Ye Ol' Cherokee

98 xj 4.0 150k

So the other night, there was smoke/steam coming out of the passenger side window defroster. since then it does it here and there but not consistently.
It has a faint odor of coolant, but my vents have smelled that way for years.

No noticeable coolant loss, Passenger floorboard is dry, heat works perfect.

Cause my only thought is heater core, but i cant understand why i don't have any other symptoms of HC failure

Any thoughts?

Turbo X_J

Yuk! You sure are a lot more tolerant than I am. If I couldn't have fixed that, I would have sold it. Ethylene glycol is toxic.

Ye Ol' Cherokee

By faint odor i mean like at one point some leaked into the heater box lol, very faint.

But toxic, you say! I am no scientist, this chemical you mentioned , is that what would be coming into my jeep if it is my heater core?

RTorrez1

It can be such a small leak that you have no signs of coolant loss yet. I would be prepared to change it out before it gets worse.

Ye Ol' Cherokee

Well i most likely won't be able to get into that until after winter since funds are tight and i don't have time to do it.

Do you think i'd be okay to get through winter? I hate to lose my heat right before it gets cold.

Or should i just suck it up and bypass it til i can get to it?

Cause while heat is important, id rather neither myself or my jeep die.. but i don't want to bypass yet if i don't have to

RTorrez1

You might be able to get by for awhile as it is. Just keep a close eye on the coolant level to make sure that you don't run it low. Personally in your situation I would check the level at least every other day if not daily. If it does start to get to the point that you do start notice a coolant level drop then you should bypass the heater core until the funds are available. What ever you do, DO NOT add any stop leak to the cooling system. You have a real good chance of plugging the system and causing more problems for yourself down the line and it will cost a lot more to replace parts then, especially if funds are tight. If you feel that you have to add some kind of stop leak. Use the silver powder stuff that Barrs Leak has out. You can pick it up at WalMart for a couple of bucks. But I would only use it as a last resort. Keep us updated and if you have any more problems with it.

Ye Ol' Cherokee

Yea, i am firmly against additives. The only thing i would use is lubegard red or trans X in a transmission thats giving me trouble, only in a vehicle that i dont care much about.

I check the coolant daily, actually and will continue to do so. So thanks for the info- if it remains a small leak and does not eat coolant, i will try to make it through the winter, but bypass if i have to.

My main concern is breathing in the ethylene glycol from the burning coolant. Do you think its much to worry about, with such a small leak? I'm not trying to die from E Glycol inhalation lol

RTorrez1

I wish I could help you more about the effects of ethylene glycol poisoning. But, in all of my years of working with hazardous waste I have never had to deal with it. Unfortunately when I moved from Calif. to Texas I didn't bring any of my books with me to get any info from. You may want to read up on the long terms effect of ethylene glycol poisoning on line.

Ye Ol' Cherokee

I was actually doing that last night. It seems like, while it is deadly to ingest, its not too bad to inhale it, as long as its not in "Mist" form, and isn't in large quantities..

So ill just let it go for now, and if i start getting more in the cabin, ill just bypass until the spring.

Thanks a lot for your advice, much appreciated!

Mike1982

I just went through this over the last 10 months or so. I noticed the heat was weak this last winter but was thinking it was due to it being so cold here compared to prior years. Another red flag was the coolant started to get dirty (turned more brown then green). I did a ton of research and decided to flush the heater core to get any junk that was in it. After I did that, I refilled the system with 50/50 coolant and water. Slowly but surely I noticed that the windows inside would get fogged up with a film and noticed a VERY faint smell of coolant. Long story short, my heater core had a small leak and when I flushed it, the leak got worse to the point of venting coolant into the vehicle. Since then, I have done a bypass and don't use that for heating my Jeep anymore.

RTorrez1

Not a problem. That's what we are here for, To help each other out when we can.

Yeah, I have learned from past experience. If you suspect a leaky heater core you don't want to flush it or you may have the problem of making the leak worse.