I have a 2003 Impala, 3.4, and over the last couple of days, I've noticed the smell of antifreeze coming through the air vents. It comes on stronger when I change the temp controls to warmer.

Can anyone "sniff" this one out for me?

Thanks for any help!

 

feel around on the floor on passenger side. if it's wet or damp, you probably have a leaking heater core.

 

Bingo. I lifted up the floor mat, and it's wet. So, do you think the heater core just needs to be replaced? How difficult of a job is that for a novice? scale of 1 to 10...

Thanks for your help!

 

i would think that is the problem, just needs replaced. pretty common thing, not necessarily any problem or issue, just one of those things that goes out. best thing to do if you're thinking of doing it yourself is to get a chilton's or haynes repair manual. these will have pretty good step by steps to help you tackle it. some cars it's a 15 min job, others could be couple hours.

 

I had a quote for $650 at my local shop. I picked up the part for $72, grabbed some instructions off the internet, and got it fixed. The instructions said it should take about an hour, but with my lack of experience, it was more like 4 hours. I spent a lot of time upside-down reaching up under the dash.

Seems to be working. So far, so good.

Thanks again.

 

glad ya got er fixed!!!