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Today's humor - Washer fluid


Zorro

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So yesterday, I needed washer fluid. As you know, it was really cold yesterday. I was in a hurry. I popped my hood, popped the cap off, and dumped the fluid in the empty reservoir. It took about 3/4 gallon. When I put the cap back on, I realized my mistake....

I put washer fluid in to my antifreeze reservoir!

Before I started my truck, I called a bunch of people. I got different opinions. My opinion was this - hell, it's better than water since this is rated at -20 degrees.

Anyway, before I started my truck, I disconnected the overflow hose. I drove it a mile home. In order to drain the reservoir without removing it, I used my air compressor by inserting the compressor nozzle in to the reservoir overflow and letting 'er rip!

Enjoy a laugh on me.

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It doesn't matter look at the giant ! on the reservoir. Releasing pressure on the system will all have the same result. Take a physics or chemistry class.

The reservoir isn't under pressure. The fluid is just hot, hence the "!". Do you really think it'd be under pressure and not explode being made of thin clear plastic? Take a physics class, then take an automotive maintenance class.

:lol:

Just giving you shit man.

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Youre both right. Some cars ARE under pressure in the reservoirs... but these cars most of the time do NOT have a cap on the radiator itself. And then you have the goofy cars where both have a cap and the reservoir is still pressurized.

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It's cool I guess I'm miss understanding then. Both of my cars have plastic reservoirs and are under pressure, of course they're both German so that might have something to do with it.

I've never worked on a car where the coolant reservoir was under pressure.

The reservoir serves three purposes:

1) overflow tank for excess coolant when experiencing higher than normal operating temps

2) extra coolant for when the coolant level drops in the cooling system

3) safe place to add more coolant when the cooling system is hot

As for your German cars having a plastic reservoir that's under pressure, I think that means it's not a reservoir. I think what you're referring to is called an expansion tank. It's used on some newer cars.

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Some good reading:

http://www.familycar.com/Classroom/CoolingSystem.htm

Pressure cap and reserve tank

Cooling-Cap.jpg

As coolant gets hot, it expands. Since the cooling system is sealed, this expansion causes an increase in pressure in the cooling system, which is normal and part of the design. When coolant is under pressure, the temperature where the liquid begins to boil is considerably higher. This pressure, coupled with the higher boiling point of ethylene glycol, allows the coolant to safely reach temperatures in excess of 250 degrees.

The radiator pressure cap is a simple device that will maintain pressure in the cooling system up to a certain point. If the pressure builds up higher than the set pressure point, there is a spring loaded valve, calibrated to the correct Pounds per Square Inch (psi), to release the pressure.

Cooling-Tank.jpg

When the cooling system pressure reaches the point where the cap needs to release this excess pressure, a small amount of coolant is bled off. It could happen during stop and go traffic on an extremely hot day, or if the cooling system is malfunctioning. If it does release pressure under these conditions, there is a system in place to capture the released coolant and store it in a plastic tank that is usually not pressurized. Since there is now less coolant in the system, as the engine cools down a partial vacuum is formed. The radiator cap on these closed systems has a secondary valve to allow the vacuum in the cooling system to draw the coolant back into the radiator from the reserve tank (like pulling the plunger back on a hypodermic needle) There are usually markings on the side of the plastic tank marked Full-Cold, and Full Hot. When the engine is at normal operating temperature, the coolant in the translucent reserve tank should be up to the Full-Hot line. After the engine has been sitting for several hours and is cold to the touch, the coolant should be at the Full-Cold line.

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I'm having a brain fart....

What's the name of the cooling system Yota and Campus Racer are talking about where the radiator has no cap and the entire system is under pressure. I know a lot of newer cars use it. The system has to be bled like hydraulics. Any air bubbles in the system can cause the car to overheat. I cannot remember what the hell it's called.

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When I was in brazil, My buddies finance put Ethanol in the rental car tank instead of Gas. Evidently its a pretty common mistake to make as the pumps are in close proximity and people dont pay attention. The attendants at the station had the tank pulled and drained in about 40 min. Kudos to them.

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When I was in brazil, My buddies finance put Ethanol in the rental car tank instead of Gas. Evidently its a pretty common mistake to make as the pumps are in close proximity and people dont pay attention. The attendants at the station had the tank pulled and drained in about 40 min. Kudos to them.

Holy shit!? 40mins!? They've definitely done that a few times.

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Holy shit!? 40mins!? They've definitely done that a few times.

It was something crazy like 40 min from the time the attendent realized what she did and walked over and told her until the car was on the lift, tank was drained and back at the pump getting gas. And they only charged like $35US to do it. They said it happens all the time especially with people getting rentals and not realizing.

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It was something crazy like 40 min from the time the attendent realized what she did and walked over and told her until the car was on the lift, tank was drained and back at the pump getting gas. And they only charged like $35US to do it. They said it happens all the time especially with people getting rentals and not realizing.

That's freaking awesome. I've only had to pull a tank on one car, 90 Trans Am. Those suck. You have to drop the rear end to pull the tank. It's a half day job. Sucks because the fuel pump is in the tank, so you have to pull the tank to replace the pump. Horrible design.

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