Hi All! 2000 v8 LS still giving trouble. current issue is that there is this smell through the vents of something burning after driving for a while and not long after the scent goes away the temperature gauge starts to rise which if i dont turn it off i get the check engine temperature message. any help please!
smell from vents
- Thread starter pressley
- Start date
im not sure if you're the same person where someone thought you were smoking your belt. if so, did you look at that?
obviously don't run it if its overheating. you still shouldnt smell burning even if you overheat. do you have enough oil? oil pressure? blocked exhaust? thermostat? leaking coolant overflow tank?
need more hints. what does it smell like? oil or coolant? electrical or rubber?
this is purely a guess, but maybe you have air in the cooling system which is common. this stops the movement of coolant and it boils, and the pressure pushes all the coolant out of the overflow. the coolant leaks down over the exhaust and quickly burns off. this of course assumes you have some in the tank. the engine quickly overheats.
obviously don't run it if its overheating. you still shouldnt smell burning even if you overheat. do you have enough oil? oil pressure? blocked exhaust? thermostat? leaking coolant overflow tank?
need more hints. what does it smell like? oil or coolant? electrical or rubber?
this is purely a guess, but maybe you have air in the cooling system which is common. this stops the movement of coolant and it boils, and the pressure pushes all the coolant out of the overflow. the coolant leaks down over the exhaust and quickly burns off. this of course assumes you have some in the tank. the engine quickly overheats.
LeaSr77
Dedicated LVC Member
When I experienced this about a year ago, I noticed a smell coming through my vents, in turned out to be that my valve covers were leaking. The oil was leaking down and burning off on the manifold. Every time I turned on my heat in the winter, I could smell the oil burning.
:shifty: 
you have to tell us what you see. obviously if theres no coolant or oil anywhere on the car, its something else. get in there and look at the back of the motor. get underneath and look for green drips or brown drips hanging there or anything on the ground. check your oil and coolant. look for oil on the valve covers. if its your belt, it will be cracked and shiny on the pulley side.
oil will smell almost like weedwacker exhaust. coolant smells almost sweet and a little tart. transmission fluid (pink) smells like metal. so does power steering (and your hydraulic fan) fluid (clear). if you don't know what your talking about, the dealership will pillage you.
also, the dealer failed many times to properly fill my cooling system. theres a lengthy procedure on here but you may get away with doing this like i did.... drive up a steep hill and park on the hill with the nose up. very slowly remove the coolant cap (test this and replace if bad) and leave off. turn your heater on high (90 degrees on the floor and vents) let the car idle and get good and hot. as the car pulls the coolant out of the overflow tank and into the system, quickly add 50/50 coolant right to the top. Do this until tank pulls no more water in. it took me about 30 minutes. a small amount will overflow when you place the cap back on and first drive it. keep an eye on this level (cold and hot) over the next couple days to make sure they stay consistant.
you have to tell us what you see. obviously if theres no coolant or oil anywhere on the car, its something else. get in there and look at the back of the motor. get underneath and look for green drips or brown drips hanging there or anything on the ground. check your oil and coolant. look for oil on the valve covers. if its your belt, it will be cracked and shiny on the pulley side. oil will smell almost like weedwacker exhaust. coolant smells almost sweet and a little tart. transmission fluid (pink) smells like metal. so does power steering (and your hydraulic fan) fluid (clear). if you don't know what your talking about, the dealership will pillage you.
also, the dealer failed many times to properly fill my cooling system. theres a lengthy procedure on here but you may get away with doing this like i did.... drive up a steep hill and park on the hill with the nose up. very slowly remove the coolant cap (test this and replace if bad) and leave off. turn your heater on high (90 degrees on the floor and vents) let the car idle and get good and hot. as the car pulls the coolant out of the overflow tank and into the system, quickly add 50/50 coolant right to the top. Do this until tank pulls no more water in. it took me about 30 minutes. a small amount will overflow when you place the cap back on and first drive it. keep an eye on this level (cold and hot) over the next couple days to make sure they stay consistant.
The LS is funny when it comes to bleeding the cooling system. There is a tech article on this forum that will tell you how to bleed the system. Most joe-blow mechanics don't know how to properly bleed a FORD 4V engine and just bleed the system like you would any other car but they are way different. Air in the system would cause your car to overheat and then cool down quickly and will put off a smell because your coolant jug (degas bottle) has a spout that will blow coolant on your drivers side header if you have air in the system. Good Luck!!