Slight antifreeze smell

[BigAl62]

2010 Jetta Sportwagen TDI with 70k miles. I’m detecting a very faint antifreeze smell occasionally. I’m new to these cars - is there any known issue with heater cores, hoses or radiators? For instance, my 2004 F350 6.0 powestroke radiator has plastic tanks that are known to give up at about 200,000 miles. Anything like this on the TDI’s?

Yep. World’s best mpg diesel and world’s worst mpg diesel share the same garage!

 

[pebjr]

I had a similar problem with my 09 Jetta and it was the heater core.... its the 3rd time I had to replace it over the years.... 310K + miles

 

[oilhammer]

I've never once seen a single A5 Volkswagen heater core fail.

But certainly anything is possible. The quick couplers on the firewall are far more common.

Pressure test it and look.

 

[BigAl62]

I've never once seen a single A5 Volkswagen heater core fail.

But certainly anything is possible. The quick couplers on the firewall are far more common.

Pressure test it and look.

Can you elaborate a bit more on these quick couplers? As I said, I’m not overly familiar with VW products but certainly willing to learn. I’m not a fast mechanic and I’m not a slow mechanic. I guess that makes me a half-fast mechanic?

 

[oilhammer]

Most modern cars' cooling systems employ hose connections that have a snap-spring coupler to ease on assembly, and there is an o-ring inside that can degrade and leak.

The radiator, the firewall connections to the heater core, and in some cases other places, have them.

 

[BigAl62]

Most modern cars' cooling systems employ hose connections that have a snap-spring coupler to ease on assembly, and there is an o-ring inside that can degrade and leak.

The radiator, the firewall connections to the heater core, and in some cases other places, have them.

Ok thanks. I’ll take a look at those. I mostly work on my own cars - 1973 Plymouth Road Runner, 1978 Plymouth Volare and 1928 Chrysler Model 52. Not too modern. And my ‘04 Superduty but I don’t wrench much on that one. The ‘28 doesn’t have a heater core!