Post-heater core replacement, antifreeze smell in the cabin

[BVay]

Hi, all.

After having finally had a local shop replace the heater core on my 2004 TJ Sport (4.0L / 5speed / AC), I've got great heat, and great airflow (all fan settings), but a not-so-faint smell of antifreeze in the cabin. Not losing a drop of coolant, and never seeing anything past normal operating temps, but when I blend HVAC toward "red", I get the smell.

When my son told me about the "mysterious fog in the cabin" back in July, I knew what he was talking about, and immediately bypassed the core, figuring heat wasn't really gonna be needed for a while, but he ran the cooling system 2 quarts down before I got to it.

Question: is it likely the HVAC box still has a puddle of coolant in it, and when I turn the fan on, I'm just pushing air through that box, bringing the stink with it? I know it's a b*tch to get at that box (I paid 5.5 hours labor for the job). Any way to inspect or clean that "post-heater-core-pre-vent" area?

Thanks!

 

[TJ4Jim]

No real way to access the area so all I can say is that hopefully when the AC is run on the next humid day it will begin to flush out the condensate drain pan.

 

[BVay]

Thank you, Jim... "flush" is an interesting word... Any place to introduce some fresh water, as to flush the box, if it'll just come out the condensate drain? I need a good picture of the whole kit. I know how to get to the blower motor, but that's way way over to the right. I think whatever is in there (if there's anything in there) is left of the heater core (since I get no smell when opening the vents ("all blue").

 

[Chris]

Question: is it likely the HVAC box still has a puddle of coolant in it, and when I turn the fan on, I'm just pushing air through that box, bringing the stink with it? I know it's a b*tch to get at that box (I paid 5.5 hours labor for the job). Any way to inspect or clean that "post-heater-core-pre-vent" area?

Yep, that's likely the cause if you ask me. Unfortunately there is no easy way to get to that box without removing the dash, so my best advice would probably be wait until it dries up. Now sure how long that will take, but I'm sure in time it will happen. In the meantime, use lots of air fresheners?