COOLANT SMELL!!

Might be a small leak in your heater core.

 

+1. Wet carpets are next. Might be just a connection, though. Core "shouldn't" corrode through leak if the coolant has been kept fresh; could be a crack, though.

 

Most likely a leak somewhere around the heater matrixes. Could be a pipe, the radiator or a valve.

If you take the spare wheel out & remove the rear fibreglass tub (about 6 or 8 screws round the edge) you will find the heater core assemblies on either side. With the the heater valves open if you can pressurise the system (radiator tester on the expansion tank) then you may be able to see where the problem is. If you can't lay your hands on a pressure tester then just run the engine up to temperature but obviously be careful with poking & pulling things around because if something lets go you will be pumping hot coolant everywhere (including over yourself most likely!)

Have you noticed any coolant loss? I would keep an eye n the coolant level till you get this fixed.

 

It doesn't take much coolant to make a whole lot of stink, especially if its in the heater core. Even a few drops escaping and evaporating will smell terrible. I'm just going through this with my Jaguar XJ8 daily driver. Put it in the garage over the weekend after a long drive, and the smell was overwhelming. Turned out to be the thermostat housing that had cracked, a fairly common problem on the modern Jags.

If you are smelling it inside the car, chances are it's the heater core. But it could be one of the hoses right in front of the driver, in the spare tire area, up near the bulkhead. Before you go tearing out the heater core, check around on the various hoses and fitting, and see if you can locate the source of the leak. Could be the radiator too, and getting in through the air ducts from the front. Pressurize the system and you should be able to locate it if you are patient.

BTW, the lower hoses in the front of the car are often neglected. Check those out as well.

 

yep, I got this on my 328.... opened the front lid and the small black plastic cap that should be attched to the top of the screen wash bottle had fallen off ( found it under the spare wheel) put it back on, smell went away, it was screen wash not coolant, they smell similar. Did't cost a penny!! hope its the same on yours?

 

check the heater cores, they are aluminum and the tubes are expoxied together (not welded). Just changed one last week for a customer.

 

a can of barrs stop leakmight help at least is cheap try

 

I had this on my Mondial, smell of coolant in the cabin, no visible coolant loss.
Turned out it was the expansion tank cap in the engine bay, the rubber seals had deteriorated and when the system pressurised a small amount of coolant/vapour was ejected from the overflow pipe, and somehow this smell of coolant got into the cabin....but only if I opened the sunroof!
Took me months to find this out.

I wouldn't put radiator sealant into a Ferrari cooling system. I did this and soon after that the heater stuck on hot. Took the heater valve apart to find the fine gauze filter inside blocked with what looked like radiator sealant. Had to drain and refill the coolant to get rid of it.

 

Man, LAST resort stuff that!

Lol, you're supposed to drain coolant, add "stop leak", run for 15 mins, then drain and add coolant again.

Long story short, thats it. People make the mistake of adding stop leak into the cooling system and leaving it in there and it causes havoc sometimes.