# Coolant smell poll (TUNED CARS PLEASE ENTER!!!)



## H3LLON3ARTH (Dec 16, 2011)

I'm tuned and I have been having a reddish haze on the inside of my winsheild have had it pressuee tested and no leaks found it only smells when I have my defrost going and I showed the techs at gm and they couldn't find anything wrong.

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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I have residue on the windshield that is obviously from the vent because of location. I don't have coolant smell, however. Untuned.


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## Hoon (Mar 18, 2012)

Hellonearth, 

Not a good start for this theory then, thanks for posting.

Would be great if you could do the poll!


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

Good idea, but remember this will be subjective. I have a terrible sense of smell and I might miss the AF stench in the car. My wife on the other hand can tell if the dog does an SBD in another part of the house, so she would probably know as soon as the radiator cap opens. 

I think that if any Cruze owner thinks there is an AF smell issue in his/her car, they should get the dealer to put dye in the coolant and then we can see where the venting is.


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## Hoon (Mar 18, 2012)

Jim Frye said:


> I think that if any Cruze owner thinks there is an AF smell issue in his/her car, they should get the dealer to put dye in the coolant and then we can see where the venting is.


I agree, but it doesn't seem to be getting anyone results. 

A lot of people have done this, and dealers claim no leaks after dye/pressure tests. The water pump soft seal problem has been missed by dealers multiple times, but also doesn't seem to be responsible for smell in the cabin. 

I'm sure the thread title alone will skew results, i'm just curious how widespread the issue is. My car didn't show any signs until 11K miles.


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## bubby2411 (Sep 3, 2011)

I am tuned and i had it for a while and i did not go to the dealer so i just tried to see if it would go through a phase and stop. Well it has been 2 months now and i have not smelled anything. It started about September of last year.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Tuned, and I haven't smelled anything. I have had the coolant slowly lower on me over the course of 44k miles, though. The O-ring on the pressure cap is always wet whenever I have taken it off, so I'm guessing it's leaking around the O-ring a little bit. What would be something good to put on it to seal it better, dielectric grease? 

The car doesn't get much above 215*F when tuned. Most of the time it stays right around 190-200*F during normal highway driving.


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

sciphi said:


> The O-ring on the pressure cap is always wet whenever I have taken it off, so I'm guessing it's leaking around the O-ring a little bit. What would be something good to put on it to seal it better, dielectric grease?


But is it wet around the cap on the outside of the tank? I'd say RTV silicone for its temperature capability, but sealing up the overflow tank cap could cause the tank to crack or burst. Unless you have Chevy's overflow tube patch installed, I'd be leery of sealing the tank cap. If I had the tube fix on my car, I'd be sure the exit end is hanging well below the bottom of the car where the air flow will take any fumes away immediately.


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## blk88verde (Apr 30, 2011)

I am tuned and have 14,000+ miles on my Cruze. Every once in a while I get the coolant smell, not very strong. I have only added to my coolant tank once in a year and a half, level was down maybe a half inch.


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## smash (Dec 10, 2011)

Hoon said:


> I'm sure the thread title alone will skew results, i'm just curious how widespread the issue is. My car didn't show any signs until 11K miles.


That is about the time mine started to smell. Which doesnt make any sense. What changed at 11k miles to all the sudden make it smell. The only logical explanation I have it is about the time I started to use the heat for the first time.


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## smash (Dec 10, 2011)

Jim Frye said:


> But is it wet around the cap on the outside of the tank? I'd say RTV silicone for its temperature capability, but sealing up the overflow tank cap could cause the tank to crack or burst. Unless you have Chevy's overflow tube patch installed, I'd be leery of sealing the tank cap. If I had the tube fix on my car, I'd be sure the exit end is hanging well below the bottom of the car where the air flow will take any fumes away immediately.


isnt the point of a pressure rated cap to "hold back" whatever is creating pressure? it is designed to hold back 20psi in this case. So the fix was to put a tube in the overflow tank which effectively makes the cap more effective by lowering the tank pressure.


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## Mick (Dec 31, 2011)

I've started getting a faint smell recently but haven't had a chance to look into it. I don't use the heat much though.


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## H3LLON3ARTH (Dec 16, 2011)

Hoon said:


> Hellonearth,
> 
> Not a good start for this theory then, thanks for posting.
> 
> Would be great if you could do the poll!


I will as soon as I get home.

