becki]

Someone else says this

Agreed, No Worries with Screenwash, unless it was in large quantities (above 2 litres), in which case simply syphon off whatevers in the Header Tank & top up with 100% AntiFreeze

[SarzWix]

Jeanie, it should be fine to get to the garage - the coolant system doesn't actually pass through the engine. The only thing that might happen is a bit of perfumey smell as it warms up. You do/should have a proportion on antifreeze in the coolant system anyway, it isn't pure water. So don't worry

PS. This is from Jez xx

[binley100]

I've just consulted OH and he says that screen wash is a type of antifreeze so you should be ok to drive to the garage to get them to change it........

[Pumpkin Becki]

Someone else says this

The blue stuff is alcohol not glycol. But it still won't cause instant catastrophic harm.

And ya don't sweat it, just go get it flushed and refilled telling the service guy what you've done.

However, I am not a mechanic, and this is purely other peoples' opinions (thought I'd better get that in before you bill me for a new engine Jeanie )

[FionaH]

See, I know nowt, listen to em

[Jeanied]

Phew - thanks for the advice folks. I'm going to drive it to my usual garage and leave it there for them - they may well do it for me over the course of the day. I can walk to work from there.
I did ring the RAC just now. £91 to upgrade to assistance at home address. They did the equivalent of shaking their heads and giving a sharp intake of breath. Then they said they may need to take the car away to a garage to drain the system. No guarantee of a car tomorrow. So I said no - I'll risk it.
(Tomorrow is when I hear the details of my redundancy at an important meeting with my union and my boss. Aaaargggh.)

Now if I walk up to the petrol station - buy a bottle of engine coolant - extract all the coolant from the bottle and put the new stuff in - would that work? The engine has not turned over at all so it could work, no?

[binley100]

I'd leave it for them to drain, it's not far to go .....

Oh and good luck for tomorrow.........Be thinking of you ...

[Jeanied]

Thanks Bins, good advice. You can tell I'm in a bit of a panic overall - I'm usually a bit more sorted than this!

[binley100]

It's probably cos of tomorrow you're not thinking straight .............chill Jeanie unfortunately what will be will be and you're going to make yourself ill worrying ...<<<<<<<<Hugggggggsssssss>>>>>

[Jeanied]

Thanks Bins - I just remembered once I knew someone who tested their engine antifreeze strength by taste!!! I'm deffo not going to try that one!

[ginger ninger]

I've phoned the mechanic who looks after my car Jeanie and he say's there's nothing to worry about, he said he wished he had a £5 for every time he'd seen this done when the weather starts to get cold and frosty.