The heater valve, an inline plastic thingy, sometimes gets leaky and a
little coolant will cause a big smell.   On mine, when I still had that
heater, it was a brittle cracked O-ring in that valve.

On Sun, Nov 23, 2014 at 7:10 AM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
wrote:

> The rear heater core is prone to failure more so than the front. Have it
> inspected and replaced if needed. A small amount of coolant can make a lot
> of vapor. Also, I would only open the valve part way. Coolant that flows to
> the rear heater is not available for the front heater and it needs all it
> can get since it is heating outside air.
>
> Dennis
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
> Of Eric Caron
> Sent: Sunday, November 23, 2014 10:07 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Smelling coolant suspect rear heater
>
>         Hi folks,
>
>         I’ve been out with the van a few times in November and have turned
> the rear heater valve back to full and have been using the rear heat.  I
> smell coolant when I turn on the rear fan.  I don’t smell it when the fan
> is off.  I have not found any coolant on the floor under the seat.  i do
> have the drain plugs open as a prevention in case of leak.
> has anyone noticed this smell before a rear heater failure?  could it be
> the fan rather then the heater.  When I purchased the van the rear heater
> fan did not work but replacing the fuse has fixed the problem for over a
> year.
>
> coolant level is unchanged.
>
> Experiences,and recommendations appreciated.  I’m considering just calling
> a vendor to change out the core but it seems silly to do if it has nothing
> to do with the heater core.
>
> Eric Caron
> 85 GL Auto
>