BMG13 Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Help! Am I crazy? Why is this car reeking of burnt coolant, but not seem to be losing any? I can't tell if it is all the Google searches I've done over the last month or if it is the smell of burning coolant that is making my head hurt! I love my 05 LGT wagon, but I'm about ready to let it go over this! There is a brutally strong burning coolant smell inside the car, especially when the hvac is set to pull outside air in. I can smell it outside the car too around the engine. For a while, I thought it was burn off when I had the radiator crack and spew coolant in November. However, it doesn't seem to be losing coolant, or if it is, it is a minuscule amount. I put a new radiator in back in November. The plastic piece that connect to the hose that runs to the upper reservoir cracked. Decided to put in a new thermostat, new upper and lower hoses, new upper reservoir hoses, new foam padding. I'd say the smell is almost worse than ever inside the car now over a month after installing the new radiator. I am not seeing any visible leaks. And the engine temps seems to be behaving normally. The car has had odd issues with the windows being fogged extremely easily since the radiator was changed (which also coincided with a big weather change to very cold weather). The heater has been working extremely well on both zones. However, the re-circulation seems to fog the windows but not smell as bad. The outside air option will help with the de-frost but smells awful. I finally noticed two tiny damp spots on the passenger floor board in the corners where the floorboard bends up toward the fire wall. Although there was snow from shoes on the weather proof floor mat that had finally melted and was now water sitting on the mat, and if it would have spilled while I removed the mat, it probably would have spilled in that crux. I can literally put my nose to the damp carpet and not smell anti-freeze. So I am not totally convinced it is. But everything else points to it. There is no sign of coolant in the oil. No sign of bubbles in the overflow, and the overflow is hitting hot and cold levels almost perfectly. There is no obvious signs of leaking in the engine compartment. I didn't have any overwhelming smell in the cab until after the radiator change. What did I do wrong? Oye! Is it time to just rip the dash of an assume its the heater core? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starionesir Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 You can always bypass the heater core and see if the smell goes away. Course you won't have any heat in the meantime but will help with diagnosis. You can also pressure test the system and see if your bleeding off pressure. If you have a leak somewhere it won't hold pressure for long. The smallest coolant leak can and will really smell strong. When you fixed all your other things you may now be running slightly higher pressure which may have now blown out the next weakest link. Seen people fix leaking hoses or cracked radiator and then blow something else out later. Gotta love older cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FJuan Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Sounds more like an oIL leak dripping down onto you downpipe, producing the burning smell. Very common for the passenger side valve cover to leak on to the DP. Check that first. My wife's balls are delicious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starionesir Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Burning coolant and oil smell nothing alike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dishwasher Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 How is your cabin air filter? Brought to you by Pfizer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FJuan Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 The lower radiator hose is know to leak down onto the exhaust manifold which will also give you that coolant burnt smell. My wife's balls are delicious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quick4dr Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Coolant leak off of oil cooler. likes to seep, then drip then hit exhaust Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMG13 Posted December 22, 2016 Author Share Posted December 22, 2016 How is your cabin air filter? I've been meaning to dig that out next. I'm really curious what condition it is in and if it is holding a smell for some reason. But I'm afraid this problem will be more than that. All this exploration would be much easier in a heated garage this time of year! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMG13 Posted December 22, 2016 Author Share Posted December 22, 2016 Sounds more like an oIL leak dripping down onto you downpipe, producing the burning smell. Very common for the passenger side valve cover to leak on to the DP. Check that first. Thanks, but it's definitely more of that "sweet" coolant smell... ugh. Although at this point I would count that out for happening next lol. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMG13 Posted December 22, 2016 Author Share Posted December 22, 2016 You can always bypass the heater core and see if the smell goes away. Course you won't have any heat in the meantime but will help with diagnosis. You can also pressure test the system and see if your bleeding off pressure. If you have a leak somewhere it won't hold pressure for long. The smallest coolant leak can and will really smell strong. When you fixed all your other things you may now be running slightly higher pressure which may have now blown out the next weakest link. Seen people fix leaking hoses or cracked radiator and then blow something else out later. Gotta love older cars. The pressure changes makes a lot of sense. In regards to the bypass, it there an actual valve on the line to the heater core that can be closed? Looking around with the flashlight the other night I swear I saw that as it entered the firewall. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapnJack Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 Coolant leak off of oil cooler. likes to seep, then drip then hit exhaust This... Also, if there was coolant splashed onto the under tray, there is a fiberish pad material on top of the under tray that will soak up coolant (or oil) and then gets heated from the engine causing what you describe. That pad can be removed and cleaned or just removed. if there is any other residual coolant in the bay, you'll want to get it out as it will smell for a long time. I hate having coolant flushes on this car, it always smells bad for the first few days. Any minor leak somehow ends up as a strong smell inside the car. I've found that if I take it to a manual car wash and spray the engine bay down with low pressure water, it can subside it much faster as it flushes any residual coolant the shop spilled out of the bay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JmP6889928 Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 Best thing to do is pressure test. You may have a pinhole somewhere that you can't see but sprays just enough to mist over hot parts. If you don't have a pressure tester (inexpensive available from Harbor Freight), then take it to someone that does. It's the easiest and fastest way to find the leak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMG13 Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 This... Also, if there was coolant splashed onto the under tray, there is a fiberish pad material on top of the under tray that will soak up coolant (or oil) and then gets heated from the engine causing what you describe. That pad can be removed and cleaned or just removed. if there is any other residual coolant in the bay, you'll want to get it out as it will smell for a long time. I hate having coolant flushes on this car, it always smells bad for the first few days. Any minor leak somehow ends up as a strong smell inside the car. I've found that if I take it to a manual car wash and spray the engine bay down with low pressure water, it can subside it much faster as it flushes any residual coolant the shop spilled out of the bay. I can see how that fiber pad could be a culprit. I will have to spend more time trying to clean that. I had initially watered it down a bit but the weather was getting cold as I did this so I didn't do as much as I probably should have. Thanks for the recommendation, I kind of forgot about all that fiber under there! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starionesir Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 No valve you can close. You'd have to remove the heater core lines and hook them together bypassing the heater core. Some auto parts places have t fittings you can use for stuff like flushing the cooling system. You could use that t to bypass the core. I'd start with pressure test first then go from there. You can usually by pressure test kits for pretty cheap. You don't need anything super accurate just to read if its holding pressure or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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