2003 EB Smelling Antifreeze Inside Vehicle

[Transporter]

Last night I ran some errands while dropping the better half off to see our granddaughter and came back home, all was fine. Three hours later I returned to the truck to go pick the better half up and I smelled antifreeze in the truck. The weather has been perfect for the last three days so I have not used the AC or Heat. Before that was only using the AC. It was now cool outside and needed to use the Defrost to defog the windshield. Hot air comes out the vents but the windshield will not completely clear and the smell of antifreeze is stronger. No mist, no fog, no stream from any vents. The level in the overflow reservoir has not changed, it is where it was Sunday when I previously checked it. When raising the hood, I see no steam or any leaks. There are no leaks or spots under the truck when its parked. Something happened 2 years ago while the AC was running and they replaced something under the inside dash, don't know if it was the heater core but I think it was something AC related maybe the exchanger. The smell does seem to come on stringer after the truck gets up to temperature, does that point to a pressure issue?

It is now 70 outside so I switched over to AC and the vents blow cold with no fog, steam, or mist. There is a light odor of antifreeze, much less then when no AC or Heat settings is selected.

Ideas, thoughts, suggestion, things to test or try?

 

[Jb14]

Check for moist carpet under the dash and if you have rear AC and heat check the third row carpet. The rear unit is a stand alone unit but the radiator lines are plumbed into the unit from under the truck. Additionally look at the hoses and fittings coming from the radiator and see if you notice any residue on those lines

 

[stamp11127]

Since you smell the coolant inside of the vehicle it can come from 2 sources. The first would require you parking uphill on an incline and the o-rings at the inlet/outlet leak coolant into the plenum. Very rare. The other, which we usually don't want to accept is that the heater core is leaking.
Do not use the redneck stop leak products for a quick fix. It goes everywhere - and reduces the openings in the passages of the heater core and radiator reducing their efficency.
The best way - the professional way, is to pull the dash back and replace the heater core. The only tough part is one little crappy screw holding the plastic deflector just above the transfer hump. That was delegated to the trash bin when mine went back together.

 

[brick]

Heater core is leaking.
brick

 

[1955moose]

Wish we had better news, but unfortunately Mr Stamp is 99. Percent right, your going to need a new heater core. Do yourself a favor, buy a dealer core, bring it to a mechanic that will install it along with new hoses, hoses going up to it, and out. Don't let shop put in a cheap heater core. They always want to put in aftermarket because of their profit, but you lose,and get pissed.It's a huge job, that you don't want a shop to do over again, or yourself. Wish we had better news, but it's just a wearable, replaceable item.


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[Transporter]

Since you smell the coolant inside of the vehicle it can come from 2 sources. The first would require you parking uphill on an incline and the o-rings at the inlet/outlet leak coolant into the plenum. Very rare. The other, which we usually don't want to accept is that the heater core is leaking.
Do not use the redneck stop leak products for a quick fix. It goes everywhere - and reduces the openings in the passages of the heater core and radiator reducing their efficency.
The best way - the professional way, is to pull the dash back and replace the heater core. The only tough part is one little crappy screw holding the plastic deflector just above the transfer hump. That was delegated to the trash bin when mine went back together.

Thanks Stamp, its the core. I should have had it replaced when I had to have the AC core changed two years ago since the dash had to come off for that also. Live and learn. It lasted 14 years, guess I can't complain to much.

 

[stamp11127]

Are going to swap it yourself? The job really isnt that bad, just a bunch of screws & bolts.

 

[Transporter]

Are going to swap it yourself? The job really isnt that bad, just a bunch of screws & bolts.

No, leaving it to the Pros. Changed the heater core myself in the 1998 Explorer (it wasn't even needed daily so I had plenty of time) and had issues that I couldn't track down but knew it was dash related.

 

[1955moose]

Don't blame you transporter. On a scale of 1-10, heater cores on these and most newer vehicles rank about an 8. If you work on these every day, and know what to do, and pull, no big deal. But if your like most of us that have done a heater core or two, you farm that one out. Do yourself a favor though. Get a shop that has quality people, and politely tell the service writer, put one of your senior guys on the job. I've seen shops that put a rookie on the job, and you can't imagine what they screwed up. Just my 2 cents.



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[stamp11127]

There is a great video on youtube on how to swap one. Not really bad if you have the 1/4" socket set and portable impact. If you're interested I'll search for it and post a link
Most shops around here want around $800 in labor - screw that. It isn't any different than the old erector sets - just a bunch of screws.

 

[jeff kushner]

I'm certainly not arguing with the owner who has confirmed the heater core was leaking but I had the same smell in my '03EB about 6 months after I bought it. It had 148K miles and I searched EVERYWHERE for a coolant leak and couldn't find it. Finally, while at a friends shop to replace a couple of tires, I asked him to find the leak. He couldn't find it either until he did a leak down test and found the headgasket leaking between the water jacket and cylinder, with no out-of-engine leak so I never would have seen it. It was very minor at first, but soon expanded to needing coolant added every 150 miles or so. After a lot of thought due to the same reasons Stamp notes above, I used the "Pour-n-go" and the issue was "repaired" without any impact on the heater or cooling of the engine. The leak stopp was added in May and I drove it through the winter and the heaters worked fine, both front heater and rear. For me, it wasn't worth the $2,500-$2,800 to replace the headgasket on a truck I only paid 5 grand for and although I know how and have the tools, I hate working on cars(I like bikes) and am fortunate that I can afford to pay for things I no longer feel like doing.

I drove it for another 18 months, getting up to 171K on it before the transmission began slipping but it never leaked again. Just my experience with the hoogie sauce.

jeff

 

[1955moose]

Just curious Jeff, what hoogie sauce did you use? Most of them do plug up cooling systems, worse than too much cheese plugs us humans.


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[jeff kushner]

I used the Pour-N-Go because I had just refilled with new coolant and didn't feel like draining it all out to use with the other stuff.

This is the stuff I bought but DIDN'T use: I didn't realize that I had to drain the system before buying this. It still sits on my shelf.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blue-Devil-...ash=item4b0df831ac:g:4r0AAOSw44BYTfZL&vxp=mtr

And this is the stuff I USED:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blue-Devil-...ash=item3d2db5caab:g:MmwAAOSwV0RXq1Yo&vxp=mtr

Stuff worked great! Still running strong even though the truck has been parked for a few weeks since the tranny went south. I poured this stuff almost a year and a half ago! Heat and AC, including the rear systems are still perfect. I would never have bought my new truck had the trans not given out.

jeff

 

[Cindy Zaka]

stamp 1127 can you post the link please