why does it smell like coolant inside the car???

**Irman393** · 10-11-2005, 07:26 AM

ok i have a 99 z28 and about 2 or 3 days ago every time i turned on my car i smelled coolant vapors coming from the vents...i have no idea why that is and when i turn the heater on or anything that blows from the vents it will smell even more..than my windows start to get foggy from the vapors of the coolant and it wont go away unless i wipe it down with something..does anybody have any clue of what might be going on..any help would be helpfull..thanx

**bww3588** · 10-11-2005, 07:31 AM

heater core going bad. it probably has a hole in it.

**Irman393** · 10-11-2005, 07:55 AM

how do heater cores go bad and about how much money are we talking about to fix it???dont know too much about heater cores

**Sarge** · 10-11-2005, 08:37 AM

Heater Core....If you turn the fan on high and put the vents on defrost you may see/get a film on the inside of the windshield.....that is anti freeze.....heater core runs about $300 replaced...+/-

**bww3588** · 10-11-2005, 09:34 AM

Originally Posted by Irman393

how do heater cores go bad and about how much money are we talking about to fix it???dont know too much about heater cores

the heater core is just like a radiator in reverse. it uses hot engine coolent to heat the incoming air. if you have developed a small hole in the core it will let small amounts of coolent vaporize in the incoming air and condense on the cool windows.

**SeVeReDiStOrTiOn** · 10-11-2005, 09:39 AM

is your passenger side floor wet at all?

**Irman393** · 10-11-2005, 11:15 AM

yes i jus turned it on and that is exactly what happened..i got coolant on the passenger side on the floor and i just wiped it down..is it definatly the heater core..or might it be an easier fix than to have to take it to a shop and replace the whole dam thing??

**bww3588** · 10-11-2005, 04:12 PM

Originally Posted by Irman393

yes i jus turned it on and that is exactly what happened..i got coolant on the passenger side on the floor and i just wiped it down..is it definatly the heater core..or might it be an easier fix than to have to take it to a shop and replace the whole dam thing??

it would be alot easier unless your pretty skilled cuase the entire heater box and ac has to be taken off it to get to the core. which means recharging the ac, draining the coolent out of the engine, taking the dash out maby if for better aceess. its not an easy task.

Beast · 10-12-2005, 09:13 AM

Originally Posted by bww3588

it would be alot easier unless your pretty skilled cuase the entire heater box and ac has to be taken off it to get to the core. which means recharging the ac, draining the coolent out of the engine, taking the dash out maby if for better aceess. its not an easy task.

You have to remove the AC? That sucks..

**bww3588** · 10-12-2005, 09:53 AM

Originally Posted by Beast

You have to remove the AC? That sucks..

to get to the heater core yes

**blackSS01** · 10-12-2005, 09:54 AM

I was wondering the same thing, about 3 to 4 times a month my car will smell like coolant for a little bit. It has been going on for about 2 years so. No sense fixing it until I get something soaked.

**Irman393** · 10-12-2005, 03:48 PM

well i removed the glove box and the bottom part of the plastic..under the glove box and now i can clearly see the heater core and when i shine the light i can see the two pipes from it going to the wall..can i remove the clamps from the engin bay and slip it out underneath the dash or do i have to do all that stuff with the ac and everything else???it looks to me like i dont have to do anything with the ac but can some1 that knows for sure let me know..thanx

**INFERNO** · 10-13-2005, 01:27 PM

you can bypass the heater core if you dont need heat just couple the inlet and oulet together. If you can get to the inlet and outlet to detach them then you can remove the 4 screws that hold the core in and replace it. I never had to mess with the ac to do it.

**Irman393** · 10-13-2005, 05:48 PM

ok i thought i had to replace a whole lot of stuff and do sumthing with my ac but i did everything without removing ac or draining the coolant..all you have to do is take clamps of the hoses from the engine bay and remove the clamp that holds both the pipes toghter..then go inside the car remove the glove box and two pieces of plastic under the glove box so the core is fully fisible..pull it out, but it might be though because its preaty tight..my was leaking anyway so i just pulled it out..put the new one in carefully so you dont bend anything and hook everything back up..done

but i couldnt have done it without clamp tools wich one of my body brought me from his shop..life savior..even with the clamp tools i strugeld for houres but finnaly got it done yupi

**Irman393** · 10-13-2005, 05:49 PM

ohh yea and the part is 90$ at cragen..it wouldve cost me 300-400 if i took it to a shop..haha

**02z28ls1** · 10-13-2005, 06:06 PM

Way to go dude! Sometime you can look stuff up in the service manual and figure this stuff out ahead of time-sometimes nothin beats just getting in there and tearing stuff apart.I just looked in the manual and the factory service procedure is just like you did it.

**GatorSS** · 10-13-2005, 07:52 PM

Great job, Irman!

**Irman393** · 10-13-2005, 08:13 PM

thank you guys..i do have the cd manual for the camaro and it did help out a lil bit..but i am proud of myself..i dont work too much on cars but do know a lot about them jus dont have time workin on them..very happy now i got to put all the plastic back in..if a 19 year old can do it anyone can..