I will appreciate some help...I do have a teenager son with AD/HD...my help and my husband's help are not always enough to save him from whatever new issue he can get into...please, I need to have an idea what to do. He put transmission fluid into the coolant container in our 1995 Volvo 850 automatic non-turbo...he drove it approximately 10 miles like this...I don't know what to do....help!

 

draining the coolant would be the first thing to do

 

Drain the coolant from the bottom of the radiator..you could then fill it with water and drain again a few times if you like.. then refill it with coolant..any residual tranny fluid will end up in the coolant resevior on the passenger wheel well..that can be disconnected and removed and cleaned out as needed ...not really that big of a deal after the first draining of the radiator.

 

Yes, drain it out, and flush it a couple of times. You can buy some Prestone radiator flush at the auto parts store and use that if you like. Main thing is flush it at least two or three times, refill with coolant and water at a 50/50 mix, and you should be fine. Not a terribly big deal!

 

I doubt that happened. These cars have transmission fluid and coolant running into the radiator. If there is an internal breach in the radiator, the fluid can mix. If that happens, coolant can get into the transmission, which will be the death of it.

So, ask him if he in deed did that, if not, stop driving the vehicle until you get a new radiator installed. Then you want to have the transmission fluid changed to avoid it from being contaminated with coolant.

 

Also, it IS ok to flush the system with TAP water, but not run the system with TAP water. In the end, any water used should be distilled water. So, your last gallon or two of water should be distilled water. It cost about .69 cents from the local grocery store.

 

Also, I would drain the transmission to see if any coolant is in it.

 

Have you pulled the transmission dipstick to see the condition of the fluid ?? If it looks at all milky or foamy it likely wasn't your son.

Flushing with water is like trying to wash your oil stained clothes in water, it isn't going to cut it.
As everyone has stated, you need to drain out the mix that is in there and recycle it. Then you should fill it with water and use a flush chemical to clean it out or you're going to have oil floating around in there after a couple of water flushes and finish adding fresh antifreeze.

Depending on the car, how nice it is or beater you could also wait till it's cooled down in the morning and each morning go out with a baster and suck off the oil from the reservoir. Having a small amount of oil in there isn't going to hurt anything it just looks bad. The oil should collect in the reservoir but it might take some time for it all to get there and you to get it out.

You could also just do the lazy thing and forget about it unless it starts to cause an overheating condition. I don't really recommend that though.

Like Rspi brought up, having trans fluid in your coolant tank is a sign the radiator is starting to go. As the radiator gets older the transmission cooler inside the radiator can at times corrode and start leaking trans fluid directly into the coolant inside the radiator. Are you sure he made a mistake or was it something "dad" saw and you're taking it for granted your son made the mistake ?? Just wondering. Hate to see him get blamed if it's not his fault.