Accidentally poured some ATF into radiator

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Originally Posted By: Chris142
It will eat the hoses and the orings that seal the core to the tanks.. Don't take much to do that.


I will second this as i've seen it many times. Oil in the cooling system ruins hoses. They become spongy as they react with the oils. Dayco hoses claim resistance to this but still I have first hand seen that oil WILL harm all rubber hoses in the cooling system.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: doublebase


Every transmission in the world uses rubber hoses to the transmission cooler...are those hoses any different?


Yes they are very different. Modern coolant hoses are basically the same as brake components EPDM rubber. It does not tolerate automotive oils.
Oil softens and weakens it and it doesn't take much.

Realistically 1 oz isn't much but i honestly don't know the contact limit that the rubber will begin to deteriorate. Your right probably nothing will happen but if i could get it out without a lot of trouble i would.


Alright I wasn't sure about that.
 
Thanks everyone for your fantastic advice! I really appreciate it. What a goof on my part, but at least it was only a 1/2 to 3/4 ounce goof! Haha.

Following your suggestions, I used thick blue Scott Shop Towels to soak up ATF and coolant from the open radiator filler hole. I probably did that 10 to 15 times last night and earlier today. Then I opened the radiator's petcock and was able to drain out about 4.4 or 4.5 quarts, which kind of surprised me because a few months ago when I did my first-ever coolant drain-and-fill, about 4.7 quarts came out of the radiator--roughly 0.2 quart more. Maybe more came out a few months ago because I had the car's front wheels raised on ramps at that time?

Then I refilled the radiator to the brim with Toyota Super Long Life Coolant that I bought around 2008. I had bought 2 one-gallon jugs in '08 to fill the coolant reservoir when necessary, but I only ever had to use very, very little. So the 7-year-old unsealed jug had most of its coolant still inside, and the other 7-year-old jug was still sealed with the entire gallon of coolant inside.

I'm thinking it might be a good idea to keep the coolant inside the radiator over-night to mingle with as much (or as little) ATF oil that might still be on the internal contact surfaces of the radiator. Then drain that coolant tomorrow, and replace with brand new coolant that I bought last year during my first-ever coolant drain-and-fill that I did. Does the over-night thing sound like a good plan? I haven't started the car yet since the goof happened. Thanks a lot.
 
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Wow. Apparently the world nearly came to an end because of your irresponsible action.

I've never seen so much brouhaha in my life. The first answer is the correct one.

It don't matter.
 
Originally Posted By: turtlevette
Wow. Apparently the world nearly came to an end because of your irresponsible action.

I've never seen so much brouhaha in my life. The first answer is the correct one.

It don't matter.

Well, I'm not a car expert. I don't know how serious a mistake it is to add 1/2 to 3/4 ounce of ATF to a radiator's coolant.

I do know I only had one hand gloved earlier, so my other hand got coolant on it several times for 15 minutes at a time before I'd wash with soap and water. How dangerous is coolant on the skin? Does it penetrate to the blood stream after 15 or 20 minutes if unwashed?
 
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Originally Posted By: SumpChump
Maybe this has been mentioned but.... didn't it float on top of the coolant?

The ATF probably floated to the top of the coolant, but since they're the same red / pink color, it's hard to tell.
 
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I thank everyone for your help above. Here's an update.

After dumping out the 2006 Camry radiator's Super Long Life coolant that got contaminated with 1/2 to 3/4 ounce of Toyota ATF Type T-IV that I accidentally poured into the radiator, I refilled the radiator with 7-year-old Super Long Life coolant that I had stored in jugs and that had gone unused for 7 years.

I let that 7-year-old coolant sit in the radiator overnight to mingle with as much (or as little) ATF that might have remained on the internal contact surfaces of the radiator after dumping out the original contaminated coolant.

Then I dumped out the 7-year-old coolant yesterday, and replaced it with coolant that I bought yesterday. Then I started the car for the first time since the contamination. I added a little more coolant to get rid of air pockets. Then I drove 30 miles to see a friend. Then drove the car 30 miles back.

This morning when I opened the radiator cap, the coolant level, of course, had gone down a little again, eliminating more air pockets. But I saw something I had never seen before. Before I added more coolant again to top off the radiator neck, I saw some yellow residue on the internal sides of the radiator's neck.

What do you think that yellow residue might be? Is it to be expected after a contamination? Or is something to be concerned about? My 9-year-old Camry has only 70,000 miles on it. I took some pictures and may upload here when I have more time. Wish the site accepted photo uploads like sites are starting to do nowadays.

Thanks.
 
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I see hints of white in the coolant. I think I might be getting a strawberry milk-shake like effect, even though I poured only 1/2 to 3/4 of an ounce of ATF into the radiator.

I'm back to inserting thick blue Scott shop towels into the radiator cap, and when I pulled out the first towel just now, I saw coolant and yellow residue on the towel.

By the way, here's another interesting link:
https://www.bmwland.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=138967&f=4&t=138967

Maybe I should have the dealer flush the system? Do you think the dealer would be wise to add a chemical cleaner during the flush too?

Amazing what only 1/2 to 3/4 ounce of ATF in the radiator will do, even after dumping the contaminated coolant out.
 
