lushlife

First post:

Last night (after a couple of Eagle Rare's) my wife asked me to put some windshield washer fluid in her Lexus before a road trip (today - in a blizzard! - I can't tell her anything!). She just called to say it was empty and she had to pull over to add more. She asked me where I put the fluid last night and I told her "in the front, next to the radiator". DOH! I put it in the radiator overflow container. It only took three or four cups, though. My excuse was that it was dark in the garage last night and I couldn't see - I didn't tell her, however, that I was half-in-the-bag...

Whaddya think - is she going to have problems in the short-term? When she returns should I drain/flush the coolant system?

Your advice is appreciated.

LiCelsior

iTrader: (32)

u should get it drained asap and replaced with toyota super red.

Lexmex

Welcome to the Club.

Usually if you pour it in the reservoir, it won't settle into the radiator and the rest of the cooling system as quickly, simply because it's and overflow reservoir.

However, as LiCelsior mentioned I would drain it as soon as possible. This coolant DIY that I did for my RX300 should be close in terms of locations of drain plugs and the radiator for the RX330 given the closeness of their engine groups, https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx3...olant-diy.html

I just revised it a few days ago given it was the first time in several years I had done a coolant diy at sea level.

exmeaguy

Just drain your overflow tank, not the whole radiator sytem. Your radiator is full and would have no reason to pull from the overflow tank.

Lexmex

Good point, I might be inclined to do that had his wife not driven it. But the detergent in the washer fluid can drain itself into the radiator over time. I know this from adding every 6 months or so some Royal Purple Purple Ice coolant additive and sure enough the color of the reservoir fluid changes out after a few days.