[Shop-talk] Ammonia smell from spilled coolant?

[Michael Porter]

On 8/7/2018 7:19 AM, Jim Franklin wrote:
> 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.
>

That might be your problem.  Most antifreezes have an additive called 
tolytriazole (C7H7N3), and that sure looks, chemically, like it could be 
a source of ammonia when it starts to break down, and that breakdown is 
likely to occur after repeated heat-cycling to elevated temperatures and 
exposure to air.

Flushing the system doesn't just get rid of crud.  It also gets rid of 
spent anticorrosion additives.  Without changing it, chances are good 
that the additives have been breaking down in the coolant system, and 
when released to air (three-quarters N2, btw), the result is plenty of 
ammonia.

My guess is that the rodent event wasn't detected immediately, so the 
coolant's soaked into the pores of the concrete, and that's what the 
cure will have to do, too.  Weak acid--lemon juice, vinegar, oxalic 
acid, something like that, kept wet and allowed to soak into the 
concrete.  Keep it wet and refreshed with more weak acid. Eventually the 
ammonia will be neutralized.


Cheers.

-- 


Michael Porter
Roswell, NM


Never let anyone drive you crazy when you know it's within walking distance....

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