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Smell radiator fluid through vents....

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Old 06-09-2008, 02:51 PM
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Smell radiator fluid through vents....

Parked the truck today after about an hour of city driving and heard a bubbling sound. Opened the hood and see the radiator fluid in my reservoir is bubbling away and within about 10 minutes had all evaporated away...nothing in the reservoir. I then filled it back up to the fill line with water and went out again. While on the road, if i'm stopped at a stoplight i can smell radiator fluid through the air vents. I flushed the system about a month and a half ago according to the prestone directions using distilled water. Any ideas on the smell issue?
Old 06-09-2008, 02:59 PM
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Hopefully not the same problem I had. Had a 99 GMC pickup I could smell radiator like fumes from the vents. Turned out the heater core went out, that was fun to replace.
Old 06-09-2008, 03:07 PM
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Originally Posted by AusTex
Hopefully not the same problem I had. Had a 99 GMC pickup I could smell radiator like fumes from the vents. Turned out the heater core went out, that was fun to replace.
X2 on heater core. Is the floorboard on the passenger side wet under the carpet?
Old 06-09-2008, 03:20 PM
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x3 on the heater core. My exploder did the same thing. Smelt that sweet anti-freeze on the way to work one morning... Like dbcx said, your passenger floor will get wet from the fluid leaking down the inside of your firewall.
Old 06-09-2008, 03:37 PM
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its not soaking wet but there is a very small amount of moisture in 1 little spot.....how long can u go without swapping out the heatercore?
Old 06-09-2008, 04:50 PM
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check the radiators lvl not just the reservoir did you drain the block when you flushed the system if not most likely you have more water in the system then coolant.

you can boil out your system due to it is no longer pressurized it needs to be a sealed system or the water can evaporate out and you can over heat, take it to a shop for a pressure test.


if you do not need heat you could bypass the heater core for awhile.

Last edited by CyMoN; 06-09-2008 at 04:52 PM.
Old 06-10-2008, 05:45 PM
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Check the heater hoses where they go thru the firewall. You may have a leaky hose and not a heater core.
Old 06-10-2008, 06:03 PM
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Heater core is bad or your leaking, check the hoses too... Bypass the heater core if possible otherwise it may blow and then your SOL and need to bypass it.
Old 06-11-2008, 01:57 PM
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FRENCHTOAST!!

I got back from a 200 mile trip today (65 - 75 miles per hour). My friend was like oww, your car just dripped on me. I was like oh.. Just now I realized he said it was hot. Also noticed the fan going on frequently, oh and then when I would flip on the AC some sort of smoke would come through.

Last edited by Elvota; 06-12-2008 at 05:53 PM.
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