[Shop-talk] Ammonia smell from spilled coolant?

[Jim Franklin]

That sounds extremely plausible except that the car has been dealer serviced its whole life and had the original coolant since I wouldn't pay them to change it. Also, the strength and persistence of the smell is far too great for it to be any leftover flush. I've had the door open for many days and it always comes back after being closed up overnight. 

jim

> On Aug 7, 2018, at 8:48 AM, Lee Daniels <lee at automate-it.com> wrote:
> 
> You've probably used a coolant flush at some point, these sometimes use
> ammonium citrate or ammonium oxalate. In contact with the (slightly alkaline)
> concrete floor, these ammonium salts can convert to ammonia. So you need to
> lower the pH of your floor. Unfortunately your concrete will dissolve in acid
> - this is why you use a strong acid (muriatic, i.e. hydrochloric acid) to etch
> your concrete before sealing or coating.
> 
> So I suggest scrubbing your floor with a mildly acidic solution. You can use
> vinegar, or lemon juice, or something else. My favorite is oxalic acid - you
> can get a really nice can of oxalic acid in the form of "Bar Keeper's Friend"
> cleaner. I would just sprinkle the can of powder over the floor and scrub in
> with water and a brush or broom. Let it sit for a day then rinse well. Oxalic
> is a weak enough acid that it won't really etch the concrete, but it will
> certainly react with any ammonia. If the ammonia is being released slowly, you
> may have to do this more than once.
> 
> Lee
> 
> 
> On Sun, August 5, 2018 11:00, Jim Franklin wrote:
>> A rodent put a hole in my cooling system and all the coolant leaked into the
>> concrete floor. Now (a moth later) the garage smells like a litter box. It
>> goes away if I air it out but comes back strongly when closed up. Googling
>> only returns lots of people asking the same thing :-)
>> 
>> Does anyone know why this is? I'm trying to sell the house and fear potential
>> buyers are being gagged into not making an offer.
>> 
>> thanks, jim _______________________________________________
>