If your windshield keeps fogging up or you have a sweet smell from your car vents, there might be a problem with the heater core. Follow these tips to find out why this happens and how you can fix and prevent a foggy windshield or sweet smell in your car.
Diagnose & Fix: Windshield Keeps Fogging Up and/or Sweet Smell from the Car Vents
How a Heater Core Can Cause a Windshield to Keep Fogging or a Sweet Smell in Your Car
It’s common for a bad heater core to cause problems like the windshield fogging up. The heater core connects to two hoses through the firewall so hot coolant or antifreeze can pass through it. When the heat is turned on, the blower motor pushes air through the heater core, and this hot air then enters the cabin.
Heater Core Is Leaking
One sign of a heater core leak is finding coolant leaking beneath your vehicle from the drain pipe. The drain pipe connects to the heater box, and coolant will leak from it if there’s one at the heater core. If the heater core is leaking, the lack of coolant will result in a lower temperature, which means colder air will blow into the cabin.
Heater Core Is Clogged
If the heater core is clogged, the restricted flow of coolant or lack of circulation will lead to colder coolant reaching the heater core, and then colder air drifting into the cabin.
More on diagnosing a heater core
How to Fix a Clogged or Leaking Heater Core
The heater core is in the heater box along with the AC evaporator, blower motor, and door actuators. It can be time consuming to replace it, and you’ll need to remove parts like the dash.
Flush a Clogged Heater Core
If the heater core if clogged, you can try flushing it with tubes and a garden hose. You’ll need to disconnect the hoses from the heater core and attach tubes in their place. Then flush the water through the heater core in the opposite direction it normally flows, and let the water flow out the other end.
More on flushing the heater core
Replace a Leaking or Damaged Heater Core
Follow the step-by-step instructions in our how-to videos and learn how to replace parts like a leaking or damaged heater core yourself and more.
More Tips
- More on how to diagnose coolant leaks
- How to Perform a Heater Core Flush
- Why Does My Car Heater Blow Cold Air?
- Heater Is Blowing Cold Air? How to Diagnose the Heat Not Working in Your Car
- Car Heater Not Working?
- Time for a Coolant Flush? How to Flush the Coolant in Your Car
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