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## audiobahnman (Sep 2, 2011)

wow, I'm the first 1.8 Tuned to vote  

I voted coolant smell but, mines not bad though .. in 16000 miles i have had to add coolant once.


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## Hoon (Mar 18, 2012)

I didn't add coolant to my chevy truck once in 130K miles. Flushed the whole system once while replacing a cracked radiator. Beyond that, it never lost anything. My car, a design 10 model years newer, will need more coolant before 20K at most...and that's being generous.


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## RedChevy (May 22, 2011)

I have an untuned 1.4T and I occasionally get the coolant smell (noticeable when parked in the garage) but no film or odor inside the car.
I have lost approximately 1/2" of coolant in the past 3 or 4K and I really do believe the problem is a design flaw with the surge tank/cap or the coolant is boiling off in the surge tank.


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## Bohdan (Apr 28, 2012)

I had that smell when I first got the car for about a week and had to add around 20z of coolant as it dropped somewhat. Now at 4,000 miles all has been well.


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## tecollins1 (Nov 6, 2011)

Nothing unusual to report.
2011 Eco 6 speed
20k miles stock
10k miles tuned
30k miles total


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## mcg75 (Mar 5, 2012)

Hoon said:


> One of the theories that makes a lot of sense is that hot coolant exits the radiator under pressure, where it can't boil, and then begins to boil in the reserve tank, creating vapors that end up leaking out and enter the passenger compartment through the heat ducts.


The reserve tank doesn't see constant flow like the rad or block. Coolant gets sucked out of it if the system gets low and expanding coolant gets put into it if the system starts overheating. 

The reservoir itself has a hole molded into the side of it a little lower than the cap. It's plugged with another piece of plastic but not sealed. The TSB tells dealers to run a hose from this hole to the bottom of the car which is what every other GM I owned is like. 

If anyone is getting a smell within a few minutes of starting the car, it's not the reserve tank.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Just washed my car and cleaned the windshield on both sides. Now I wait and see if the film comes back out of the defroster vent.


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## MyShibbyEco (Jan 21, 2012)

I have always had a fog/oil build up on the windshield of every car I've owned from using the defrost (or from a hot sunny day/summer). There is natural oil in the air and hot air blowing on a smooth surface will help the oil develop quicker.

Now if you can see a distinctly red tint then that's different, but I have always had oil build up on windshields, even when not using the defrost (such as my Camaro that I don't drive in the winter and never has the thermostat turned past half way).

I'm not answering the poll just yet. I topped off my coolant to the fill line and took a picture of it about 700 miles ago and am watching it carefully. Currently it is too close to the originally filled line to make a comment (when taking in to account not measuring on the same surface, temperature, drive time, etc).


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## RAW2U (Jul 31, 2012)

I posted this issue with inside moisture a few months ago with our 2012 RS 1.4.
Today just now I got a call from the wife never mind a little moisture on the inside .The inside of the car every window complete full of water and now she smells it inside.No leaks last week when I checked. But it has a appointment as of now to go get checked out I will let you know as we progress Tuesday it goes in ,My wife stopped at the dealer just a few minutes ago.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

More responses, please!


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## Silver Streak (Jan 5, 2013)

mcg75 said:


> The reserve tank doesn't see constant flow like the rad or block. Coolant gets sucked out of it if the system gets low and expanding coolant gets put into it if the system starts overheating.
> 
> The reservoir itself has a hole molded into the side of it a little lower than the cap. It's plugged with another piece of plastic but not sealed. The TSB tells dealers to run a hose from this hole to the bottom of the car which is what every other GM I owned is like.
> 
> If anyone is getting a smell within a few minutes of starting the car, it's not the reserve tank.


This above statement is incorrect for the Cruze, and also many GM products. The tank on the Cruze is referred to as a surge tank. It is pressurized to 20 psi with a sealing cap, unlike a reserve tank whose cap is not pressurized. Look at the surge tank and you will see two hoses entering the tank. This allows circulation all the time within the tank.

I would also like to clarify a comment noted on the other antifreeze threads. If you either look online or on the back of a Prestone yellow gallon container for their Extended Life - All makes and All models antifreeze, you will see that the boiling point for a 50/50 mixture is 265 F with a 15 lb pressure cap in good condition. Since we are running at 20 lb cap, I would assume the boiling point will be slightly higher. For those thinking their coolant is boiling in their pressurized surge tank, that is hard for me to comprehend. But, if they have a cap issue and the system is not running at the designed pressure, that may be part of the issue. The vent only comes into play when the pressure exceeds some blow off rating (above 20 lbs) and allows the pressure with coolant vapor to escape. The vent is not always open or else the tank and system could not obtain pressure. My other car with a V6, has a vent hose coming off the surge tank that leads to the bottom of the vehicle. So, this issue is not unique to the Cruze.


