Smelling Antifreeze in the cab

[TMyers]

Well, I guess I'm due... My 2013 2500 CTD has a sweet smell of antifreeze when I turn on the heat. Carpet isn't wet yet, but I want to go ahead and get it swapped out. OEM is nearly 4 times the price of aftermarket. I don't mind spending the money if that's the route I need to take, but we all work for our money and I for one don't like throwing it away. Are there good quality aftermarket heater cores available? I'm also thinking I should swap out the evaporator core and blend door actuators while I'm that deep into it. What are y'all's thoughts on this?

 

[Dodge 1500 4X4]

I would pull the H vac assembly out and replace blend doors and actuators, heater core and evaporator. Get the parts from here.

Account | All Mopar Parts

parts.allmoparparts.com

 

[BadHemi2014]

Absolutely replace the evap core! Against good advice, I did not when I changed my heater core, and a couple years later had to have it changed. Expensive mistake.

 

[Jeepwalker]

I typically go for OEM or close to it whenever I can. Because I've looked over aftermarket heater cores on other jobs and they're just never as good as OEM IMO. I'm speaking in terms of size of passages, number of passages & number of fins, etc. And often they don't fit as well.

But I haven't compared a *Ram* OEM vs Aftermarket side-by-side. Hopefully someone who has will chime in.

But at the end of the day, if money is tight, then I'm sure an aftermarket one will most likely be ok. NC isn't Minnesota...

 

[GTyankee]

Mopar Actuators are the absolute Best, they are the only ones that are Calibrated & have the strongest motors

If you compare the Mopar Doors to the Dorman Doors, which would you pick ?
BUT, before you buy, look at the part where the Actuators hook up to the Doors, that is the stress area.
The Drivers wear out or break on both the Mopar & Dorman brands

Take a glance at the Door Kit made by
BLEND DOOR USA
The Doors & Drivers are made of Aluminum

Blend Door USA

We manufacture solid aluminum blend doors. The heater doors are CNC machined from solid aluminum and are guaranteed for life. Our blend doors fit the OEM actuator for a do it yourself install. The perfect fix for Dodge Ram trucks and Jeeps. Our kits are the best durable heater box repair on the...

www.blenddoorusa.com

 

[BossHogg]

The smell of antifreeze can come from other than the heater core. Air for the cabin is brought in from underneath the windshield area, a antifreeze leak in the engine bay could bring in the smell. Just an FYI before spending money.

 

[TMyers]

The smell of antifreeze can come from other than the heater core. Air for the cabin is brought in from underneath the windshield area, a antifreeze leak in the engine bay could bring in the smell. Just an FYI before spending money.

Sadly, I only smell it when I use the heat/defrost. As soon as I move the blend door, you get a strong smell of antifreeze.

 

[Jeepwalker]

If you don't see any leaks at the hoses that connect to the heater core (at the firewall), then your suspicions are probably correct. Actually, the worst part of the "Dash Removal" jobs I've done was the feeling of dread and the mountain I would be climbing (before) ...rather than the actual step-by-step climb once I get into those jobs. There are a lot or video resources out there to arm yourself with.

Or outsource the job to a shop.

 

[Jeepwalker]

I had an odd thing happen a couple weeks ago. I rented a pretty new EV which I *swear* had a minor heater core leak. 5 minutes after leaving the rental agency into the sunset I noticed that heavy haze across the windshield. I thought, ok, maybe it was whatever dirty rag they used to clean. The back window was like that too. A couple days later when we needed some heat at night, I started smelling a noticeable antifreeze leak. Im like...'can't be!". My mrs smelled it too. Right away. I checked, it did have a coolant reservoir. Some cars which can be ICE or EV like this Huyndai use a standard heater core.

I cleaned the windshield and rest of the glass thoroughly. After that drove with the side windows cracked a bit so we didn't have to breathe the fumes. It was warm S. CA so..the weather was perfect at that time. Odd thing to have happen. What are the chances on a freekin' EV?! By the looks of the dash it looked like it would not be a fun replacement job. I forgot to tell the attendent when we returned it.

 

[TMyers]

If you don't see any leaks at the hoses that connect to the heater core (at the firewall), then your suspicions are probably correct. Actually, the worst part of the "Dash Removal" jobs I've done was the feeling of dread and the mountain I would be climbing (before) ...rather than the actual step-by-step climb once I get into those jobs. There are a lot or video resources out there to arm yourself with.

