antifreeze smell under boost

[bluehair]

i drove my car 86 gn mostly stock ta49 50# injectors...about a 100 miles or so today just back roads enjoying the country.... under boost say 5# or more i get a smell of sweet antifreeze inside the car.... car is not overheating, is runing ok...has a slight miss in it but nothing major... only time i get the smell is when im under boost... anyone experience this?

there is no steam or smoke....car doesnt overheat and drove it all day long with no issues other than under boost smell....inside car....
has had a new heater core a few years ago also....
head gasket? but not overheating.....

 

[GetOwnedVette]

Could be the rpm as well.. since under boost I'm sure you are a higher one. I experienced the same thing in my wrx. Traced it to a very tiny hairline fracture in the radiator.

 

[corsair231]

Inside the car smell just about always means a heater core leak. What may be happening is when under boost the engine is making enough torque to move in its mounts. This could be causing a normally not leaking hose to leak or even flexing the heater core enough to open a small crack in the welds. Doesn't take much a/f to smell a lot. Check your hoses and clamps and try to move them around while the car is still and see if you can get the smell then. May need to turn the heat on and get someone to sit in the closed car while you are doing it just in case you can't smell it under the hood.

 

[williamsGN]

Disconnect the heater core hoses and loop them together, that will answer the heater core part of the problem real quick. As soon as you smell it, pull over and check under the hood. Smell could be getting pulled through the air intake on the cowl giving you the smell inside the car. You can also put you AC on Max and it will recirculate the air inside the car bypassing the outside air intake.. assuming the AC works

 

[Hot Air]

Check your engine oil for presence of water/antifreeze! Another scenerio is head gasket leaking & pressurizing cooling system and dumping through a crack or loose hose as mentioned above.
Conrad

 

[JayC]

See above ^^^^^^^^

Make sure youre not losing coolant too. If it happens under boost, that would worry me.

 

[extranjeo]

Rent a coolant pressure tester from Autozone. You'll find if something is leaking instantly.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Rent a coolant pressure tester from Autozone. You'll find if something is leaking instantly.

And, while U R doing that, use a black lite and a bottle of dye.