a/c leak??? ever get MUSTKy smell????

[bmw///m3///]

sometimes my car get a musty smell coming out the vents , my dad says its coolant and that my heater core is probably leaking?
any one ever hear of this???

[J!m]

Coolant has a distinctive smell, and you can open your (cold) radiator fill cap to identify that smell. If this is the smelll, then the heater core is suspect.

If it's musty, it is most likely mold growing in the vent system somewhere. There are a few products to kill the mold, which you must do to eliminate the smell. If you try to cover it with nice smelly products, you will have nice smelling mold in your vents...

Also check the HEPA filters. These may be clogged or damaged, allowing stuff to pass, or the media itself may be home to growing alien life!

[bmw///m3///]

I was told its probably my heater core. I threw in some Bars sealer. See wehat that does and will flush out monday. Do you think that stuff could cause any damage??
thanks

[J!m]

I personally would not run any radiator sealer on a bet in any of my cars. You have cast iron and aluminum with a bit of copper, rubber and plastic thrown in to the mix in your cooling system.

Assuming the coolant is not changed regularly, it is probably corroded nicely now. A sealer could accelerate the galvanic corrosion process, though they claim not to.

I would pull the car from service and check the entire cooling system. Pull the radiator and heater core and have a radiator shop flush and pressure check them. Pull the water pump and see what the inside of the head looks like now. A good shop will be able to PROPERLY flush your cooing system, which I highly reccomend.

Summer is coming, and you had better not be relying on that sealer to get you to winter again... Ask anyone here who has overheated- the head is usually junk afterward.

[bmw///m3///]

Damn I just created another problem..... I drove my car around for about 20 minutes yesterday witht that sealer in there. I havenot driven it since . I guess monday I can drive down to my dads shop and flush it there.

SO do you think Im causing damge to my cooling system?? is so what and where?? Im really confused


Thanks j!m for all the help

[J!m]

In addition to sealing leaks, the sealers typically close-down the smaller cooalnt passages. So, if you have corrosion/scale in the passages already, and some of the sealer lodges there, what do you think will happen to your coolant flow rate?? "Hot spots" that are caused by this are hard to detect too. It's just not worth the risk, if you ask me (and you did...).

MAYBE it will be fine for 10 years, and maybe not. Do you really want to be one of those people asking me what I want for my 1.9 engine???

It IS a BMW after all. Not the cheapest car to own, but with proper care, will be with us long after the Cavaliers are dust.