last year i had my car detailed, and the guys left it running in mid winter with the heater up all the way without turning on the manual engine fans.

so my car overheated, blew apart the heater control valve, fragged my radiator, and shortly after i got a new water pump.

ever since then, when its cold out i can smell burning antifreeze, not really in the car, but if i park and get out, i'll catch a whiff and its stronger if i open or smell around the hood. its not in my exhaust, it smells like its cooking on hot metal.

does that sound like an intake manifold gasket, or where else would be a good spot to check? or a good method to pinpoint it?

 

Maybe its your freeze plugs

 

your themostat housing isn't leaking is it? could be running out and getting cooked... is there ever any anti-freeze on the ground if its parked fora wile?

 

no i've never noticed it leaking any coolant. can i pressurize the system with something and look for it to come out?

 

my heater core took a dump the other day ....have you checked there

 

Heater Core

 

its been like this almost a year now, as a daily driver. would it keep on going like that if it was the core, without getting any worse?

how do i check it?

 

for starters check the passenger floor to see if its wet
get your head in there and smell around

 

Another vote for heater core.


It might have a pin hole in it small enough the mist gets cooked by the heat of the core and doesnt flood the passenger side floor.

HAHA im a poet and didnt even know it

 

If you smell it strongest in the engine bay, I can't really see it being your heater core. Just doesn't make sense. Where is it gonna cook on hot metal inside the heater box? Nowhere. Since it's not hitting the ground, your most likely culprit is going to be the intake gaskets or the thermostat housing. However, since your valve blew apart check the throttle body coolant bypass hoses, one from the intake area to the tb and one exiting the TB to the valve I think. If it's leaking from the intake gaskets check the whole line on both sides, you may see a small amount of liquid pooled in some of the nearby recesses. If it's not hitting the ground, I can't see it being anything else than something on top of the engine. Mine does the same exact thing. Intake gasket has a tiny leak and it pools in a recess and burns itself off, never hitting the ground. I smell antifreeze every so often because of this.

 

Take off the inspection cover from the tranny and peek up in there while running at temp and check the exhaust/y-pipe in the immediate area.

You can do a coolant pressure test and see what you get, maybe with a dye to help locate it. If nothing on the outside, get it tested for combustion gasses in the rad.

 

yeah passenger side isnt wet. i've been driving the car like this for almost a year now, and i dont even seem to be losing any coolant, the level never really drops, so im thinking it may just be a mist.

couldn't be the tb hoses, i have the tb bypassed.

you're talking about the intake manifold gasket right? i've checked around there but not thoroughly, i dont think its leaking enough to pool up where i could see it. pretty sure my only bet is going to be to put some uv dye in it.

 

coolant should react without any dye. check with a black light. good luck