washer fluid in coolant?

My wife wanted to add windshield washer fluid to our 2007 Impala, but poured it into the coolant recovery tank by mistake. Should the coolant be flushed and refilled? Coolant is dexcool and the car has a 3.5L FFV engine.

it would be best if the car was not run after this , then flush the recovery tank compleatly and then fill with new dexcool. if the car was started and driven go take it in to gm and talk it over with the service adviser on a course of action. myslef i would have gm dealer change the dexcool out. 463

I accidently mixed the normal coolant with dexcool. The result was a green sludge. I immediately got the cooling system flushed and they replaced dexcool with the normal stuff.

I would recommend that you get the system flushed.

If the car was run after your wife did this then you need to flush and refill the cooling system... If the car was not run, simply drain out the fluid from the overflow tank and fill it with 50/50 Dexcool...

Tell your wife to read the marking on the top of the filler caps before she pours fluids in next time...:banghead:

Ah, the old blame it on the wife trick hey :nono: ..... Just kidding...
I wounder about this now, windshild solvent is water soluable/delutable.
For the little ammount in there I am not sure.
I do know this though. On my 99 zr2 I drained, flushed the cooling system and replaced with the green antifreeze.
The pink stuff is good for about 3-5 years and it starts to gum up plugging the heater core and raideator.

I have almost done that ebfore. The problem with Canadian cars is that their are no labels just pictures (due to English/French). The coolant picutre looks kinda like the wash pic.

I'm not sure you have anything to worry about, as long as it's not too diluted to mess with the boiling and freezing temperature of the mixture. Washer fluid is typically 75% water and 25% methanol, and methanol mixed with dexcool shouldn't matter. They're both polar materials (meaning they mix together completely without separating), with similar acidities. I'm not sure I'd worry about it, unless she put a whole lot in (like a gallon or so). Keep in mind I'm by no means dexcool engineer. Also keep in mind that a coolant flush should only run $60-$80, so if you're worried, just get it done. It's cheap.

My wife wanted to add windshield washer fluid to our 2007 Impala, but poured it into the coolant recovery tank by mistake. Should the coolant be flushed and refilled? Coolant is dexcool and the car has a 3.5L FFV engine.

this is a new vehicle and if you tell dealer what happened your screwed. best replace all coolant with dexcool only . this is because you will void warr. if you do not. also you cannot go to dealer to have this done, or you will be charged with vehicle abuse! best go to a auto center that will flush coolant system and explain what happened so they will get out the washer fluid. if done your coolant system will not get damaged [plugged up with sludge] good luck.