Coolant smell inside car while driving

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1BadDodge71

1BadDodge71

FABO Rice Hater
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Hello everyone,been along time since ive been here .I have a question regarding my 72 Duster,360 v8.
Im always smelling the scent of coolant inside the car while driving.I see no leaks from the radiator,or coming from the heater core.The scent does seem to be coming from the core,but the core seems to be blowing hot air and working fine.I dont mind the smell,really,but my GF hates the smell and wont ride in the car.Thanks
 
I'm not sure a 75 heater core will work, but do some searching on Rock Auto to see if you can cross reference a 72 to a 75. My bet is it will fit, but I'm a cheap bastard and I would only bet a beer (a light beer at that).
 
oh ok,ill check.I dont drink ,so how about we bet a Coke ?=D
I was also thinking,I very rarely drive it in cold weather,Any way to just bypass the heater for now?Thanks.
 
Coke is fine (with a splash of Rum)! Just kidding. By the way, I checked and yes all 1970-76 Duster heater cores are the same.
 
The heater core probably has a tiny leak, not enough to see it dripping but just enough to smell it. You're going to have to bite the bullet and replace the core.
 
cudajim said:
The heater core probably has a tiny leak, not enough to see it dripping but just enough to smell it. You're going to have to bite the bullet and replace the core.
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73AbodEE said:
you can bypass it no problem, but if you need the defrost your outta luck lol
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That's what I was thinking because seriously, when do you drive in subprime weather? And then replace it when you get around to it.
 
If your running headers check the front and rear bolts retorque or use teflon tape you might be getting just enough on them to smell but no coolant loss.
 
If it's only a very tiny leak sometimes that Bar's Leak that you dump in the rad will seal it up. Can get it any any parts store.
 
Ill try the Bar Leak,if it dont screw up my radiator or harm my water pump.
No,I didnt drive it once all winter,which is why I was just thinking of bypassing it.
But I would just like to get it out of the way and fix it.
Is there a diagrahm on how to pop it off?Do I have to rip the entire box out?
thanks!
 
Well,I dont have the funds to buy a new heater core.And Im not sure I can trust the used one I have unless I can find a way to test it for leaks.So today,I removed the hoses running from the engine to the heater ,plugged the inlets to the heater core,and hooked a hose to the engine outlets that go to the heater together and the smell was gone.I dont drive the car in cold weather anyway,so Ill wait until I can either get a new one,or verify the used one has no leaks.
 
1BadDodge71 said:
Well,I dont have the funds to buy a new heater core.And Im not sure I can trust the used one I have unless I can find a way to test it for leaks.So today,I removed the hoses running from the engine to the heater ,plugged the inlets to the heater core,and hooked a hose to the engine outlets that go to the heater together and the smell was gone.I dont drive the car in cold weather anyway,so Ill wait until I can either get a new one,or verify the used one has no leaks.
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Well done! Just do without until you can. There is no magic fix that lasts forever and your carpet and floorboards will love you for it.
 
1BadDodge71 said:
I dont drive the car in cold weather anyway,so Ill wait until I can either get a new one,or verify the used one has no leaks.
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I remember this fix. And also remember trying to defog the inside of the windshield in the morning with ice cold air, then smudging it with a used rag or napkin in a vain attempt to dry it, so I could get to work on time.. Good stuff. :) Lasted about a week, then out came the box haha.

Grant
 
That's funny because just 2 weeks ago I fixed the same prob on the Valiant. For a period of about 2-3 months I would smell coolant off and on while driving the car. I'd re-tighten all the hose clamps and stuff and still smell it.....one day I just happened to run my finger along the bottom of one of the hoses going into the heater core.
The p/o had put a 3/4" hose on a 5/8" fitting and tightened the crap out of it...needless to say the hose was swollen at the inlet and there was a tiny pin hole that would only leak when the car was at operating temp. Put some new correct hoses on and haven't had a prob since.
 
1BadDodge71 said:
Ill try the Bar Leak,if it dont screw up my radiator or harm my water pump.
No,I didnt drive it once all winter,which is why I was just thinking of bypassing it.
But I would just like to get it out of the way and fix it.
Is there a diagrahm on how to pop it off?Do I have to rip the entire box out?
thanks!
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Personally, I will never use bars leak.....it's trouble in a bottle. I know some people swear by the stuff, but in my experiences with friends who've tried it it either didn't work, or it plugged up the radiator. I did have one friend who tried it on a cavalier because he thought the head gasket was leaking and it seemed to work (4 weeks later he blew an intersection stop sign at 70 and totaled the car).
 
No stop leak for me, thanks. I'm with BKBond12 on that one. The heater core can be bought at any Advance Auto for cheap($40-60). The b*tch is changing it out. UGH!
 
hi,
it's been so long since I posted an update.Since it's getting colder,I may decide to drive the car during cool weather so I decided to fix the heater core.I removed the heater box,which wasn't very hard at all to do.At first I couldn't get the damned thing out until I noticed a hook inside the vent box.Opened the heater box where the heater core is and a bunch of coolant spilled out and there was a huge gash in the core(i'll post a pic later)So,yeah,Bars Leaks wouldve failed for sure.Besides,I don't like using miracle repair in a bottle. I ordered the new core from Autozone,which was $42.00.I feel alot more comfortable with a brand new part.I don't want to have to tear out the heater box again.
 
la4spd said:
No stop leak for me, thanks. I'm with BKBond12 on that one. The heater core can be bought at any Advance Auto for cheap($40-60). The b*tch is changing it out. UGH!
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it actually wasn't bad at all to remove.Except for that J hook I didn't notice until I opened the vent box and saw it.
 
Yeah replacing it is fairly easy. Just remove the heater hoses under the hood. Take out the glove box. Unhook the clips holding the heater box front on and then remove the 4 screws holding the heater core to the box and the one clamp holding the tubes down to the box.

The toughest part is getting the clips back on. Some go on by pressing down. Others need a screwdriver. Some of the hard to reach ones you'll need one of those screwdriver type hooks to pull them tight. Grabbing a nail with some channellocks and using the nail head to grab on to the clip works too, just not as well.
 
here we go.As you can see,Bars Leaks would have been a huge waste of money.I'm still wondering how this happened.
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