Heater core odor

Dec 14, 2007 3 Replies

I had a Lincoln dealer replace the heater core on my 87 Town Car. Sometimes I think I get a slight smell of antifreeze. If there was a sizeable heater core leak before the repair, could there be some lingering odor still there? Could some of the old antifreeze still be in the heater core area causing the smell?



Do you think the new heater core or hose connections might have a slight leak? Its covered by their 12 mo warranty. The windows don't fog up when i run the heater or defroster after the repair.



Since the heater core cant visually be checked for leak without sliding back the dash, how do u tell it has a slight leak? What about using a humidistat to measure moisture in the air?



I had to clean the plenum in my '89 Grand Marquis thoroughly when I replaced the heater core. Yes, it's possible. If a lot of steamy antifreeze steamed up your windows etc. before you got the core replaced, it's possible for little bits of antifreeze to remain in other parts of the system for a while as well.

Check fastidiously for loss of coolant in the radiator and overflow bottle.

Yes, could happen. How long ago was it?

Could be the case. Is the fluid level in the radiator dropping, even slightly?

You pull the dash. It's ugly.

--scott

Yes.

Yes. Very possible.

It is possible.

Use a cooling system pressure tester.

No.

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