we are experiencing antifreeze smell in the cabin of our 07 Element. no sign of leakage or smell outside. it runs fine but we are loosing coolant. oil looks normal, and no white smoke. where is it coming from and where is it going. I think this is unrelated but I recently had to have the radiator and condenser replaced after some moron threw a bottle from a moving car and smashed my grill. the body shop Mech could not find a leak . if it was the heater core wouldn't coolant be on the floor? any thoughts ?

 

sounds like it is the heater core. could be leaking so little that its only wetting the carpet that is covered in plastic. Also some vehicles have a tray under the heater core that collects any coolant if its leaking. idk how easy/hard it is to get to it in your vehicle, but its worth a check.

 

Thanks. i think the whole dash has to come apart to get at it. i suppose its better than a head gasket.

 

id prefer a headgasket. lol

 

Yeh headgasket would be better than a heater core! I would never ever want to do the heater core on anything other than a Jeep!

 

Yj/tj heater cores are like5 minutes. 99 cougar heater core takes 6 hours.

 

I really doubt it is the heater core. I have only seen one Honda heater core leak in all my time and that was caused by a best buy tech putting a screw into it. Your recent cooling system work is most likely completely related to you now smelling coolant. Take your car to a competent technician that has the proper tools for a diagnosis. Nothing against body shop mechanics, but they usually are remove and repplace technicians without a lot of diagnostic capabilities.

 

You should be able to rent a cooling system tester at your local auto parts store and test it. I have seen multiple honda heater cores go bad but all of them were due to other cooling system issues (overheating) or people attempting to fix a leak with stop leak.

 

^was going to say if it's newer/brand new car then probably normal for brief smell of fluides lol..tho I would usually take it into Honda and see what they have to say before any work is done...then if you know you can do it yourself, you do it-if not, have them do it and pay up or go else where cheaper and have them guess what the problem is LOL

GL