Maple Syrup Smell When Turning On the Heat

Mudflap

Mudflap

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Oct 15, 2021
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Hi all,

I've been smelling maple syrup for years now every time I turned on the heat in my Jeep. I just ignored it because I didn't care enough to find out what it was, until I found out that coolant is supposed to smell like that (I usually don't huff coolant on purpose, only when I turn on my heat). This smell comes immediately when I turn on the heat, never with cold air. Is there a problem with my heater core?
 
More than likely the problem is a weeping heater core.
Have you observed drips of liquid on the ground beneath your A/C drip pan drain that smells like coolant?
You could rent a cooling system pressure checking tool from AutoZone or similar Auto Parts Store to pressurize check the system to see if it holds pressure.
 
I have that initial odor too. I looked inside the hvac housing with a scope and didn't see any concern on the core like drips, wet spots.
I did vacuum out a bunch of debris from trees and the smell mostly went away.
 
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Reactions: John Cooper
Mudflap said:
Hi all,

I've been smelling maple syrup for years now every time I turned on the heat in my Jeep. I just ignored it because I didn't care enough to find out what it was, until I found out that coolant is supposed to smell like that (I usually don't huff coolant on purpose, only when I turn on my heat). This smell comes immediately when I turn on the heat, never with cold air. Is there a problem with my heater core?
Click to expand...

I've got the same lovely winter fragrance in my LJ to when I first turn on the heat. It's 100% antifreeze. My leak hasn't been bad enough to do anything about it in the 6 years It's presented itself. I think I've only had to top off the coolant maybe twice. Just monitor it and enjoy.
 
When I bought my Jeep it had a smell that wasn't anti-freeze , what I found was small leaves that got into the ducts from the cowl.
The dry leaves would burn / char in the heater resistor pack. Be sure to check that out , it was easy to fix. good luck.
 
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Reactions: Jerry Bransford
I’m in Alabama. Can I get gravy and biscuit??
 
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