Smelling COOLANT inside car ?

[Krakkle]

Lately I have noted the scent of coolant inside my car especially when the blower is on.
I see two hoses going through the firewall & wonder:
1. why the coolant has to run inside the car
2. how to solve this possible coolant leak way up behind the dash ??
BTW I haven't seen any signs of wet carpets or leaks thus far !!

[Hook]

The Heater feature incorporated into the car's ventillation takes heat from the coolant through some cores and the blower passes air over it to get hot before it gets to you.

While you can repair this (and it's gonna require you to take down your a/c system, which involves labour, re-gassing etc....which means hefty moolah) you can simply cap off and condemn the heater core (since this is the tropics and it's hot all the time anyway).

Get some 1/2" or 3/4" (whichever your car uses) rubber end caps and some hose clamps and cap off the lines on both ends (engine side and heater side...four caps and clamps in total).

[Krakkle]

Aye Hook,
I have no probs capping off the pipes near the firewall.
But on the engine side, I feel to bridge both lines (instead of capping off) to allow continued water flow, because 20 valves seem to generate a fair amount of heat.

[ramishrrr]

Sagaboy,
Hook knows exactly what he is saying, and is quite correct. He went on to explain the operation.
You "feel to bridge both lines (instead of capping off) to allow continued coolant flow, because 20 valves seem to generate a fair amount of heat."
What you will be doing is circulating hot coolant into your engine, and not allowing the radiator to do the job. Your engine will start to run at a higher temperature if not overheat. When you use the heater in the cabin, it actually removes heat from the coolant. (The flow of the coolant is regulated by the internal valve, which in your case might be leaking hence the smell.)
A cabin heater is unnecessary in sweet T&T.

Just do like Hook says.
Regards,
RR.

[scion I]

i did this with my nze engine but i bridged the lines instead of capping of on the engine side and i noticed my engine temp ran a little higher but i ignored cuz the temp gauge never went up(flash red display don't hav gauge)!!! isnt the thermostat supposed to regulate the temp once the operating temp is achieved?

by capping off instead of bridging the coolant line on the engine would their be any significant differences in the engine temp ? bear in mind i did consider the hot coolant circulation explanation wouldnt the temp of the coolant be the same if capped or bridged???

if bridging increases the engine temp then i need to cap of the lines asap!!!!

[Hook]

I guess in theory it should be the same whether capped or bridged, but somehow it isn't. I can't explain it myself, but anyone who's tried it has noticed the same thing, so just cap the ends and call that George.

[scion I]

ok cool will do!!! let u know hw it turns out!!!
thanks bro!!

[ramishrrr]

The idea of a thermostat in the coolant passage ( exiting your engine to the radiator) is not about keeping your temp. gauge low, nor keeping your radiator cool. It is about keeping your engine at the optimum operating temperature. In effect it is a temperature control valve, opening and closing to regulate the coolant flow through the engine. In hot weather, or demanding engine conditions it opens. In rain, nighttime, or relaxed engine conditions it closes some.
Removing a thermostat results in a long warm-up time on cold starts, jerky engine operation, and overcooling during nighttime or rainy weather. You will burn more fuel and cause premature engine wear, as a result.

Capping the engine sides of the cabin heater line gives you the same effect as if you are not using the cabin heater at all. Not using the cabin heater means that the temperature lever or knob on your dash is not on Red, but Blue.........meaning the internal valve is closed, and no hot coolant is passing through the heater fins. The engine operates normally, the radiator cooling the coolant.

If you were to use the heater, then heat from the coolant is lost to the cabin. The thermostat will sense this and close a little, doing its job to control the engine temperature.

In theory, if your radiator is going bad and not doing a good job of cooling the coolant, you can help it out by putting on the cabin heater at max. It's just that you the driver will overheat instead. But your coolant temperature will surely drop.

The proof of the pudding, is in the eating of it. So if anyone feels adventurous, then install a bypass line from the engine outlet to the engine inlet. Then you may find out the hard way that Hook was quite correct from the start.
Regards,
RR.

[scion I]

Mr Ramishrr i understand how the thermostat operates and the heater on the AC unit but i believe you clarified what was confusing to me which is that the outlet from the engine which goes to evaporator when bridged instead of capping flows into the cold coolant entering the engine hence creating the higher temp!!!!!!!????

cuz what i was thinking that the coolant leaving the evaporator was entering back onto the hot coolant flow back to the radiator therefore bridging or capping wouldnt have made much of a difference ..........????

[scion I]

coolsys.png (3.78 KiB) Viewed 3812 times

clarification of why you should not bridge the flow of the coolant but cap off the lines when disconnecting the cabin heater lines. So to those mechanics who say otherwise yuh know what to do!!!!

Thanks Ramishrr and Hook!!!

[ramishrrr]

Scion I, yuh is ah rel Hero. Thanks for the diagram. Makes things easier for folks to understand.
It emphasises that, with the cabin heater and its control valve bypassed, there will be preferential flow. Rather than going to the pressurized radiator, the hot coolant from the engine will travel through the unrestricted bypass line to the suction of the water pump, (where there probably will be a negative pressure) and circulate back through the engine, carrying up the operating temperature.
Regards to you and Hook.
Ramish.

[Krakkle]

Yeh fellas, Ah get thru .......... for the sum of $28.00 (four "1.5" rubber caps & two hose clips).
I removed the two hoses which ran from the engine to the firewall.
Capped the metal lines on engine & secured with screw- type hose clips to prevent any leaks under pressure.
Capped two fittings on firewall with original squeeze-type hose clips to prevent dust, heat & vapours from entering system.
Car wukkin normal....no change on temp gauge.
Thanks for keeping me on the right path.

Now if I can only find a good A/c Compressor for the 20v.....i'll be happy. (Drove thru some flood & compressor clutch got flek-up.....one setta smoke like car bunning down & a/c dead now)

[Hook]

Asking for a 20V compressor will have those fellas seeing dollar signs. When I needed one, I got a pretty good one off a 4E or 5E that was exactly like my compressor. Just eyeball yours (connectors, clutch, bolt-up) and walk around the engine lots til you see one like it and note which engine it came from and ask for that, not a 20V compressor.

[KTS]

I did as u guys said to cap off d ends on the engine side n as i am driving d temp gauge starts to drop. Is this normal, how do i rectify the fluctuatin temp. I replaced the thermo with an original toyota about 2 weeks ago b4 i capped the ends off. A while ago when the temp use to drop i changed the thermo n it stopped it. Can someone give an explanation to why the temp drops as i am driving nowadays.

Also the temp starts to go up while driving with d ac on for more than 2hrs but as i turn off d ac it settles back to normal this was y i replaced the thermo 2 weeks ago n since then d temp does not go up.

I have a boosted tercel engine with a civic radiator and i cannot recall having these problems until recently.

[g o n z o]

Had the same prob a while baq...i bought a bottle of coolant an it leaked in my baqseat>>had it shampooed an that wuz it.