Does this mean leaking heater core?

[dansherman]

When the heater is running the air smells like coolant, when I switch to cool the smell fades. Also, my coolant is a little low.

Leaking heater core makes the most sense to me, I'm just hoping it might be something else.

Any thoughts?

[Wiscon_Mark]

Could just be coolant dripping on something. Check the radiator hoses.

[badbasser98]

do you see coolant under the car, or is the carpet wet up under the dash? (not sure where the core is on our Scoobs) Those to places was where my core was leaking in my Cavalier.

[dansherman]

The carpet is dry (both sides) and there aren't any wet spots on the cardboard I had underneath.

Good thought on the dripping hose though, I'll check that out this afternoon.

[SHOfast]

The heater core repair is always one of those repairs where you check everything else first, if you don't find the problem it must be the heater core.

I had a leaking heater core where it would not drip or leak out or even make a noticable difference on the coolant tank. What it did do was stink up the inside of the car and produce enough steam that I would not be able to drive longer than 5 minutes before the windshield was fogged.

[Plays_with_Toys]

I would suggest running around with the windows cracked until you source the problem. My step mom got a really bad case of anti-freeze poisoning when she was driving around in our taurus with a bad heater core (thought it had been fixed). Anyway, she felt really nauseated and out of balance. She went home and went to bed (bad idea), went to the doctors the next day and she was so knocked out by the anti-freeze it was the equivolent of a .16 BAC, a full 12 hours later. The doc said she could've gone into a coma or died over night.

So if you feel sick like that from your car... Don't sleep it off.

[Wiscon_Mark]

that's crazy...

[badbasser98]

yes, as scary as it is, it doesn't take much antifreeze to kill you...

[dansherman]

Well, I've driven about 100 miles on it with the rear windows cracked, no ill effects. I didn't see anything on a quick inspection but I'm going to get the lights out and check all the coolant lines.

[dansherman]

Well everything is connected in the engine bay, I'm thinking it's the heater core. Does the core heater core in the Legacy have any soft hoses in the passenger compartment? I'm thinking something might be loose (hopefully) instead of cracked.