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I have kinda been following this thread, and you know what I would do? NOTHING, I would just drive the car, and totally forget that it ever happened. Back in about 1965 I had a 1964 chevelle with the big 230C.I. 6 cylinder engine. I was adding some antifreeze and for some stupid reason opened the oil fill cap on the valve cover instead of the radiator and started to pour antifreeze in. After about a cup full It dawned in me what I did,(guess I woke up), and I stopped. Thought, what will I do, and said well probably won't hurt anything, so just put the cap back on and drove it till the oil was due to be changed, probably about 1000 miles. Never seemed to cause a problem. Of course cars were probably not as touchy then as today.
 
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The oil will eventually find its way to the coolant reservoir. Whenever you go for any radiator maintenance, then drain, clean, and flush several times.
 
Originally Posted By: old1
I have kinda been following this thread, and you know what I would do? NOTHING, I would just drive the car, and totally forget that it ever happened. Back in about 1965 I had a 1964 chevelle with the big 230C.I. 6 cylinder engine. I was adding some antifreeze and for some stupid reason opened the oil fill cap on the valve cover instead of the radiator and started to pour antifreeze in. After about a cup full It dawned in me what I did,(guess I woke up), and I stopped. Thought, what will I do, and said well probably won't hurt anything, so just put the cap back on and drove it till the oil was due to be changed, probably about 1000 miles. Never seemed to cause a problem. Of course cars were probably not as touchy then as today.


Thanks for your reassuring words.

Well, I definitely am getting a strawberry milk shake effect. After I drove the car for a second time yesterday night, I opened the radiator cap this morning to find a pink and white fluid mix in the neck of the radiator, but no green residue this time thank goodness. Hopefully all the blue Scott shop towels I used yesterday soaked up all of whatever that green crud was, and there won't be anymore.

This morning I did notice a greenish color on the inside walls of my reservoir overflow tank/bottle, so I'm going to open the bottle and use some kind of flexible tool (a hanger wire?) attached to shop towels or a sponge or something to wipe the internal walls of the plastic overflow tank. Do they make a special tool for that? Even if I dump all the coolant in the overflow bottle, I would still like to wipe the internal surfaces with something. Does the bottle detach from the side of the '06 Camry in some way so you can pull out the bottle?

Will buy lots of distilled water at Walmart today. Do you recommend I get a flush at the Toyota dealership this week? How likely is it that the flush might damage the cooling system in some way? If I do get a flush, should they use some kind of cleaner chemical?

By the way, the blue shop towels are thick and strong enough that I think they haven't ripped yet--kind of like cloth. I appreciate everyone's advice.

So just 1/2 to 3/4 ounce of Toyota Type T-IV ATF in the radiator caused a strawberry milk shake effect visible in the radiator's neck. How serious is this? This car is only 9 years old with 70,000 miles, and I am hoping to keep it until the wheels fall off. Thanks.
 
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....and actually far, far less than 1/2 to 3/4 ounce of ATF contaminated the entire cooling system, because I drained out the radiator's contaminated coolant BEFORE starting the car. Also BEFORE starting the car, I flushed the radiator with unused, 7-year-old ATF, and then added new ATF all BEFORE EVER starting the car. So that strawberry milkshake was caused by FAR LESS than 1/2 to 3/4 ounce of ATF. There can only be a small, small fraction of that 1/2 to 3/4 ounce of ATF in the cooling system (maybe 1/100 ounce or less) that caused the strawberry milk shake.
 
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Good news: that yellow-green color I see on the sides of the overflow bottle is just a discoloration of the plastic; it's not yellow residue.

Now that I think about it, I bet more than 1/100 ounce of ATF remains in the radiator because much (maybe half?) of the 1/2 to 3/4 ounce of ATF probably clung to the internal sides of the radiator as the contaminated coolant was draining out. Perhaps if I do my next coolant drain right after driving the car 10 miles or more, the residual oil will be hotter and drain out more easily without clinging to the radiator's sides? But how safe is it to do a coolant drain and fill with the coolant really hot? Obviously I won't open the radiator's cap; I'll just open the petcock at the bottom. Is this safe or a no-go? Thanks.

I guess another consideration is if the hot coolant disforms the shape of the nylon or plastic petcock, so that it forever after leaks a bit?
 
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Originally Posted By: Built_Well
....and actually far, far less than 1/2 to 3/4 ounce of ATF contaminated the entire cooling system, because I drained out the radiator's contaminated coolant BEFORE starting the car. Also BEFORE starting the car, I flushed the radiator with unused, 7-year-old ATF, and then added new ATF all BEFORE EVER starting the car. So that strawberry milkshake was caused by FAR LESS than 1/2 to 3/4 ounce of ATF. There can only be a small, small fraction of that 1/2 to 3/4 ounce of ATF in the cooling system (maybe 1/100 ounce or less) that caused the strawberry milk shake.


Well here's your problem right here!
crazy.gif
 
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Originally Posted By: Built_Well
....and actually far, far less than 1/2 to 3/4 ounce of ATF contaminated the entire cooling system, because I drained out the radiator's contaminated coolant BEFORE starting the car. Also BEFORE starting the car, I flushed the radiator with unused, 7-year-old ATF, and then added new ATF all BEFORE EVER starting the car. So that strawberry milkshake was caused by FAR LESS than 1/2 to 3/4 ounce of ATF. There can only be a small, small fraction of that 1/2 to 3/4 ounce of ATF in the cooling system (maybe 1/100 ounce or less) that caused the strawberry milk shake.


Well here's your problem right here!
crazy.gif



LOL, nice catch!
 
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