After a 30 min run and the heater is on hot a funny smell appears from the vents and it smells like antifreeze..

I have had this smell for about a year and does not go away but i haven't noticed any leaking water etc.

At first i thought it was because i did do short runs but now i walk the short runs and it has made no difference.

I do notice the smell outside very slightly and have checked obvious for plastic bag on exhaust etc

Also checked water and oil for signs of head gasket problems

Not sure what it is and not even a air freshner can cover it

ANY IDEAS???????

 

Is the car using water ? It's not unknown for the heater matrix to develop a slight leak in scoobys .

Derek

 

No not using any water at all.?.?.

 

I had a similar problem on an Audi a couple of years ago. The coolant level didn't drop but found that the screenwash did.
I found that a t piece near the nozzle had come loose and leaked near air intake for heater.
Heater fan sucked in screenwash and hence the smell.
Dunno if it could happen on a Scooby?

Nick

 

Hi I 've got a similar smell and it seems to come from what looks like the remains of something on the exhaust. I can even see it burning. Again can see any sign on fluid loss etc but it looks fresh. I'm going to get the engine bay steam cleaned should remove any such muck may beworth doing the same if you can't see anything

 

Do NOT steam clean an engine, it takes off all protected layers of oil and the underseal stuff around it!!

Another solution to your problem is the rocker gasket cover driver side (by the turbo) which leaks after a while on all impreza cars. If you do trace it to this, get it replaced and use a wet sealer around the gasket, as fitting it dry may not totally cure the problem... Just a thought...

 

Air con units can sometimes give off a bit of a pong. Wurth do a sort of disinfectant that you spray down the air vents, your dealer might be able to tell you more, Bob

 

I had the same symptoms, found it to be the coolant pipe weeping slightly where it joins the turbo, the standard clip is a sprung loaded device, replaced with a jubilee clip. The giveaway was the stain on the metal pipe into the turbo.