Ptreese83

I have a 85 Ford T-bird,The orginal engine went out a couple of months ago and i got an new used engine. Before my engine was replaced I never smelt any fumes or anything through the vents. Every since i had my engine replaced I smell antifreeze through the vents. I recently had my radiator replaced and freeze plugs, so I do have any visible antifreeze leaks. But every time i run my vent i smell antifreeze and sometimes the scent is very strong with out me running the vents at all. Could someone help me out, what does it sound like the problem may be.

jwko

Could be the heater core leaking.

speaker_king

I had a 79 cutlass supreme and it did the same thing after i replaced the motor. And it was the heater core. It wasnt leaking, there was something wrong with it on the inside causing it to have bad circulation and overheat. And it being right next to the vents you could smell it really strong.

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1993 Thunderbird LX, Stroked 4.2L Complete Cold Air Intake, AOD w/stage 2 shift kit(soon to be 5speed)

1ATony

Welcome to the site. I'd check to see if the carpet on the passenger side is wet near the dash area.It sounds like a bad heater core.

Here's a link to our Ford Thunderbird section, we do carry a heater core for that application.

Ford Thunderbird Parts

fasthauler

I don’t know if you have tackled this ordeal yet, but here is some advice. The heater core was probably about corroded through and when the hoses were removed and put back on the movement probably opened up the corroded core and it started leaking.
When you read the book on this thing you will find that the dash has to be removed and then the air conditioning has to be pumped down and all lines removed. Then the heater ac unit has to be removed and then the heater core can be pulled out through the front of the heater housing and replaced. Then the whole mess has to go back together. This is a major ordeal for a do it yourselfer as well as a dealership. You could darn near buy another car for what this costs.
I pulled my dash to expose the heater housing. I laid the new heater core on top of the cowl aligning it with the nipples on the old heater core. I sighted down from the new heater core to the heater box on the inside of the car. This gave me an approximate location of the heater core inside of the heater box. I took my Dremel and cut an opening in the heater box large enough to pull the heater core out and replace it with the new core. I cut out a piece of flashing large enough to cover the hose that was cut and used caulk and four tek screws to cover the hole. I hooked the hoses up, re-installed the dash and was done in less than a day. I probably saved myself a couple of extra days work plus the expense of having an AC shop pump down and recharge the AC. I hope this helps.

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Gary 86 T-Bird 3.8 77 F250 460 Hauler

capt_redneck

Chances are it's the heater core... I had a 2000 F-150 that had that problem... I turned the a/c on and a fog came out, even with it off the widshield would fog over with a oily substance. eith replace or bypass the heater core... bypassing means no heater though on cold days...