Peculiar smell
Discussion
Hi,
I was going to post this in GG, but it seems a bit manic there atm
Basically, the car is a T reg Escort (my shedscort for work), a finesse model equipped with AC. during the recent glorious weather, the AC has been running on pretty much every journey, but this morning returning from work it was a wee bit chilly so I slammed the heaters on to take the edge off it.
As soon as the warm air came through, it was accompanied by the smell of what I thought was marzipan. Yep, marzipan. It continues even now, each time the heaters are on, the sweet smell permeates through and doesn't actually stop, it is noticeable and the Doris agrees, it's very similar to marzipan.
My first thoughts went to stagnant water / residual left in the heater matrix, which, as it's essentially coolant has somehow become stagnant over the summer months. FWIW the car has done 110k, the coolant has not been changed since I've owned it (6 years and 40k miles).
The coolant looks fine, doesn't smell and retains its pink hue. The car runs minus a thermostat (bangernomics at its best) but never had any overheating problems, except when the thermostat stuck and I was too cheap to replace it (a decision I came to regret a bit last winter).
Any info or suggestions gratefully received. The shed passed the ticket last month and is good for another year at least, subject to this problem not being too serious or potentially serious. I will, as a matter of course and good manners flush the rad / coolant this weekend and replace with fresh, as well as sticking a hosepipe on one of the hoses to ensure the matrix gets some treatment as well.
Cheers in advance
Pete
I was going to post this in GG, but it seems a bit manic there atm
Basically, the car is a T reg Escort (my shedscort for work), a finesse model equipped with AC. during the recent glorious weather, the AC has been running on pretty much every journey, but this morning returning from work it was a wee bit chilly so I slammed the heaters on to take the edge off it.
As soon as the warm air came through, it was accompanied by the smell of what I thought was marzipan. Yep, marzipan. It continues even now, each time the heaters are on, the sweet smell permeates through and doesn't actually stop, it is noticeable and the Doris agrees, it's very similar to marzipan.
My first thoughts went to stagnant water / residual left in the heater matrix, which, as it's essentially coolant has somehow become stagnant over the summer months. FWIW the car has done 110k, the coolant has not been changed since I've owned it (6 years and 40k miles).
The coolant looks fine, doesn't smell and retains its pink hue. The car runs minus a thermostat (bangernomics at its best) but never had any overheating problems, except when the thermostat stuck and I was too cheap to replace it (a decision I came to regret a bit last winter).
Any info or suggestions gratefully received. The shed passed the ticket last month and is good for another year at least, subject to this problem not being too serious or potentially serious. I will, as a matter of course and good manners flush the rad / coolant this weekend and replace with fresh, as well as sticking a hosepipe on one of the hoses to ensure the matrix gets some treatment as well.
Cheers in advance
Pete
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