# Oops I put oil in the water resivor **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** xc70, volvo\ **Created:** [August 2, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oops-i-put-oil-in-the-water-resivor/52839 "2010-08-02T05:04:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lowens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e36b37/32.png) [@lowens](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lowens)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oops-i-put-oil-in-the-water-resivor/52839/1 "2010-08-02T05:04:27Z")
A warning light came on called my husband. He said it wasn’t hard just put antifreeze in the resvior. I went to the shed the anit freeze was right were he said it was. Went back to the car started to pour it in. Stopped immediately because it wasn’t antifreeze he had put old oil in an antifreeze bottle. He said he will flush it when he gets home but that isn’t for five days. Do you think I could suck it out with a turkey baster and would a little oil be ok? ---
**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 9:54am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oops-i-put-oil-in-the-water-resivor/52839/2 "2010-08-02T09:54:15Z")
Assuming you are not going to drive it, it should be fine. The other way around is really bad, but what you did should not really cause problems. Just sitting there should not cause damage. ---
**Author:** ![orangevega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9fc29f/32.png) [@orangevega](https://community.cartalk.com/u/orangevega)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 10:13am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oops-i-put-oil-in-the-water-resivor/52839/3 "2010-08-02T10:13:52Z")
How much did you put in? Yes, a turkey baster would work to get most of it out. See if you can get a paper towel pushed down in there to soak up the rest, you could push the towel around with the baster or any other long implement. Any residue left over would be alright. Just make sure you are pouring the antifreeze this time. You should mix the antifreeze 50/50 with water unless it is the prediluted kind. ---
**Author:** ![Goldwing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@Goldwing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Goldwing)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 11:53am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oops-i-put-oil-in-the-water-resivor/52839/4 "2010-08-02T11:53:47Z")
Some coolant reservoirs are easy to remove from the car. Maybe it comes out easily and you can just dump out the contents. ---
**Author:** ![cigroller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c68b51/32.png) [@cigroller](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cigroller)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 1:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oops-i-put-oil-in-the-water-resivor/52839/5 "2010-08-02T13:16:01Z")
Whatever you do, just don’t run the car until the reservoir is cleaned out. ---
**Author:** ![lowens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e36b37/32.png) [@lowens](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lowens)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oops-i-put-oil-in-the-water-resivor/52839/6 "2010-08-02T19:35:50Z")
thanks I’ll try to get it all out… I stopped right after I saw it was oil instead of anti freeze. One big glug… ---
**Author:** ![lowens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e36b37/32.png) [@lowens](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lowens)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oops-i-put-oil-in-the-water-resivor/52839/7 "2010-08-02T19:37:21Z")
I couldn’t figure out the clips, they aren’t like my other car… I did change a hose once… ---
**Author:** ![lowens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e36b37/32.png) [@lowens](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lowens)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oops-i-put-oil-in-the-water-resivor/52839/8 "2010-08-02T19:38:23Z")
thanks, we do have an old truck I hate to drive… ---
**Author:** ![lowens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e36b37/32.png) [@lowens](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lowens)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oops-i-put-oil-in-the-water-resivor/52839/9 "2010-08-02T19:38:51Z")
thanks for the help…