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General discussion

Jeep with antifreeze smell from heater

Jan 25, 2009 10:33AM PST

I'd appreciate a little advice. My Jeep Cherokee Sport's a/c stopped working last summer. We added freon (or whatever that coolant is called), it worked only slightly for a couple of days, then stopped again. We tried it again, and the same thing happened. Since I couldn't afford repairs, I just gave up and put the windows down.
Now that the weather is cold, I've discovered a problem with the heater. It works fabulously. I have no lack of heat at all. But it smells awful---just like anti-freeze. And I've noticed that sometimes the defroster leaves a film on the lower part of the windshield inside. If I could stand the smell, I wouldn't worry too much about it. But I know breathing this in can't be healthy, and I wonder what's going on in the mechanical parts of the car. What's tearing up that will, no doubt, only get worse? I've had to drive the car in icy conditions while wiping the frost off the inside of the windshield or roll the windows partly down to dilute the air from the heater. It's awful!

I've read something about a heater core, and it sounds expensive. I may not be able to afford to get it repaired. The parts, I might be able to handle, but a huge labor bill is out of the question at the moment. Can a vehicle still function if the heater core goes completely out?
Any advice would be helpful.
Thanks!

Discussion is locked

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heater core leaking
Jan 26, 2009 7:17AM PST

your heater core is definitley leaking and your blower is pushing the vapor into the cabin. It will only get worse. You can minimize the smell by not running your heater or defroster, but you wont prevent the coolant from leaking and potentially getting worse. Sorry to say, the core will need pulled and repaired or replaced. Sometimes stop leak additives will solve the problem if its not too severe. I have never been a fan of them, its only a band aid in my view.

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i had this happen as well
Jan 27, 2009 4:47AM PST

I owned a 1985 Jeep Cherokee (Pioneer model), the heater core developed a leak and dumped antifreeze on the carpet in front of the passenger seat. The core was mounted under the dash above the passenger's feet. This happened a long time ago, but it didn't seem like it was too expensive to fix (back then).

Funny note, A lot of scrubbing wouldn't remove the antifreeze from the floor mat, but I hung it up over a bucket and it all worked its way out via gravity.

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Poison
Jan 27, 2009 4:49AM PST

I forgot to mention, antifreeze is poison, especially to pets (causes a very painful death via liver failure). So don't delay getting this fixed.

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Bypass it.
Jan 28, 2009 7:14AM PST

The heater core is a glorified coolant passage in the shape of a radiator, which is located behind the firewall. Its sole purpose is to supply heat to the cabin. Like cheneyman said, you can minimize it but it will get worse. That said, it is not detrimental to the function of the motor if you just bypass the heater core.

Just find the coolant inlet and outlet hoses that go in and out of your car's firewall. Those feed the heater core. Connect the two together forming a bypass and problem solved. Bad news=no heat. Good news=no more smelly mornings.

Good luck.