lornafear Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 (edited) As soon as I turn up the temperature, even without turning on the fan, a grey-white oily mist starts blowing into my cab from the driver's side vent near the window -- not the defrost vent. My brother detected an odor of anti-freeze. Has anyone dealt with this? Thanks for any light you can shed! Edited December 20, 2016 by lornafear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 if it smells like toasted marshmallows - that is coolant. details on car please - if it's an older car, I might be tempted to try a bottle of the Subaru Coolant Conditioner (it's a type of stop leak) but, I have doubts it would solve a heater core leak. pulling the dash or bypassing the coil with a hose-loop of some type may be the best choices. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Agree with Lucky Texan............sounds like a leaky heater core. If it is an older car, then tempted to go the radiator stop leak additive to the coolant system. You run the risk of plugging up the heater core to the point that there could be reduced or no heater warm air output. However, it should stop your antifreeze leak. If your car is newer, then it makes more sense to have the heater core replaced. That can be expensive, because it is labor intensive, but it is the thing to do on a newer car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Sounds like the heater core has a leak. A stop leak product might stop the leak, but it might also clog the heater core which will cause overheating of the engine. Pretty much every Subaru you have to pull the dash out of the car to get to the heater core. Try the Subaru coolant stuff like Texan said. That's the least likely to clog the core. (IMO) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lornafear Posted December 21, 2016 Author Share Posted December 21, 2016 Thanks for your input, everyone. My car is a 96 Subie Legacy L with just over 200K miles. I bought it from the original owner about 100K miles ago, for just $1550. I think they were selling it cheap because they'd spilled a pot of curry in the back. That was easy to clean up, and it's been a great car! No upholstery tears or wear spots, no dash cracks or marks, great A/C. The only thing wrong when I bought it, was a little dent near the fill cap and too much oil per the dipstick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeryst Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Replace the heater core immediately. Breathing coolant can cause serious health problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith3267 Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 Are you loosing coolant? Are you checking? If you have a heater core leak, then you are loosing coolant and that could lead to an overheating event. You do NOT want an overheating event, I think everyone here will agree with me on that. If you are loosing coolant, the first thing I would check it the heater hoses where they connect to the heater core under the hood. The reason is that they are a lot easier to get at. If they are leaking at the connection, it is possible that some coolant could be following the pipe into the heater compartment. If so, that is a lot easier to repair than replacing the heater core. If the leak is very tiny, check to see if the AC drain is plugged up. I don't know about your specific vehicle but often the AC evaporator shares the same compartment as the heater core in vehicles that have an external heater control valve. That is a heater control valve located under the hood in the heater supply hose. Cleaning out the drain would drain most of the coolant so you don't get the fumes inside the vehicle. If all else fails, then use a 5/8" nipple to join both heater hoses together so that the heater core is bypassed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 Thanks for your input, everyone. My car is a 96 Subie Legacy L with just over 200K miles. I bought it from the original owner about 100K miles ago, for just $1550. I think they were selling it cheap because they'd spilled a pot of curry in the back. That was easy to clean up, and it's been a great car! No upholstery tears or wear spots, no dash cracks or marks, great A/C. The only thing wrong when I bought it, was a little dent near the fill cap and too much oil per the dipstick. .................snip................. and too much oil per the dipstick. That may be a red flag for some improper servicing. Have the front diff and transmission fluids checked for level and quality. It's easy for some folks to confuse themselves when draining and filling fluids on Subarus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lornafear Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 I immediately had hoses reconfigured to skip the heater core. Haven't been driving the car much and have saved enough to have the heater core and pipes replaced. My tranny just started hunting! Should I start a new thread? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 I immediately had hoses reconfigured to skip the heater core. Haven't been driving the car much and have saved enough to have the heater core and pipes replaced. My tranny just started hunting! Should I start a new thread? Yes, start a new thread re: your tranny to seek advise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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