I was driving back from the store today and when i turned the heater on i had smoke coming from the vents and from the foot area in the driver side and the passenger side. It smelled like radiator fluid. Now i drove b4 that 250 miles with that smell thinking it was not the engine before it started to smoke. Prob b/c i did not turn the heater on unitl i left the store near home. Which i hope it is not engine fluid leak.. And i doubt it is b/c i never lost fluid from the radiator or its resevoir. Now when i looked under the car i had some radiator fluid dropping from underneath the car on the passenger side tire area. Do you guys have an idea what the problem is? And my father said that there are some things u can buy to fix leaks in the radiator. He said that the radiator is used to heat the water that blows throught the vents. He also said i should try and buy some leak fixing stuff that he has heard about. Has anyone had this problem? and if not are their any suggestions (cheap ones other than dealers) that can help me fix this? Thanks alot

 

Sounds like a hose to the heater core or the heater core is bad and leaking Dont use stop leak or any thing. Find out whats wrong and fix it correctly

 

ohh, i was gunna buy something called "seal-up" car-go. its a liquid glass product. i have to drain the radiator and then fill it up with water and that stuff. then let it run for 35 min. then drain and fill up with radiator fluid and distilled water. the thing is i dont wanna take it to the dealer since i dont have a warranty, and i dont know any good machanics in dallas. so i have gunna make it temp fix. still think i should not do it? what type of place do u suggest i go?

 

I wouldnt use that stuff, and if the hole is to big it wont work and may cause more problems than its worth. Id remove the glovebox and run the system and see if i could see whats causing it. That or bring it in. Never know it may be a simple fix

 

fsttyms1,
thanks alot. ill do it in the morning and remove the glovebox and check it out. it isnt leaking alot though. the seal thing i bought but have not used is used to fix the heater core it says, but i understand what you are saying. Have u ever had this problem b4. And good lord. U know more about these cars than the dealers do.

 

I havent had this problem on the TL but have seen it on other cars. Thats why i said to look around, it may be just a bad hose or loose conection. Check un the engine compartment also to see if you can see where the lines run into teh car to see if they are leaking there?

 

fsttyms1,
i have seen pics of ac cabin filter changes to see how to take out the glovebox. but that plastic that they cut to change the filter, does all that have to be taken out to see the heating coils? if so then could you please direct me on how to go about of knowing what to look for and how to remove the glovebox. thanks again

 

Guess i should ask is the floor area wet on the passenger side? If not you may want to start your searching in the engine compartment where the lined run thru the firewall

 

no, the floor is not wet. just a bunch of smoke came out from there. But how would i be able to even see it from the engine compartment. I mean if i have to look at normally through the glovebox, then wouldnt it be impossible to see it from inside the engine?

Also, if i were to flush the radiator, do i have to remove all the plastic from under. I just checked and i felt something in one of the holes they have in the plastic under the radiator that felt like a plug. Are u familar with what im talking about? and if not, did u remove the plastic under the car or is there an easy access hole for the plug access?

And damn what sucks more, is that the inside of my car smells like radiator fluid, from the smoke of the fluid. man it smells

 

fsttyms1,
ok i checked out behind the glovebox. and the smoke is coming from the top left corner of the floor on the passenger side. its not coming from directly from behind the glove box. Now, there is no way for me to see exactly where its coming from. I was just gunna try the seal thing i told u about b4. esp since its getting cold here and i dont have my mechanic in this city. On the bottle, it say to drain and flush radiator. then fill it up with water and then put the seal thing in. After that it says to let the engine idle until normal temp. Once at normal idle temp, let the engine run for 20 min. Now, when i do that, since the issue is with the heater, should i run the heater so the seal goes to that area. Or, will it automatically go to that leak? After all that it says to drain system, and then fill with normal fluids.

Do you think that the seal thing would help the smoking issue. I mean i know u said to not do it, but i dont have a choice. I cant afford to go the dealer and see what the problem is.

Please help, since today is the only day i can do this, since i took off of work for this issue. I can not afford to go to a dealer and have then rape me in quotes and then charges to fix the issue. thanks again

 

ohh man, it smokes like hell when i drive. thanks for all ur help fsttyms1, im going to the dealer right now. thanks though

 

If it smokes inside teh car it leads me to believe that the heatercore or a hose to it is leaking somewhere inside teh car slightly causing it. It will need to be inspected. Let us know what they find

 

Take it somewhere, that can't be good for your health.

 

i took it to the acura dealer here. they said the heater core is leaking. now everytime i drive it smokes inside. i was inhaling that shit. now, they called me back and said it will cost $1300 to fix. since it requires the whole dash to come out and about 10hrs in labor. im like holy shit. i dont have $1300 bucks to spend. im up a shit creeek cuz i need a car and i have work tomorrow. my dad said to take it a normal shop and have them bypass the lines and not allow the fluid to go the heatercore. then he was gunna drive up from houston and get the car and drive it back to our guy there. there is a dealer in houston that im really cool with and the service guy there is gunna work on a price and get back to me. now that is if i take it there i think. Do u guys think f he comes back with a cheaper quote that a dealer in dallas will honor a quote from a dealer in houston?

 

So i am just gunna have the dealer fix it for $1100 bucks. sucks man but it has to be done.