94 Escort LX 1.9L Coolant loss

[Kirokai]

Hi I'm new to these forums trying to get some help cause my 94 ford escort LX 1.9L is currently suffering from coolant loss. However I have not seen any drips anywhere from under the hood and the floor mats in car seem to be dry. The overflow tank is always full to fill line but after I drive it for a day after refilling the radiator back up cause its half empty for some strange reason and then come home for the day and the next morning its half empty again.

As a side note when I first start the car it runs fine but then I eventually notice a strange odor that smells like burning coolant and something else mixed to it thru the vents in the car even without heater on. The Radiator cap has replaced due to the original was leaking out coolant from under the seal and the heater works fine. I've have however been thinking lately that maybe there is leak some where in-between the firewall and heater core possibly but the floor carpet seems to be dry. So here I am hoping for some advice anyone if anyone has any ideas to help as to what it might be please feel free to share because this has been driving my step-dad and I crazy.

[denisond3]

It sure sounds like a heater core leaking. The place you might find wetness is under the carpeting, in the sound absorbent matting. I think that might prevent you feeling the carpeting being wet.
The heater core is pretty much right above the center of the console, and in the bottom-front part of the console, right think you can pry off a panel on the driver's side footwell, and be able to see the PCM.

Its also possible the leak is under the hood, and you are smelling the coolant that leaks out from the back side of the engine. Besides the hoses to and from the heater, there are other places it could be leaking. The intake manifold covers up two places where the water jacket inside the head has openings. The intake manifold gasket is supposed to keep the coolant from escaping, but its another place to look for leaks. One opening in the head is right in the center, between the 2 and 3 intake tubes, and down below or behind where the dipstick tube pokes up.
It could also be leaking from the bottom of the thermostat housing, and basically be invisible from above.
I dont fully understand about the radiator needing coolant. The proper way to check the coolant level is to remove the radiator cap when the engine is fully cold (such as first thing in the morning). You want to see some coolant in that slanted part of the neck under the radiator cap. It doesnt have to be right up to the cap, as long as you can see the puddle of the coolant inside that neck. I used a flashlight to help me see in there.
For a year we could smell coolant slightly after our Escort hd been running, and I periodically added small amounts of coolant to the overflow tank - when the engine was cold. We didnt see any leak....until the head gasket blew out at the very front corner of the head - closest to the driver's side headlamp. We had not seen the coolant that was being lost because the exhaust manifold and the PCV tube were covering it up. The coolant blew back under the car, so we didnt notice it dripping. (Also our driveway is gravel).
Another place where Escorts are known to leak is from the joint between the plastic side tanks and the aluminum matrix of the radiator. It can be hard to see, since the radiator fan shroud may be in the way, and there isnt a lot of space to look around the radiator on either side anyway.

The one thing that is sure, is that a leak will get worse, not go away.

Good Luck....