My wife put wiper fluid in brake fluid container. What do I do?

Question

I was told to have the brakes bled. Should i go to a dealer? How much would it cost?

Answer 1

Now Just hold on..it aint all that bad. I will assume that your brake fluid level wasnt too bad 1/2 full-3/4 full.I will also assume that the your wife(God bless her) was just being helpful. If the 2 assump-
tions above are correct,and your wife made it home safely from
wherever her mistake was made,your brake system will be fine.Now,next time you get your brakes done,ask the Mechanic
to bleed the Lines(Iemphazize lines so that all four will be bled.Dont tell him why,just ask the work be done. The worst a little W/W fluid is gonna do is clean the lines and cause the fluid to break down a little faster.

Answer 2

Brake Fluid Container

Answer 3

To begin with; there may have already a problem in your brake(other wise your wife she should not anticipated to add any fluid in the master cylinder.)Unless if she was trying to fill up the wiper windshield reservoir
Let,s assume you had no leak in that brake system!
First and foremost, you need to flush the entire the brake system.
Here is the simplest method how to flush the system:
If you have not applied the pedal brake yet; you should get you a manual pump a try to suck out that contaminated fluid out of the master cylinder.
Then you need to fill it up with a clean drake fluid and go the back right wheel and open the bleeder screw(3 quarrier of turn) ant let the fluid gets out by the gravity force.
And keeps your eye on the level of the fluid( don,t let the master cylinder gets empty)
Repeat this procedure for the rest of all 3 wheels.
Try to allow this procedure for each wheel for 7 to 12 minutes.
AT the end if your brake pedal becomes spongy then , first, you must Look for a leak before you do bleeding.
You still lucky , because the mistake was made with the wiper fluid not with the power steering fluid.

Answer 4

Don´t drive that car another foot without removing the wiper fliud first. Disconnect the brake fluid lines and drain them also. Fill the brake fluid container up to the rim and let it run through the lines pump the brakes until the container is empty. Do this twice . Connect the brake fliud lines back to the brakes then drve the car and brake several times before you get on the Highway. You can do this yourself !

Answer 5

container meaning reservoir then you definately could have the brake device flushed out with clean fluid some thing stated you do each 2 years in the adventure that your device makes use of DOT 3 or 4 brake fluids. DOT 3 and four brake fluid are glycol based and could take up moisture over the years inflicting corrosion and lowering of the boiling component of the brake fluid. Which in turn will reason issues for the period of stressful braking. washing device fluid is often water so no longer sturdy, have it serviced quickly.

Answer 6

Oops.

If you NEVER pressed on the brake pedal, you could suck it out, and bleed the master cylinder with the brake lines disconnected from it.

Otherwise, You've got problems.
The washer fluid is heavier than brake fluid and will sit in the botom of the brake cylinders.
Bleeding them will NOT do any good as the brake fliud will simply float on the washer fluid in the calipers.
The beeders are located at the uppermost part of the brake cylinder to bleed "air".

The other problem you'll have is durring use, the brakes get realy hot, and anything other than brake fluid will boil.

They will need to be removed and inverted to remove the washer fluid.

Answer 7

Yes, the system should be completely drained, flushed out and and fresh fluid installed. Bleeding the system is part of process when the new fluid is installed. Most brake shops have automatic bleeders and it should only cost a couple of hours labor plus the fluid.

Answer 8

If your car has anti lock brakes, you should go to a mechanic to have the system drained, dried, flushed and reflushed, then filled. Don't let your wife fill any more fluids either, unles she reads the caps on each reservior, or someone shows her what goes where.

Brade fluid is hydroscopic, which means it will absorb water, once it does is becomes useless, which is why the brake fluid reservior is always the best sealed.

Answer 9

yeah, you will need to completely bleed the brakes. I might even have the lines flushed. Don't bother with the dealer, he will do the same thing a shop will but will charge twice as much. The price will vary greatly so make a lot of calls & check prices.

Answer 10

Don't even drive the car - AT ALL!!! The washer fluid will be floating on top just like water on oil. Use some type of suction device and that should do it.