Coolant Smell

gonzoid · November 9, 2007

Hi to all.I am a new guy here and I am about the most hard core GM loyalist you can find.This Silverado started to steaming the windows since the weather turned cold during morning warm ups.Strong coolant smell.Took it in ,dealer replaced heater core,the tech said just slight moisture on the core no seriouse leak almost doubting it was bad.2.5 weeks later still get a strong coolant smell,havent noticed steamed windows as the morning weather has warmed.Where could this coolant be coming from? Also a front wheel bearing took a dump 2 days ago.I am a little humble about GMs superiority over other brands for now.Come on super techs hope someone knows exactly whats wrong and has seen this before THANKS

Zembonez · November 9, 2007

You would think that enough coolant to fog the windows would have an obvious source. If the core was leaking inside the finned area it is possible it was evaporating and making fog instead of puddling. As far as the smell goes, it might take a while to get all of the residual coolant smell out of the ductwork. You may smell it a while. It will go away eventually.

I think the wheel bearing is a fluke. Sure, they can fail but yours died a premature death. It happens.

Stick with your GM. You'll be happy you did.

gonzoid · November 9, 2007

You would think that enough coolant to fog the windows would have an obvious source. If the core was leaking inside the finned area it is possible it was evaporating and making fog instead of puddling. As far as the smell goes, it might take a while to get all of the residual coolant smell out of the ductwork. You may smell it a while. It will go away eventually.

I think the wheel bearing is a fluke. Sure, they can fail but yours died a premature death. It happens.

Stick with your GM. You'll be happy you did.

Thanks for the reply,I cleaned and double cleaned all the Int. glass.I will blast the defrost in the AM and let it warm up for 10min. or so. I thought residual fumes in the plastic is permiated and the heat re-releases it.Then again i have replaced many heater cores and once its dry there is no smell.That was before dexcool days.All bad 88+ wheel bearings would moan at speeds this one started making sounds like a ujoint failing clicky squeek but it wasnt consistiant.Then it got bad fast.Backing up it mad a hell of a dry loud harsh metal to metal grind/rub sound.This truck has to be tip top before I install my radix in waiting.

gonzoid · November 10, 2007

You would think that enough coolant to fog the windows would have an obvious source. If the core was leaking inside the finned area it is possible it was evaporating and making fog instead of puddling. As far as the smell goes, it might take a while to get all of the residual coolant smell out of the ductwork. You may smell it a while. It will go away eventually.

I think the wheel bearing is a fluke. Sure, they can fail but yours died a premature death. It happens.

Stick with your GM. You'll be happy you did.

Thanks for the reply,I cleaned and double cleaned all the Int. glass.I will blast the defrost in the AM and let it warm up for 10min. or so. I thought residual fumes in the plastic is permiated and the heat re-releases it.Then again i have replaced many heater cores and once its dry there is no smell.That was before dexcool days.All bad 88+ wheel bearings would moan at speeds this one started making sounds like a ujoint failing clicky squeek but it wasnt consistiant.Then it got bad fast.Backing up it mad a hell of a dry loud harsh metal to metal grind/rub sound.This truck has to be tip top before I install my radix in waiting.

Like I said ,I cleaned and cleaned all the interior glass,then this am ran the defrost on high and max heat for 20-25 min warm up ideling,didnt have the strong smell.