Antifreeze Smell Coming into car when first started

0 votes
asked Aug 1, 2016 in Repairs/Maintenance by Josh32 (280 points)
Today I started up my car to go to work and I noticed a sudden smell of Antifreeze. I thought, oh no I have a leak somewhere and I won't be able to go to work.

But I looked it over under the hood and didn't noticed any leaks anywhere and even checked inside the car for leaks.

But nothing. What can be causing this Antifreeze smell in my car?

I'm at work now and the car made it okay without overheating.

The smell seemed to went away after a few minutes driving down the road.

1 Answer

0 votes
answered Aug 1, 2016 by Mechanic21 (29,150 points)
This smell shouldn't ignored. Even though you don't see any Antifreeze on your carpet, it could just be a really small pin hole leak that lets out a little antifreeze when you start the car and then when you're driving it may be rushing through the core too fast to leak out that hole.

Depending on how old the car is your heater core might need replacing.

Or you could also have a tiny leak a hose under the hood where you can't see it.

It's possible for smells to come from under the hood into the car.

If you can't find the leak yourself, I'd recommend taking it to a local Mechanic who can run a pressure test on it.

This small problem could lead to bigger problems in the future.

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