Put oil in radiator by mistake

Before you cll me an idiot, I already admit I am!
My radiator was low so I grabbed the 1 gallon jug in my trunk of what I thought was Anti-Freeze and poured it into the radiator but right away realized I had grabbed the oil jug instead. I put about a couple of ounces of oil into the radiator before I noticed I had the wrong jug. Should I be worried?

Some say its bad, some say it will burn out but if i were you and it wasnt verry much try sucking the oil floating in the top of your expansion tank..that is if you havent ran it already..if you have ran it i would do a full coolant flush.

Depends if you care about your car.

Kidding.

remove coolant overflow tank sensor- drain / clean- done.

If you were goofy enough to drive it after realizing what you did-- don't admit it, but I'd drain completely (including block), fill with distilled water & flush concentrate- run it a while then drain, rinse- repeat.

Do follow up and tell us what you did! No worries-- we've all had our absent-minded moments.

Speaking from my oil cooled PC experience not car experience so take every I say with a grain of salt. Oil is a better heat conductor than water and is harder to contaminate than distilled water. If you ran 100% oil throw the system it would be harder on the pump than water but a few ounces is not going to be hard on the pump. If I were you I would be more concerned that I need to add coolant I the first place than the oil.

^ What he said about the coolant leak. Don't forget to make sure the cap is holding pressure, as that can lead to coolant loss and overheating. Don't feel too bad though, one of the new guys on night shift at the shop where I work put coolant in the hydraulic brake reservoir. Completely flushing a Bendix Full Power Brake System is not a fun way to spend 4 hours. He was, of course, fired on the spot.

Yeah...my personal best was pouring TWO QUARTS of motor oil into my truck's automatic transmission before I realized my 'cerebral flatulence'. Drained flushed, sweat and 'cursed myself' a lot....but survived it.

If you didn't run the car you should be able to just drain the reservoir. Otherwise just flush it really well with water and top off with coolant.

I guess since you're in SAC, you'll want to properly fill with coolant (anti-freeze), though, so do that instead.

Originally Posted by southpark11235

Oil is a better heat conductor than water .

Take this with an entire salt mine. Oil is better than air, but nowhere near water for heat conduction. The specific heat for water is 4.18 KJ/kgK and mineral oil is 1.67KJ/kgK so water takes 2.5 times the energy for the same temperature rise as mineral oil. The mineral oil is used for PC cooling instead of water because of its insulative/non-conductive properties. If oil was truly better at cooling, everyone would be using it for engine cooling and you'd have no worries about corrosion in your cooling system. You'd have an oil cooler instead of a radiator and you could use the same oil to both lube and cool the engine.

Sounds like VW's and Corvairs!!!

oil floats on water anyway, so i would've probably tried siphoning it off.

i don't think it will be damaging, though.

and how, pray tell, would the oil 'burn out' of a cooling system??



df

I was wondering the same thing df......


noobs

Oops! Didn't I mention that this was in my Dodge Diesel truck, I guess not.

wtf

Sorry for asking here on Bimmerfest but I don't know any forum that has better advice!

Most of us here don't know much about trucks. We are strictly Bimmer/Botanical.

In this case, it doesn't really matter if it's a truck or not.

I drove my 2000 Dodge 3500 1Ton Diesel yesterday, towing a 25' loaded trailer, 189 miles from my house to 'Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway' over Pachaco Pass with no over heating problems since I accidentally added some 10W/40 oil to my radiator so I guess the oil in my radiator was a non issue.
Was I towing my 'BMW 328i' for 'Club Racing Weekend' here at the beautiful the Monterey California raceway?
I'll tell you if you're interested.

^ I am interested. I have alway wanted to try the corkscrew but I am in NY. That corner looks so fun.

Originally Posted by IndianBob

I drove my 2000 Dodge 3500 1Ton Diesel yesterday, towing a 25' loaded trailer, 189 miles from my house to 'Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway' over Pachaco Pass with no over heating problems since I accidentally added some 10W/40 oil to my radiator so I guess the oil in my radiator was a non issue.
Was I towing my 'BMW 328i' for 'Club Racing Weekend' here at the beautiful the Monterey California raceway?
I'll tell you if you're interested.

Like I said, we're only interested in Bimmers and Botany. So if it was a 328, we're interested in hearing about it.

bimmers & botany?? sounds like a cheezy disco coverband.....























brownchickinbrowncow..




no, wait,....that's animal husbandry....
df

Wait just a minute....


Sacramento? Where?

Just took this pic at Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca.

TRavMaNN,
Near Town & Country Village

Somebody let an old Mustang onto the track?!

Originally Posted by cj.surr

Most of us here don't know much about trucks. We are strictly Bimmer/Botanical.

Speak for yourself

Originally Posted by IndianBob

I drove my 2000 Dodge 3500 1Ton Diesel yesterday, towing a 25' loaded trailer, 189 miles from my house to 'Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway' over Pachaco Pass with no over heating problems since I accidentally added some 10W/40 oil to my radiator so I guess the oil in my radiator was a non issue.
Was I towing my 'BMW 328i' for 'Club Racing Weekend' here at the beautiful the Monterey California raceway?
I'll tell you if you're interested.

24v Cummins... Good motor, cept the pump sucks. You gots an airdog/FASS on there? If not, you're on borrowed time. I'd like to hear more... about the Cummins