AHH!! wrong fluids

I stopped to get gas and asked my friend who was riding with me to fill the power steering resevoir for me while i was fuelin up.. when i came around to the hood he had started to pour the power steering fluid into the brake reservoir!... dont think he got much in before i stopped him.. so what can i do about this.. i need to drive, but dont want to if im gonna be messing up my brake system.. there wont be a shop open til tuesday either, so if i need to get rid of all the fluid and replace it, can i do that myself?

::bangs head on table::

If you can come by a pump of some sort, remove what's in the resivoir then fill it up with fresh fluid. You'll probably be fine to drive it a couple days until you can flush the system. The way I always do it is just bleed the brakes until you go through one of those big bottles of fluid and all the stuff coming out is clean. I always use Valvoline synthetic these days. You can buy it at Autozone and probably Wal-Mart.

The only big problem I can think of with PS fluid is it won't handle the heat that brake fluid does. Somebody else might know if there is a chemical reaction to worry about. I've never heard of any such thing.

Oh yeah and don't get any brake fluid on your paint!

Did it mix? Your brake fluid should be yellowish (depending on the brand, but most commonly available fluid is the color of pee.).
Keep in mind, brake fluid is hydraulic fluid, same as your power steering fluid. This doesn't mean that damage is not being done however. The hydraulic fluid could be eating up your brake seals as you read this.

I'm inclined to believe that the ps fluid is still in (or very near) your master cylinder still. It would be unwise to open a bleeder screw on a brake caliper and attempt to flush it out. I'd think that would force this fluid into other parts of your braking system.
You may try to siphon it out of the master cylinder reservoir. I use a short length of clear tubing, inserted in a hole poked in a clean plastic soft drink bottle. Squeeze the air out of the bottle and put the hose end in the reservoir. It'll do a decent job of pulling out fluid without contaminating it. When you're done, just swap out the drilled cap with a good one and toss it away.

I can't think of too many fluids in a car that are more corrosive than brake fluid -so I don't think that the addition of the p.s. fluid will hurt anything, but I would try to get it out of your braking system asap anyways.

i cant tell if it mixed or not.. the brake fluid is pinkish, and the PS fluid was clear, so its hard to tell.. im headed up to walmart right now (in a diff car) to get a siphon to clear out as much of the brake fluid as possible.. i drove maybe .5 miles after the mishap.. so not much mixing should have happened (gotta think positive!) thanks for the quick responses!.. but the more imput the better

Use the Coke-bottle-hose-trick for brake fluid. It's a disposable siphon that costs next to nothing.
Brake fluid will eat through the seals on most oil pump/siphons.

Use a turkey baster to pull the fluid out. Refill with new brake fluid from an unopened can.

I would bleed the brakes anyway, Brake fluid absorbs moisture over time and this is what corrodes the system. Its good to bleed the system once a year.

Always throw out the remaining fluid in the can. Use a fresh can every time you need brake fluid.

John C.

would it be wise to "gravity bleed" the brakes instead of pumping the brakes to bleed the fluid out the bleeders and risk pushing contaminated fluid somewhere it shouldnt be. by gravity feed, i mean open, or remove bleeders, and let it flow.........
david

i siphoned the reservoir dry, filled it back up and siphoned again, when i looked at the bottle afterwards, there looked like there was a thin layer of clear something floating on top of the brake fluid... so thats a good sign, it would appear that power steering fluid is less dense than brake fluid.. but to be safe tuesday first thing im gonna have the whole system flushed out... id rather have synthetic brake fluid anyway!

will keep posting on anything that happens

btw.. no idea what i woulda done without this site.. you guys are the BEST

Get to your local auto parts place or Sears and invest a small amount of $$$ in a MityVac kit. You can do your own brake flush and future bleeding all solo. Plus it's just a plain handy tool to have for all sorts of other things. ;)

Synthetic fluid(DOT 5 silicone) becomes compressable when it gets hot, and in a performance application can cause the pedal to go to the floor when the brakes get hot.

Its great for classic cars and such that rarely get driven, and sit for long times with no engine heat to drive the moisture out of the fluid. Many of the higher boiling point racing fluids absorb moisture much more agressivly than street fluid and have to be bled before every event.

http://www.evilplastic.com/bfluid.htm

I use the Ford Heavy Duty DOT 3 as a street fluid.

John C.

I use the Valvoline fluid. You can pick it up anywhere.

I used to use Motul RBF 650, very high quality stuff, but I did find that it needed flushing more often.
Before the Motul, I used ATE Super. It comes in two colors -makes flushing very easy. It's a little more street friendly than the racing compounds, like Hotsauce said.

its been 3 days, and 150 miles since the 'incident' havent had any trouble, did find a small spot of something under the truck in the driveway.. but after checking all my fluids i determineds its probably just condensation mixing with the crud on the driveway.. phew.. stilll getting the brake system flushed later, again, thanks to everyones quick responses!

so he put Transmission fluid(read...the VX takes Tranny Fluid for pwr steering fluid) in the brake reservior????

nice :rolleyes:

or...have you been...or did you want him to put wrong fluids in power steering reservoir????

it was power steering fluid.. both reservoirs were at their low points, but i know that the brake res. can look low for reasons that escape me at the moment so i was only worried about the PSF... anyway i guess he thought the power steering fluid looked more like the brake fluid than the power steering and didnt wanna sound dumb by asking where to pour it... didnt work, he did offer to pay for the brake flush.. poor guy, everyone knows the VX is my baby so theyre deathly afraid of even looking at it wrong

i didnt know i needed ATF instead.. oh well, in my frustration/panic i never filled the psf reservoir... guess thats a good thing

that has been a problem in tha past...putting incorrect fluids in the incorrect component.

Some websites stated to put gear oil in the Tcase...when in fact it takes Tranny fluid.

The same as the power steering fluid in the VX. It takes Tranny fluid as well...not power steering fluid.

But, the brake reservoir takes the brake fluid.

thats good to know, thanks for the heads up.... just so im clear.. i put gasoline into the gas tank right? haha.. i wonder how many people at shops actually do it right... one of the many reasons im trying to learn to do everythin myself

actually..I'm not sure if you should put the gasoline they sell these days in your tank...
:p