Or outsource the job to a shop.

MotorCity Mechanic on YouTube has a 4-part series on taking the dash and HAVC box out of the 4th gen. I've watched them and it doesn't look too hard, just a lot to do and a lot of hidden fasteners. He says about 4 hours so I'm figuring a day and a half!

BTW - I'm sourcing parts this morning. $762 for OEM Heater Core, Evap Core and 3 actuators.

 

[Jeepwalker]

Doesn't sound too bad. I agree, videos really help prepare. Best of luck with the job. I'm sure my day's coming. I test my truck's coolant pH regularly and try to keep it on the money, as close as I can. I'm hoping it lives a longer H/C life.

That's one of the issues with modern trucks. You have a cast iron block and aluminum parts as well in the cooling system. The 'safe pH' overlap between the two metals is real narrow. The heater core, or it's braze joints are the thinnest part if ya get too far out of the 'safe range' and ion exchange is going on. In the industrial/cooling world they perform water chemistry checks multiple times a day, or it's automatically monitored and balancing chemicals dispensed. I once had an entire (large) school's heating elements get eaten out over a pretty short time b/c the tester they were using for daily pH checks was faulty.

This would be a great time to replace your truck's anti-freeze too, if it's been a while. Use filtered or distilled water. I'm sure you've read or seen all that from the videos. Sounds like you're up to speed on things. Best of luck.

 

[Jeepwalker]

One thing that none of the videos ever seem to point out ....is if you have dry gas on hand, or even kid's helium, even cannned air (dry) and you wanted, you could probably save your AC dryer if ya filled the system with inert gas as you pulled the AC apart. Or flooded the AC dryer with your dry gas of choice (not oxygen or a flammable gas), and cap it, or push in a rubber stopper, till the job is complete. What does that take...10 minutes? Or wait till the dead off winter when the grains of moisture in the air are real low and the dryer won't take on moisture. It probably doesn't get that cold down in your area.

But for other's in the N. it's an idea. When it gets to -10*F outside it's super-low moisture in a dry shop at 65*F. Our work had a moisture meter. One winter day it was in the minus-teens F* and I measured 11 grains of moisture in our house. That's pretty low.

Or just buy a replacement dryer. Just tossing out ideas.

 

[GTyankee]

TMyers
All 4 or 5 Mopar actuators are identical
The actuator unit can be opened up
Inside there are a set of gears, the teeth on the gears can break off or just wear out.
If there are one or two broken teeth, you can lift the gear up & rotate about 180° & set it back in place

video shows you how to sometimes make a repair

2009 Dodge RAM 1500 Blend Door repair

Two options to fix the clicking blend doors on your Dodge Pickup. One option allows you to fix the issue at no charge. The other option shows one actuator ...

www.youtube.com

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I am surprised that more odors don't enter the inside of the cab

 

[Snoopy]

Swap out evap and blend doors/motors. Get blend doors from Blend Doors USA.
They are high quality aluminum doors.

 

[TMyers]

Swap out evap and blend doors/motors. Get blend doors from Blend Doors USA.
They are high quality aluminum doors.

I've ordered the OEM heater and evaporator cores. I've read a ton of posts and comments about the blend doors problems on the 3rd gens but I'm not seeing the same issues with the 4th gens. Has Ram not corrected the weak motors and connection on the blend doors on the 4th gens?

 

[GTyankee]

Mopar , Dorman , & Heater Treater Drivers are made of Plastic

the Driver is the little part that connects the Actuator to the Door

Blend Door USA Drivers are made of aluminum

I wonder if there is any strength in 3D Printing ? as in the teeth of Gears

 

[TMyers]

 

[rzr6-4]

I have nothing to contribute here other than something you may find interesting.

One day I took off in my 93 Sierra, it was dark and I had frost on my windshield but I could still see so I started driving anyway (bad idea I know). Engine finally started to warm up so I turned on the defrosters and my windshield instantly had a layer of green ice on the inside. I couldn't see at all so pulled over I was not happy about the heater core going..... except the next day it was fine. 20k miles later and no issues, definitely got lucky.

 

[MAC830203]

Heater core needs replacing. Replace it with a decent all alum type product. No copper or tin. Both have flux and will corrode…again. If the AC ain’t broke, leaks and works, leave it alone. If your blend doors are broke, fix them. Most of those were changed from plastic. Other door hinges are still plastic but the main hot cold door should be metal. Clean all the vents ad tubes. Tape up as best as possible.