Q: HEATER NOT BLOWING HOT AIR

asked by on January 05, 2017

The other day my car started having a large amount or steam or smoke come from the hood so we stopped and put coolant in my vehicle. It was bone dry. It did run hot but only for a moment it was not driven more then 2 minutes hot. Well ever since I have put that coolant in the vehicle it has been acting crazy. It has been having steam or smoke come out from under the hood every time i stop the vehicle whether at a red light or a drive thru steam or smokes just keeps coming out from under the hood then this morning i went out to start my car and when i got out there it was still blowing cold air i drove 20 miles to work and the air was still cold the air never got hot i really need to know what to do it also has a smell to the steam or smoke

My car has 233453 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.

Hi There, White smoke indicates that you may have an internal engine problem, such as a head gasket leaking coolant into a cylinder. If white [smoke]((https://www.yourmechanic.com/services/smoke-from-engine-or-exhaust-inspection) is blowing out from the exhaust during first 3 minutes of a cold start up in morning and has a sweet smell, stop driving it immediately. It is likely you have a blown head gasket or a cracked/warped head. Serious engine damage can occur if you continue to drive. Lots of white exhaust smoke on start up is usually a sign of a head gasket problem. If the leak is very small, or leaking into adjacent cylinders, there may not be much smoke upon starting up, and yet still enough coolant may be pulled into the combustion chamber(s) to produce a strong sweetish exhaust smell. Generally, over the long run, this particular problem will continue to produce more engine problems.

As a result of this, the coolant may not ever be reaching the heater core resulting in the heater not producing warm air. The [heater core]((https://www.yourmechanic.com/services/heater-is-not-working-inspection) is a small radiator like unit that circulates the hot coolant from the engine through the heater core which then uses this warm coolant to heat the inside of the car with the help of the blower motor that blows the warm air through the vents inside the car. The other possibility is that the thermostat may not be allowing the engine to reach a normal operating temperature and since the engine’s warm coolant is the essential source of the heater core supplying heat to the inside of the vehicle, this can impact the warmth of the heat inside the vehicle. I would recommend having an expert from YourMechanic come to your location to inspect your vehicle.

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