Anti-Freeze Leak

All...

I have a 95 Mustang GT.

A while back I noticed smoke coming through my vents and it smelled like anti-freeze. Also, after the engine warms up, there is some smoke coming from my engine...quite near where the heater hoses connect to the heater core. Everyone told me it was my heater core, so I ran a bypass yesterday and I took it around the block and noticed the smoke still coming from the engine.

Could this be anti-freeze left from the leak or do you think it still might be leaking from somewhere else? I didn't notice any smoke coming from the vents after the bypass....but it was sporadic before so I may just not have given it enough time.

Any thoughts?

It could just be already leaked coolant still burning off. Watch the coolant level. If it still falls, then carefully check the coolant hoses that should connect to the heater core and also the intake-to-head gaskets around the passenger side rear of the intake manifold.

Well I took the car out today and I didn't notice any smoke at all. Good! My issue now is that the thermostat seemed to be showing the engine to be a little hot. It didn't go red, but it was definitely up there. Any ideas? Could my bypass be bad? Also, I just refilled the coolant and I noticed that now the coolant is looking muddy/dirty. What could be causing that? Could they be related?

Check the oil. If the oil has coolant in it (will look like a milkshake or have streaks of white in it) stop driving it immediately. If the oil and coolant are mixing you need to replace a head gasket, or both. These are usually fail if the engine is over heated.

The bypass should not cause something like this, so the issue is likely something else.

Nothing in the oil...already checked that.

Well that's good news. I'd say flush your coolant and see what that does. It should be changed about every 2 years, so if you haven't done it in a while it should be done anyway.

Use the Ford green anti-freeze. Your local dealership should have it. Flush with the garden hose and fill with 50/50 mix of the anti-freeze and distilled water. You can get gallon jugs at most grocery stores for cheap. Be sure it is distilled.