burning coolant smell from vents ?

[Jaysan]

I searched and found nothing like what I am experiencing. My car is not over heating but i can smell the burning cooling from my a/c vents. its a faint smell . The car runs fine and doesn't over heat but my fans do come on . any thoughts yall

[Mogobs30th]

Re: burning coolant smell from vents ?

Leaking heater core.

[Jaysan]

Re: burning coolant smell from vents ?

damn ok so how do i fix this

[Mogobs30th]

Re: burning coolant smell from vents ?

Gotta replace the heater core is my guess. I would look for possible signs of leakage around the car, see exactly where its leaking from, just to make sure that it is the heater core and not something else. As for actually replacing the heater core, I honestly wouldn't have a clue, its one of the few things Ive never had to mess with on an Fbody.

[Jaysan]

Re: burning coolant smell from vents ?

well I researched and i found a thread that says to check to see if there is wet carpet on the passenger and there was nothing there. however i am leaking coolant. Can any one tell me how to replace m heater core ?

[Mogobs30th]

Re: burning coolant smell from vents ?

well I researched and i found a thread that says to check to see if there is wet carpet on the passenger and there was nothing there. however i am leaking coolant. Can any one tell me how to replace m heater core ?

If you are leaking coolant, check and make sure you know for sure its the heater core. USUALLY if you can smell the coolant in the vents, its coming from the heater core, but not always. Look around the cooling system, radiator, reservoir, the lines going to and from the heater core, hoses, water pump, and make sure you don't have a leak from there first.

[Jaysan]

Re: burning coolant smell from vents ?

yeah ill check but i have just replaced all the cooling parts on my car so they should still be good

[T-Mill]

Re: burning coolant smell from vents ?

Sometimes new parts can create leaks, especially in the cooling system since there are so many hose connections and other connections with expansion and contraction from going from hot to cold and so on... these connections can sometimes leak even if the components themselves are brand new... does the smell change at all depending on whether you're blowing out hot or cold air?

[ssms5411]

Re: burning coolant smell from vents ?

Check the elbow on the lower intake going to the tensioner assembly to see if it has a small leak, can get in the air and you will smell it. Luckly mine was leaking in winter and I could see the steam coming off of it, up from the ALT.

[Jaysan]

Re: burning coolant smell from vents ?

well I can only smell it in the day time when its like 80+ degrees here in Tx . But in the evening I can't smell it at all .

[Jaysan]

Re: burning coolant smell from vents ?

well I can only smell it in the day time when its like 80+ degrees here in Tx . But in the evening I can't smell it at all .

Plus I can smell the coolant when my car is idling , but once I start driving the smell goes anyway , is it my heater core still ?

If so can I pull it out with out having to remove my air bags ?

[bob8703]

Re: burning coolant smell from vents ?

i had the same problem. i would only smell a hint of it here and there. it ended up being my heater core. the heater core is easy to remove. remove the glove box, and the cover that covers the bottom of the dash. from there there are two screws 5.5mm holding the cover on. pull the cover down and out. there will be a screw and a small plate holding the heater core in place. before you try pulling the heater core remove the hoses from it and there is another screw by the firewall in the enginebay that holds the heatercore also. wiggle the heatercore out and then install the new one. now if you want to make sure the heater core is bad take all that stuff off and leave the heater core connected and drive around and let the car idle and just watch the heater core. i pressurized my system and watched it all day at work thats how i found mine.

note: this is on my 2000, i dont know what year yours is or if there was a difference in the year models or not

[Jaysan]

Re: burning coolant smell from vents ?

does it matter what kind of heater core I buy I hear aluminum ones or iron ones are better ? any thoughts ?

[Jaysan]

Re: burning coolant smell from vents ?

i had the same problem. i would only smell a hint of it here and there. it ended up being my heater core. the heater core is easy to remove. remove the glove box, and the cover that covers the bottom of the dash. from there there are two screws 5.5mm holding the cover on. pull the cover down and out. there will be a screw and a small plate holding the heater core in place. before you try pulling the heater core remove the hoses from it and there is another screw by the firewall in the enginebay that holds the heatercore also. wiggle the heatercore out and then install the new one. now if you want to make sure the heater core is bad take all that stuff off and leave the heater core connected and drive around and let the car idle and just watch the heater core. i pressurized my system and watched it all day at work thats how i found mine.

note: this is on my 2000, i dont know what year yours is or if there was a difference in the year models or not

Can you post some pix ?