Antifreeze smell on occasion...

Does anyone get a strong whiff of anitfreeze from time to time with their LGT/ OB. And if so, what was the culprit?

Our car has had this symptom for the last 2k miles however there are no leaks present or level change at the expansion tank. Has anyone BTDT...?

 

After 7K miles this will be our first service visit.....and a pressure test will tell.

 

 

Cheers,

Mike

My wife's forester XT has that smell occaisionally, 15K service is coming up , I am going to mention it. My LGT does not have that issue.

I smell it every once in a while with my LGT. Only 4300 miles on it...

I smell it once in a while on my GT Ltd. So I brought it in the other day for service to see if they were able to find it. And unfortunately they weren't able to find a leak...they said there are no signs of antifreeze leaking.

I smell it sometimes, especially after alot of stop and go traffic. At least the stank clutch is gone.

I don't smell that, but I smell windshield washer fluid at times. I have pretty much narrowed it down to when pull the windshield washer spray and the vents are on intake. Is that possibly what you're referring to?

Nope on the washer fluid possiblity; thanks though. Antifreeze has a distinct odor.

 

Cheers,

Mike

Me too, I find myself smelling it once in a while. I always thought I was just smelling things once in a while.

Maybe its just new engine burn off?

I have 18k miles....doubt new engine burn off. Hopefully someone finds where the smell is coming from.

I'm no chemist, but isn't U.S. gas kind of high in sulfur? Could it be the exhaust syetem dealing with U.S. gas?

I had the same problem so i took it in to the dealership where they noticed that antifreeze was squirting out on the bottom where the hose meets the water neck. It turns out I had a head gasket blown. This was at 5800 miles. They will not replace the engine. They milled the heads and put it back together. I havent had any engine problems since.

That's pretty f'd up, should have had them buy the car back for such a repair

Its NOT; NEW ENGINE, LOOSE CAPS, OVER FILLED, ETC. I had the same issue with a 05 legacy 2.5i. The odor was continuous and very strong when the car warmed up. SOA dealers will deny everything and blame it on overflow, or your imagination. Bring your car to a dealer and demand to meet the subaru rep. He is the only person to find the problem and fix it.

 

The issue on older subaru cars was a leaky head gasket.

Interesting...I smell it too. Now I know it's not my imagination.

I don't ever smell it..... But I do get a residue on the windshield on the sides. It looks like a vapor is condesing on the glass right above the left and right vents while the car sits. A small leak in the heater core would casue this. But I never notice the coolent level change, so I ignore it and just clean the windshield frequantly.

 

 

edit:

 

i can't spell either

 

 

 

 

 

Moved to Warranty

I asked my dealer about it and they said I should mark a line on the overflow and then check it to see it goes down.

 

I hope it is not a head gasket. MY04 WRX cracked a head gasket and Atlantic Subaru would not warranty it because I had Samco radiator hoses and intercooler pipes. Subaru hates aftermarket parts.

you shoulda fought that. There is no way they could prove radiator hoses caused a head gasket failure. And there is defitnatly no way they could prove intercooler piping had anything to do with the head gasket.

I did fit it through SOA. It took alot of fighting but it was taking care of. If they did not fix it I don't think I would be driving a Subaru right now.

Check out my issue, it sounds exactly like what you folks are describing

 

http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?p=241604#post241604