Smell of coolant

Whenever I use my heater, after a few minutes when it warms up the smell of coolant comes out the vents. The odor is also detectable outside of the car!

Help! 1997 Intrepid 3.5L

i'd say it was your heater core...does it fog up winshield?? if so heater core would be my guess..

GOOD LUCK.....

ummm, are there any leaks?

Can't see any leaks. It is consuming a small amount of coolant. Need to add a small quantity every 2 weeks or so.

Good sign of a leaking heater core. Check the bottom of heater housing or floor mat for engine coolant. Also a word of caution. Do not drive it with a leaking heater core. The antifreeze fumes from a leaking heater core can cause kidney damage. If you have to drive it keep windows down for good vent. The life you save may be your own.

The intake manifold gaskets will blow out and cause a coolant leak in the back of the engine. Take a flash lite or something and see if you see any leaks back there.

Glenn

If you can smell it it has a leak. Try a pressure or dye test on it. Or have a good repair shop look it over.

What do you mean by "if it fogs up" windshield?

He means a leaking heater core inside the car will 'fog up' the windsheild when the defrosters are on just like taking a hot shower will 'fog up' the bathroom mirrors.

Check the rubber heater hoses running from the top of the engine back into the passenger compartment and make sure all the hose clamps are tight. A heater core is a little radiator just like the big radiator you put your anti-freeze in. When you flip the switch to turn on the heat, a valve opens and lets some of the hot anti-freze running through your engine flow into the heater core inside the car (under the dash on the passenger side). A fan blowing behind the heater core makes the warm air you feel. Some heater cores can be a real pain to get to because they're buried under the dash. If you can't find the leak with a visual check inside the car on the passenger side and out in the engine compartment, take it to any auto repair shop (even the local guy down the street) and expect a bill for 2 hours labor (although 1 hour should do it).

For the sake of accuracy, very few cars these days have a water flow valve in the lines to/from the heater core to control passenger compartment temperature. Most have full water flow thru the heater core at all times of engine operation, and the heat into the passenger compartment is controlled by a vane (damper door) that controls the path of the forced air to go either thru the core fins (for heat) or bypassing around it (for air circulation with no heat). I believe this to be the case with the first gen LH's.

The fogging would still occur as you said when heat is called for and air is blown thru the core fins picking up moisture that is leaking all the time.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. As it turns out it was a bad "schrader valve" ??? The smell was more of a gasoline odour than coolant.

Never got to speak to my mechanic....what the heck is a shrader valve and why would it cause that smell?

That would mean one of the two valves used on the a.c. under the hood to service the refrigerant - you were smelling the refrigerant that leaked to the atmosphere. Another example of a schrader/shraeder valve is the valve on your wheel used for putting air in your tires - basically a manually-over-ridable check valve.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

You forgot about one... There is also one on the fuel rail, which would explain the "smell was more of a gasoline odour."

Possibly the shrader valve for the port on the fuel rail?

Glenn

Good point, Glenn

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Yes, fuel rail it was.