Oops, what to do if wiper fluid was accidently poured into transmission fluid tank?

LuckyDuck22LuckyDuck22 Member Posts: 3
edited June 2020 in General
It appears that wiper fluid was accidently poured into transmission fluid tank.

Not sure what to do now.

Haven't started car or driven after adding wiper fluid.

Was hoping to try suctioning wiper fluid out with a turkey baster but can't find one. Even then, unsure if I could get it all out and if safe to drive after suctioning all that I can and adding fresh transmission fluid.

Suggestions on how to proceed?
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  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 261,245
    Answer ✓
    LuckyDuck22 said:

    It appears that wiper fluid was accidently poured into transmission fluid tank.

    Not sure what to do now.

    Haven't started car or driven after adding wiper fluid.

    Was hoping to try suctioning wiper fluid out with a turkey baster but can't find one. Even then, unsure if I could get it all out and if safe to drive after suctioning all that I can and adding fresh transmission fluid.

    Suggestions on how to proceed?

    I think that's a good plan. Suction out all of the fluid that you can, then re-fill.
    Then, maybe do it again. Drive it for a couple miles, then repeat.

    Other than that, have it towed to a mechanic to do the job for you.
    Some transmissions are hard to drain completely. No idea if your vehicle is one of those. (this is the first thing I'd try to find out).

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Answers

  • LuckyDuck22LuckyDuck22 Member Posts: 3
    Thank you!

    The car if a Buick Lucerne, 2008.

    I have no idea how to find out how hard it is to drain this cars transmission. Apparently there's not a drain plug for draining transmission fluid.

    I'm leaning toward bringing it into a recommended mechanic since I'm a little worried that if I don't get enough of wiper fluid out and fill w transmission fluid, even following your very reasonable suggestions of suctioning again after that and refilling, driving a couple of miles and repeating, that I could mess up and damage transmission. The car is old, but has worked great.
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 11,053
    I have to ask - how did you do this? Were you trying to add transmission fluid, but picked up the wrong bottle by mistake? You have to have a funnel to put in transmission fluid down the dipstick tube - is that what you did?
  • LuckyDuck22LuckyDuck22 Member Posts: 3
    Hi, I panicked when writing my initial post & didn’t get out manual to see which tank was mistakenly topped off. It actually was the brake fluid. Hadn’t had much sleep & was going to make use of the few extra minutes I had before picking up our dog from the vet hospital. Obviously not familiar with much under the hood. Note to self, don’t top off any car fluids unless fully awake & focused...
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 11,053
    OK, then advice is still the same, you need to not drive it, have it towed to a shop , and make sure they know that you put washer fluid in the brake reservoir, so they can avoid pushing on the brakes.
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