overheating smell

[plastic man]

first up i should let you know that i'm not mechanically minded.

i had to top up the radiator water this morning which is kind of rare for my car.['89 corolla hatchback]. i then went down the motorway for about an hour, and every so often i'd suddenly get a whiff of a kind of overheating smell for up to about 30 seconds coming thru' the vents.

then when i was in town, i noticed everytime i pulled away from traffic lights i'd get that same smell for a short time. i checked the temperature gauge and the needle was about halfway, which is a little less than i'm used to seeing it.

also when sitting at the lights for a minute or so, i did notice the gauge needle creep up a bit. it never got to the red at any stage though.

i've looked under the bonnet to see if there were any leaks from hoses but everything seems fine. this is the first time there has been this hot radiator/engine smell and i'm worried something could be wrong with the thermostat maybe?

i know this is a bit vague but i hope someone could throw some light on this problem?

thank you.

[nemz]

If it smelt like coolant through the vents, and you are definately loosing coolant, the best bet is that you have a leaking heater core, which is situated behind your dashboard, check for residue down near your drivers pedal's, console and passenger footwell, and see if you can smell coolant in there

[69.NIX]

I had that smell in my old Gen 3 camry. It was the coolant leaking.

I can only suggest, flush the cooling system, check for residue down near your drivers pedal's, console and passenger footwell (as suggested), then refill your system with a good quality coolant.

If all else fails, get your thermo and heater core checked by a pro.

[Branno]

Check your catalyc converter.

Could be a buildup of sulphur.

Common occurence in my 08 ZRE

[plastic man]

just to let you know whats happened.

apparently it was the right side driveshaft boot which had a split in it.

oil had sprayed on to the motor which created that overheating smell.

thanks for they replies.