Coolant Smell only when running heat

[Chevrolet Customer Care]

I just found this thread. The heater on my 2012 Sonic LT is not blowing hot air. My friend's brother checked the coolant overflow and it was empty. He than checked for leaks and did not find any. When he checked the radiator it was down as well so he filled the overflow and I believe the radiator. Mentioned that it may be be the HeatCore which i hear will be costly as I am now no longer on warranty. I called the dearlership and the manager said that I will need to call first thing in the morning to schedule an appt with the service department.

rpr9395,

Sorry to hear this about your Sonic's heater. Hopefully you're able to get this resolved quickly. I would be glad to research this issue further, please private message me your last 8-digits of your VIN, first and last name, contact phone number, current mileage, and the involved dealership.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Vanessa
GM Customer Service

 

[BruteRam]

Yep, I have the coolant smell as well. Didn't have it for the first half of the winter, started noticing it a couple weeks ago. Will check my coolant level tomorrow and have the dealer take a look at my next service

 

[robinsonmac]

Just had my mine repaired for coolant smell. Dealer said the thermostat housing was cracked & leaking coolant. Said that GM re-designed the part. It took 2 weeks for the part to come in. I have to bring it back for the front suspension recall repair as that part took 10 days to come in..... My sonic has been out of service for a total of 6 weeks in 10 months for 5 different issues. Had to call GM CS for 3 of them to get resolved.

 

[BruteRam]

Took mine in for the coolant smell. They checked everything, pressure tested it and said all is good. I do 100kms round trip daily, and putting up with smelling coolant every trip is making me not want to drive it until its warm enough to roll my window down

 

[$ub$onic]

Its also not really healthy to be breathing in that stuff either

 

[BruteRam]

Checked the overflow and it looks a bit low, marked the level and will watch to see if its going down, but for now its parked except for short trips, sick of the smell. Will give it a few mths to see if chev comes up with a fix, if not will most likely trade it in on a dodge. Its my first chev and really like it but if there's no solution to this smell I gotta get rid of it

 

[ChrisJ]

Checked the overflow and it looks a bit low, marked the level and will watch to see if its going down, but for now its parked except for short trips, sick of the smell. Will give it a few mths to see if chev comes up with a fix, if not will most likely trade it in on a dodge. Its my first chev and really like it but if there's no solution to this smell I gotta get rid of it

Now there is a way to guarantee you get an unreliable vehicle. opcorn:

 

[Macehammer]

I am firmly in the anti-Dodge camp. They only have one good car.

Guess which one....

 

[BruteRam]

I've never actually owned a dodge car, except for late 60's and early 70's but I'm on my forth truck and never had any major problems with any of them

 

[$ub$onic]

Dodges are not bad. Chevys are good, still a ford man.

 

[ChrisJ]

Being a specific brand man is stupid and will never gain you anything.

Be product smart, not brand smart.

 

[$ub$onic]

I am not a brand man but I would prefer to drive a ford truck.( really hate there new car designs) I like them better then the others. I had 2 dodge trucks( not at the same time) they where good trucks but I bought them because they had the cummins diesel, and the price was right.

 

[sx sonic]

uggh I hate driving the majority of fords, they're definetely not a drivers vehicle. And until recently had garbage ergonomics (who designed their shifter positions? Helen keller? Even they way the key fits in the ignition is a$$ backwards.

 

[$ub$onic]

How is the key backwards?!?!?! And how are they not driver friendly?

 

[ColonelPanic]

I couldn't find a thread about my somewhat-but-not-exactly-similar problem, however I didn't want to post a new thread since I figured it would get locked. Please forgive me if this is in the wrong place. :blankface:

I seem to have a similar observation with low coolant level in the surge tank on mine. But no smell, at least not yet.... It's been this way since I bought the car (3 weeks and 1200 miles ago.) Doesn't seem to have dropped any. None of the telltale signs of a bad heater core thus far.

