littlejt1

Need some help!! I am getting some strong coolant smells, and that "hot" smell from my 88 951, from jsut regualr daily driving. Doesn't overheat (or appear to), coolant level is fine and I can find no leaks, etc...haven't seen any on the ground either.

Any ideas what could cause this...this just started very recently, and the car is also not idling very smooth. Only recent thing I've done is change the oil.
Advice, comments...all is appreciated!
Thanks!!!!!

jurg

hello
look in the back of the motor, around the heater valve ,sometimes the valve or the hoses in the area leak and the smell can become strong,but since the leak is over the clutch you may not notice any coolant on the floor.As for your idle,check for a vacuum leak,be sure all the small hoses under the manifold are connected properly in place and have no cracks.
Let me know if you need more help.

Yabo

check your oil again.. is there any brownness to the oil? How about any sludge on the oil or coolant cap?

if you dont see any drips or steam and it smells alot... You may have bad oil cooler seals or a bad headgasket (sorry!). Do you get any white smoke out the tailpipe? Mine didn't appear to overheat, nor did it have smoke out the tailpipe, until it was really far gone and had kind of your symptoms.

littlejt1

The only time I get smoke out the tail pipe is on a cold morning when i fist start...white smoke, but after it warms up there is none...drove the car at lunch to day, and it actually seemed like it backfired (very small) once I am praying and crossing fingers that it's nothing too serious....

Thanks for the help!!!

hosrom_951

Jeff,
You don't get 'smoke' in the morning, that is steam aka condensation where ALL and ANY car does in cold weather start ups. Jurg pretty much nailed it, make sure that the hoses and clams for the heater valve are tight. If that fails, you MAY be having a tiny leak somewhere, but since you could smell it (windows up/down climate control on hot/cold) that MAY also indicat a leak from the heater core.

That coolant smell is for inside or outside the car?

Swagger93

"In the words of the great poet, Lynard Skynard: 'Ooh that smell, can't ya smell a that smell.' Well I smell that smell Mr. Bin Laden."

littlejt1

Guess I should have been more specific...but the stuff in the AM is actually smoke....again, when the engine is cold...and obviously more on actual "cold" mornings (i live in houston, so we don't get many)...but this is a white smoke, that goes away, and after running a minute or two gone completely.

Thanks to all who've posted...jurg...I'll sure check everything and see what happens...got all the diagrams from Clark's so I won't miss anything.

hosrom_951

If you get smoke not condensation in cold mornings, how does the car start? does it stumble for a sec then comes back to life (ie runs on 3 cylinders then fires all 4). That sounds like a bad headgasket to me...........

littlejt1

Ugggg....you nailed it, it does sputter seomtimes then come back to life. I'm going to tear into it this weekend weather permitting and see what I can see.

Sometimes it starts and starts smooth, just a little rought idle, but sometimes it sounds like it's going to die, then comes back to life. I'm praying it's not the head gasket...but then with all the help on here it might not be that bad!!!

Just have to get some of the 'Greaseslingers' together for a keg-fix my car party!

Yabo

Headgasket shouldnt be that bad, IF thats all you are going to do while your in there. You'll have to do the belts, and buy head studs, and a headgasket... so parts should come out around 100 bucks.. plus the time... shouldnt be TOO bad..

Gator_86_951

How many miles are on the head. I had mine reworked and the motor is definately stronger. Well that and I fix all the vacuum leaks.

littlejt1

The car has about 75000 miles on it, so not too bad....but it was sitting for a while when I purchased it...had a PPi/compression test, etc, and all checked out OK, but that was a few months ago, and I have been daily driving...the onlly "recent" thing I have done is change the oil to full syn a couple of weeks ago (previous owner didn't use mobile 1 ) ...but that's shouldn't have been a big deal.

I haven't noticed any "mixing" of oil and coolant in the tank, but I will look again, and also check the dipstick...just that smell. The hesitation I have been seeing in the idle, and rough starts I was attributing to my fuel filter needing to be changed, but now I'm certainly concerned.

Mainly if it's the headgasket, the time involved, as the parts aren't that bad. UGH!!!