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Heater Core Bad

JeepCares

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At around 300 miles, we began to notice a strong burning smell through the vents of our JLU Sahara. No more nice new car smell! We thought maybe it was a label or something new burning off the exhaust or engine, but 2 weeks went by and it got worse. Then got dense white smoke out of the vents and it made my wife and I both sick. Called the dealer and they couldn't get us in for 1-1/2 weeks (!). Got it in and they determined it is a bad heater core. Took another week for the core to arrive. Now they've installed it and apparently broke the gear shift and God knows what else, so it's in the shop for another week waiting more parts. Assuming they finally get it fixed this coming week, I'm expecting them to have gotten rid of the smoke damage and make sure it has no leaks, no rattles, and no scratched-up interior. We LOVE our first Wrangler (have had other Jeep models) but our service experience isn't going so great!
Hi BIGDOGS,

We are terribly sorry to hear that you experienced this! If you are in need of additional assistance while your Wrangler is at service at the dealer, please send us a PM with your VIN and mileage.

Darlene
Jeep Social Care Specialist
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BIGDOGS

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Picked up from Service tonight.. Body Shop detailed it and appears to have gotten all smoke smell removed. Seems to be fixed, with no apparent leaks or rattles, but will watch carefully. Did get sme minor scuffing of a leather seat and console, but they were good about it and promised to resolve to our satisfaction. Glad to have our "Grey Goose" back!
 

Scott2373

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I had this issue with my 2013 JK. They were coming from the factory with some sort of silt in the heater core and it was clogging it up, causing leaking, no heat and a whole host of problems! This problem was far and wide with the '13 JK's. My dealer ended up replacing almost my entire HVAC system, including the control head (I love my dealer!)! So far, the wife hasn't complained about any smell in the new JL Sahara, but I'll tell her about this so she can keep any eye on it. I went an entire winter with barely any heat because of the problem. She won't stand for that! LOL
 

DavidC297

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Confirming my 2018 Rubi suffered from a bad heater core. With less than 300 miles and 12 days at the dealership I finally got it back. Like others have said, it was obvious by the strong smell of coolant in the cab. It sucks to have the whole dash removed on a new vehicle. My concern now is things rattling loose or hearing noises that may be due to the repair.
Iā€™m having the same problem but my amazing dealer said it was soft top that stank. Iā€™ll be taking it to another dealer next week
 

DavidC297

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I picked up my JLUR from the dealer today after taking it in for a antifreeze smell coming from the heater. It started about the third day after I received it on 8/30/18. Their explanation was the soft top smelled. It is definitely antifreeze so itā€™s going to another dealer next week. This is my first Jeep but definitely not my first new car, very disappointing.
 

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DavidC297

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Confirming my 2018 Rubi suffered from a bad heater core. With less than 300 miles and 12 days at the dealership I finally got it back. Like others have said, it was obvious by the strong smell of coolant in the cab. It sucks to have the whole dash removed on a new vehicle. My concern now is things rattling loose or hearing noises that may be due to the repair.
Just wondering if a pressure test found the leak or did they have to take it out and visually inspect the core. Would it be possible to get the name of your dealership and the person you worked with. Thank you
 

RABUF

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Started smelling coolant at 800 miles with AC running. Tried fan only same smell. Watched coolant level and went from Max to Min at 2500 mile mark. Dealer yesterday determined it was bad Heater Core. 2 door Rubi with June built. No indication of leak at any other points. Bad lot of heater cores? Smell was only indicator. Sweet smell in cab at start up only. Be aware.
 

Froader

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You can add me to the list of leaking heater core victims. At about 600 miles on my 2018 JLUR and when the temperature dipped down enough to turn on the heat, I immediately noticed that funky coolant fluid smell coming out of the air vents. No visual loss of fluid in the reservior or fogged up windows but it wouldn't take much to smell it and get in my eyes and throat. I put up with it for a couple of weeks hoping it was some other smell "burning off" but after a couple of mornings driving my typical 10 minutes into work and realizing my eyes and throat burn after the short ride, I called to make an appointment. It goes into the dealer Monday morning. I hate the fact that they have to take the dash apart but oh well, that's what the warranty is for. I'm glad i opted for the extended warranty. Hope i won't need it but...
 

RABUF

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You can add me to the list of leaking heater core victims. At about 600 miles on my 2018 JLUR and when the temperature dipped down enough to turn on the heat, I immediately noticed that funky coolant fluid smell coming out of the air vents. No visual loss of fluid in the reservior or fogged up windows but it wouldn't take much to smell it and get in my eyes and throat. I put up with it for a couple of weeks hoping it was some other smell "burning off" but after a couple of mornings driving my typical 10 minutes into work and realizing my eyes and throat burn after the short ride, I called to make an appointment. It goes into the dealer Monday morning. I hate the fact that they have to take the dash apart but oh well, that's what the warranty is for. I'm glad i opted for the extended warranty. Hope i won't need it but...
 

RABUF

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Dealership performed repair on heater core. It took them 1 1/2 days. I was really concerned about the outcome but they did a great job. I could not find any indication that they even made the repair. It was leaking at the solder weld into the coil. Bad part from supplier. Take a lot of pictures before the repair and share with the shop Forman.
 

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Froader

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Just before my JLUR went into the shop on Monday I realized the smell was concentrated on the passenger side zone. The service guy said this is the second one they've done recently. Last time he said the heater cores were backordered. Not this time around, seems FCA stocked up on heater cores. Overnighted, arrived today and the job began today. He said it should be done tomorrow.
 

Froader

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Just before my JLUR went into the shop on Monday I realized the smell was concentrated on the passenger side zone. The service guy said this is the second one they've done recently. Last time he said the heater cores were backordered. Not this time around, seems FCA stocked up on heater cores. Overnighted, arrived today and the job began today. He said it should be done tomorrow.
 

islanderjeeper

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Same thing is happening to me. Going to bring mine in for diagnosis soon. This and the frame weld recall (hopefully not mine) isnā€™t making me very confident in Jeep.
 

LeaN69

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Same issue and finding this thread confirms exactly what I thought my problem might be. I found it odd to have a bad heater core after 1yr / 10k miles but clearly some of you have had it go way before that.
 

Micmeg

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Same issue and finding this thread confirms exactly what I thought my problem might be. I found it odd to have a bad heater core after 1yr / 10k miles but clearly some of you have had it go way before that.
Me too, family members have been noticing a sweet smell for awhile when running the heater and then when I had the Jeep into the dealer at the end of March for a steering stabilizer they also noticed the smell, they pressure tested the system overnight but found no leaks. Over the past few months the smell became worse whenever using heater or air conditioning. I took it back in and told them what I had learned on this forum and they confirmed that heater core was leaking and replaced it 2 weeks ago. They had Jeep for 1 week and so far the smell is gone
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