Sweet smell in A/C and coolant consumption

[BRuppel]

I have a small coolant consumption situation with my 04. 5 that I have noticed b/t oil changes. It isn't very much, but I was just curious if others are having the same problem. I would swear that I am getting a sweet smell through my A/C vents randomly. What could be the cause and has anyone else noticed this?

 

[GerryDrake]

Take a look (easier from underneath) at the passenger side of the engine block. It seems that quite a number, including mine, have left the factory with the engine block heater not tightly screwed in. I had coolant leave a white chalky 'stain' all over the right side of the engine and lost coolant until I had a dealer tighten it. Not the only one to have had the problem, by a long shot. .

 

[rbattelle]

I have noticed that when I use the A/C after not using it for a long time I get a brief period of coolant odor. I have basically no coolant loss, however. I think the occasional slight "sweet" coolant odor is okay, as long as you're not loosing large amounts of the stuff and you're not leaking as Gerry suggests.



How new is your truck? I read somewhere (maybe the service manual?) that when you fill a cooling system after a flush (or after you've just finished installing the engine at the factory) it can take awhile for the coolant level to stabilize as gases are purged out and the expansion/contraction process of the coolant itself and its relation to the overflow tank balances out. I found that after flushing/filling my coolant I had to add a small amount over a period of a few thousand miles until the level stabilized. This has been my experience with several vehicles.



-Ryan

 

[Alan Reagan]

rbattelle, The best way I've found to "burp" the engine is to fill it after the change and let it run a while with the radiator cap off. It takes it a while, but I have found that I can usually add about 1/2 gallon more fluid by doing this. Otherwise, it will draw from the reservoir, which is not a problem, but my concern has been that it will suck all the fluid out before I can add some again.

 

[BRuppel]

Gerry, you have any pics?

 

[RustyJC]

Certainly sounds like you could be losing some ethylene glycol (coolant) in the heater core area. It does smell sweet.



Rusty

 

[GerryDrake]

Gerry, you have any pics?

No, I don't have any pix, but the block heater is on the passenger side, fairly well forward (kinda up under the oil filter as I recall) and that side showed a kind of a white chalky deposit ... As for the smell coming in through the vents, this has been a problem for the past several years, though in most, including mine, it is the smell of the oil fumes from the breather tube that makes it into the passenger compartment through the vent system.