I hope it was just underfilled from the factory, did anyone else have that problem? Wish I had some Dexcool to top it off, but I do not... I have some Dexclone "all makes all models" stuff but I don't want to put that in there. At any rate, the dealer needs to handle this one. opcorn:

 

[Macehammer]

uggh I hate driving the majority of fords, they're definetely not a drivers vehicle. And until recently had garbage ergonomics (who designed their shifter positions? Helen keller? Even they way the key fits in the ignition is a$$ backwards.

Yeah, let's pick on Ford by referencing Helen Keller.

What next, Anne Frank?

 

[ChrisJ]

I couldn't find a thread about my somewhat-but-not-exactly-similar problem, however I didn't want to post a new thread since I figured it would get locked. Please forgive me if this is in the wrong place. :blankface:

I seem to have a similar observation with low coolant level in the surge tank on mine. But no smell, at least not yet.... It's been this way since I bought the car (3 weeks and 1200 miles ago.) Doesn't seem to have dropped any. None of the telltale signs of a bad heater core thus far.

I hope it was just underfilled from the factory, did anyone else have that problem? Wish I had some Dexcool to top it off, but I do not... I have some Dexclone "all makes all models" stuff but I don't want to put that in there. At any rate, the dealer needs to handle this one. opcorn:

My first Sonic was overfilled, this one was underfilled but I don't think as much as yours. I added some new dexcool the day I got the car, its either then going to the dealer at least when you have it on hand like I did.

I run all of my cars a tad past "full" but barely, like 1/8th of an inch. I do this because in the early years of dexcool the biggest problem was air in the system and it turned out, overfilled systems didn't have issues while low ones did. I'm talking mid-late 90s on this one and I guess I stuck with an old habbit.

When I opened my tank, the level went up, I guess hoses were expanded, I don't know. Either way at that point I added enough, going by memory to bring it up to where I wanted. After one heat\cool cycle it dropped right to where I wanted it.

 

[ColonelPanic]

Thanks, ChrisJ - good to know! I wasn't sure how precise the filling process was at the plant.

I took a piece of masking tape and stuck it to the tank and marked the level to see if it drops further. Will call the dealer tomorrow to see what they say. I probably should invest in a jug of Dexcool to have anyway.

I hope it's just low and that I haven't bought another GM product with a drinking problem. I remember all too well the Dexcool nightmare of the 90's, I suffered from that with my first brand new car ('98 Malibu, 3100 V6.)

 

[Supertuner]

I noticed a sweet smell when wiping down my car after washing it. The smell was coming from the front grill area. I popped the hood and could smell a sweet coolant -like smell in the engine compartment. I looked at the coolant reservoir and made note of the level of coolant. It was not low. The smell appears to be coming from the accessory side of the engine where the water pump is. It is only noticeable when the engine is hot.
I park in a garage and have no leaks on the floor.I am going to keep and eye on things for awhile as I have not seen any real remedies for any kind of coolant smell. I wonder if many of these cases of people smelling coolant is the result of air from the engine compartment entering the car from the fresh air intake. I also wonder if some of the materials used in building the car give off a coolant-like smell when they get hot.
I would have to say if a heater core leaks - even a pinhole leak, you would have that all too familiar fogging of the inner windshield. Time will tell

 

[rondoman]

I noticed a sweet smell when wiping down my car after washing it. The smell was coming from the front grill area. I popped the hood and could smell a sweet coolant -like smell in the engine compartment. I looked at the coolant reservoir and made note of the level of coolant. It was not low. The smell appears to be coming from the accessory side of the engine where the water pump is. It is only noticeable when the engine is hot.
I park in a garage and have no leaks on the floor.I am going to keep and eye on things for awhile as I have not seen any real remedies for any kind of coolant smell. I wonder if many of these cases of people smelling coolant is the result of air from the engine compartment entering the car from the fresh air intake. I also wonder if some of the materials used in building the car give off a coolant-like smell when they get hot.
I would have to say if a heater core leaks - even a pinhole leak, you would have that all too familiar fogging of the inner windshield. Time will tell

Make sure your radiator cap is on tight as well as your overflow tank.