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## RAW2U (Jul 31, 2012)

What to say!! Just another wasted trip to the dealer ;(
Yes, the dealer had our car on the 15 for the day. They checked bullettens found NONE ,checked HVAC software updates, NONE found removed cowl and found no issues.Then washed and vacuumed the smelly wet car and gave it back to us.


The next day same thing happened to my wife.....
This car is garage kept, the wife drove it to work on a DRY day again.Then came out to check it at lunch and the inside was a rain forest again.All the inside windows are all moist of water.


Was great to have the car vacuumed and washed for a day 0


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## OnlyTaurus (Mar 20, 2012)

1.4T Tuned. No problems here. I had an occasional smell in the beginning of my Cruze's life, but that went away around 6k miles. Have about 17k now.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

OnlyTaurus said:


> 1.4T Tuned. No problems here. I had an occasional smell in the beginning of my Cruze's life, but that went away around 6k miles. Have about 17k now.


When did you tune it?


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## mcg75 (Mar 5, 2012)

Silver Streak said:


> This above statement is incorrect for the Cruze, and also many GM products. The tank on the Cruze is referred to as a surge tank. It is pressurized to 20 psi with a sealing cap, unlike a reserve tank whose cap is not pressurized. Look at the surge tank and you will see two hoses entering the tank. This allows circulation all the time within the tank.


The only thing I did wrong was refer to it as reservoir. 

The surge tank is a plastic tank with a threaded pressure cap. The tank is mounted at a point higher than all other coolant passages. The surge tank provides an air space in the cooling system that allows the coolant to expand and contract. The surge tank provides a coolant fill point and a central air bleed location. During vehicle use, the coolant heats and expands. The increased coolant volume flows into the surge tank. As the coolant circulates, any air is allowed to bubble out. Coolant without air bubbles absorbs heat much better than coolant with bubbles.

When we start checking coolant freeze point in October, you would not believe the number of times we pull washer fluid of the surge tank that the customer added to the wrong place. Not to mention the number of times someone has added older green antifreeze incorrectly. 

If the surge tank was a constant flow in flow out type of deal as you describe, the washer fluid or green coolant would have mixed with the dexcool by the time we saw it and would not even be noticable except for maybe a slight discoloration. 

Not to mention a constant flow in and out of the tank would allow air to enter the system all the time.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I just looked at my surge tank and took the cap off and took a whiff. That is not the smell I get when I run my defroster. The coolant smell is far sweeter than the rank acrid smell I get from the defroster.


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

obermd said:


> I just looked at my surge tank and took the cap off and took a whiff. That is not the smell I get when I run my defroster. The coolant smell is far sweeter than the rank acrid smell I get from the defroster.


Possible mold build up in the system. Try a can of HVAC spray from the auto parts store. It was less than $3 when I bought a can this summer. You spray it in the cabin air intake with the A/C on.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

RAW2U said:


> What to say!! Just another wasted trip to the dealer ;(
> Yes, the dealer had our car on the 15 for the day. They checked bullettens found NONE ,checked HVAC software updates, NONE found removed cowl and found no issues.Then washed and vacuumed the smelly wet car and gave it back to us.
> 
> 
> ...




RAW2U,
Have you been in contact with GM of Canada in regards to your concerns? If you have not I would recommend that you do contact them about this. You can contact them at 800-263-3777 Monday-Friday 7:30am - 11:30pm or Saturday 7:30am - 6:00 EST. Please feel free to keep me posted on this. 
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Jim Frye said:


> Possible mold build up in the system. Try a can of HVAC spray from the auto parts store. It was less than $3 when I bought a can this summer. You spray it in the cabin air intake with the A/C on.


Anyone got a picture of where the intake is located? I want to make sure I'm spraying the correct area. I replaced my cabin air filter about 5K miles ago and it made a huge difference.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Just under your drivers wiper. 


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

obermd said:


> Anyone got a picture of where the intake is located? I want to make sure I'm spraying the correct area. I replaced my cabin air filter about 5K miles ago and it made a huge difference.


Post #275 of the http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/25-service-issues/5843-antifreeze-smell-thread-28.html. It's the long tapered triangular mesh opening directly behind the surge tank.


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