Strange smell
 

My 82 300sd has from time to time a very pungent smell coming from the vents. I think it smell a bit like acetone , or some kind of thinner.It dosen't seem to happen at any given time but just randomly. I do have a leak in my power steering fluid. Could that be it?

doesnt sound like the power steering pump, i'd say u probably have an exhaust leak......

I did have an exhaust leak a month ago and this smell nothing like it at all.

Funny Smell
 

The heater coil is connected to the vents -- perchance you have a seep in the coil & you're smelling coolant ...

Answer:
 

Antifreeze, Ethylene glycol intoxication, Toxicity, Metabolic Acidosis
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?p=1037466





Safety & health
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=142390

i get the smell of coolant when i first turn my heater on. well after i fiddle with it cause the sticky mono valve. but after the initial sweet smell. the smell disapears. should i worrie about this? this car will be stored in the winter anyways, but when im storing it, im gonna be fixing alot of things i put off

it sounds like a leaky heater core. it wont get better but might not get worse for a long while. changing it out is a bear though.

tom w

Stop leak or egg
 

Would adding a stop leak to the coolant possibly help?Or maybe an egg?

Answer:
 

Read the links in post #5, the question should be answered by simple logic. :)

I keep seeing people refer to the smell from antifreeze as being sweet. The smell i'm getting i'd asociate with the smell of some sort of paint thinner or something. It's not sweet whatsoever and quite unpleasent. My winshield washer fluid smell like some sort of alcohol maybe vodka when I turn my wipers on.Do you think that maybe after I use the fluid it creeps down the windshield and eventually to somewhere that it can get into the vents somehow?

Answer:
 

"Green" antifreeze is sweet smelling.
To me "Dex cool" smells like paint thinner run through the football teams filthy socks.

There are several possible leak areas for windshield solvent to enter the cabin.

Exterior coolant leak
 

Recently I lost alot of coolant at the front of the engine. There was a 4 inch lenght of rad hose that the clamps were quite loose on. I got about 6 or 8 turns out of each clamp. Could it be that the leak from there would cause the smell?

Take a small sample of your antifreeze. Heat it up quite a bit. Same odour? . Positive identification required by you in my opinion before going further. Another quick test. If you think it may be coming in from the engine compartment. Driving with the blower motor on and windows closed will tend to keep external odours out of the cabin. Cabin is then pressurized of course. But it probably is the heater core naturally as it is the hardest to change out. Now here is where I might try something a little unusual if the heater core is the culprit. But first I will talk to a shrewd old retired car guy that I know and post back. I had the pleasure of watching him repair things that stood up as long as the car survived with no reocurrance by what looked like simple unorthodox cures with no time or money basically involved. I thought he was abusing his customers by not spending the money and time to change things out. Time has changed my mind as he was just very knowledgeable and extremely clever. Perhaps the smartest individual I have ever met in my life when it comes to repairing things. I have an ideal. He will either reject it or tell me he has done it hundreds of times in one form or another.Plus the percentage odds of success. He was not home when I called a few minutes ago. I will try again this evening.

My heater valve was leaking when I turned the heat on...sometimes causing an anti-freeze smell in the car. I replaced the valve and the smell is gone. It was very simple. Your's being an '82 it won't look the same, but maybe this helps?

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=168045&highlight=heater+valve

My heater core is leaking, and the smell is a strange sweet almost metallic odor, but is not like the green stuff I used to drain outta my GM cars. This has a bitter chemical smell. Maybe that's what you're smelling?

ALSO- my windows fog like H*LL when I run the heat- so obviously there is moisture entering the system.

In short, I really need the heater core changed.