01-06-2007, 04:00 PM
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Location: Seattle
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How bad did I screw up?!
I spaced out this morning and added about 2oz of brake fluid into the power steering reservoir and I need to know if the system should be flushed out or not.  |
01-06-2007, 05:01 PM
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definitely flushed. Don't run that car, till flushed. System is contaminated, and may begin to leak.
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Sniady
'how the devil do they do that with a live rear axle?'
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01-06-2007, 06:44 PM
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Location: Dexter, Michigan USA
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How Bad Did I Screw Up?
 Quote:
Originally Posted by another magista
I spaced out this morning and added about 2oz of brake fluid into the power steering reservoir and I need to know if the system should be flushed out or not. |
I called my husband and told him what I had done. His response, "Well, you can try and drive it and hope it mixes and flushes through or you can call Triple A, have it towed, and the tank emptied." I asked. "And the consequences," he said, "Well if it doesn't flush, we buy a new engine; you keep the books, which can we afford?
I promptly called Triple A and had the car towed to our local smog shop and had the tank drained and cleaned. What Pat didn't mention was that if it didn't flush through and we ended up buying a new engine, I would also have to listen to him forever about him having to change out a perfectly good engine. No thank you.
Alfa content? I never made that mistake with an Alfa or the reverse with our other diesel, a VW Dasher station wagon.
The moral: it's all about money and how you wish to spend it.....
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Cheryl
(Not an authority nor SME
on anything, just PATSYF)
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01-08-2007, 01:18 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pat Braden
What Pat didn't mention was that if it didn't flush through and we ended up buying a new engine, I would also have to listen to him forever about him having to change out a perfectly good engine. No thank you.
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01-08-2007, 01:27 PM
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Location: Boxborough, Mass, USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pat Braden
I've been there in a sense, pulled into the local gas station with my White 250 MB sedan and promptly pumped an almost full tank of diesel into it. There was a reason for it, but not a good one unless I was suddenly struck with color blindness; I usually drove the Red 240 D MB.
I called my husband and told him what I had done. His response, "Well, you can try and drive it and hope it mixes and flushes through or you can call Triple A, have it towed, and the tank emptied." I asked. "And the consequences," he said, "Well if it doesn't flush, we buy a new engine; you keep the books, which can we afford?
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That said, I didn't think diesel fuel nozzles fit into gasoline filler tubes. I've heard of people accidentally putting gasoline in diesel vehicles, but I thought the reverse was not possible.
Me, I would have been tempted to throw about 30 cans of 104 Octane Boost into the tank, and see what happens..
bs
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01-08-2007, 01:29 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Boxborough, Mass, USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by another magista
I spaced out this morning and added about 2oz of brake fluid into the power steering reservoir and I need to know if the system should be flushed out or not. |
I'd flush it, fill it with the proper fluid, run it for a little bit, then flush it again just to be safe.
bs
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01-08-2007, 02:33 PM
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Location: Seattle
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I've already suctioned out the entire contents of the reservoir and refreshed it with the proper fluid. Chris at Group 2 told me to cycle the system a few times then suction out the reservoir, refill and repeat 3 or 4 times. The car was not moved at all after my screwup so I think that the majority of the brake fluid remained in the reservoir, time will tell................
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01-08-2007, 10:45 PM
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Location: Dexter, Michigan USA
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How Bad Did I Screw Up?
Quote:
Originally Posted by bshorey
Try to drive it home and hope it 'flushes'? I'm not sure it would run long enough. Diesel fuel has an octant rating of around 25 (or lower), I'm not sure how octane is affected when you mix diesel with gasoline, but assuming it averaged out with equal amounts of diesel and gasoline, I can't see how an almost full tank of diesel with a little bit of gasoline would result in an octane of much more than 30, or 40.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bshorey
That said, I didn't think diesel fuel nozzles fit into gasoline filler tubes. I've heard of people accidentally putting gasoline in diesel vehicles, but I thought the reverse was not possible.
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I have never heard of the reverse; but then I don't pump gasoline in Massachusetts very often where they may be different. Here the diesel nozzles are slimmer than the "regular" gasoline nozzles and do not have all the vapor recovery paraphernalia, plus they have green handles as opposed to black ones. So not only did I miss the color of the car, but also the color of the nozzle handle. Actually, it was when I hung the nozzle back up that I saw the green handle and said: "Oh sh*t, this car is white." Must have been "space cadeting" during that fill-up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bshorey
Me, I would have been tempted to throw about 30 cans of 104 Octane Boost into the tank, and see what happens..
bs |
I'll keep that in mind, but I hope to not repeat that error again. I like to try new ones, so I continue to learn from my mistakes.
__________________
Cheryl
(Not an authority nor SME
on anything, just PATSYF)
Last edited by Pat Braden; 01-08-2007 at 10:49 PM.
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