Washer fluid in coolant tank

Yeah so I attempted to refill the washer fluid in my poorly lit parking garage and unknowingly added it to the cooling tank instead of the washer fluid reservoir. The cooling tank is now over the max line and my washer fluid reservoir is still empty...derp. Anyways, should I be worried/do anything in order to prevent damaging the components of the cooling system? Thanks

Lots of advice on the Internets if you Google "washer fluid in coolant reservoir", but if it were me I'd probably go for having the coolant changed out.

According to the service manual, the capacity of the cooling system is 5.3L. I added less than 250ml of washer fluid before realising my mistake. Unless there is a DIY method of flushing the cooling system, I'll just count on dilution and evaporation to do the trick.

If you have not driven it, pump the fluid out of the tank and refill with new coolant. That should minimize the amount of washer fluid in the system without complete flushing. Personally, I would do like Mike and flush the system.

Gerry

My question is what's in the window washer fluid? If it's some alcohol, water and a surfactant it seems a close match to antifreeze. Just be glad you didn't put antifreeze into the windshield washer. That could make a mess of your paint!

Flush and refill. I wouldn't worry too much about it after that.

You cam probably get most of the fluid out of the reservoir with a turkey baster, etc.

Ah, yeah...even though generally I'm not an unintelligent person, I screwed up yesterday and--in a moment of distraction--poured some windshield washer fluid in the coolant tank. Immediately realizing my stupid mistake (and cursing myself for not paying attention :roll: ), I called our local mechanic. His well-respected advice was: do NOT start the car--drain the reservoir, make sure it's got all the washer fluid sucked out; rinse if necessary. Then refill with Leaf-compatible coolant as noted in the manual for your vehicle. This was a rather expensive mistake...I had no place to work on the car at home, and I figured if I was spacey enough to make the mistake in the first place, might as well have peace of mind and have a pro do the fixing. It cost me some to tow the car on a flatbed to the shop, and another $30 for the draining/replacement. I love my little Leaf--mechanic says it should be AOK now. Won't do that again!