i smell coolant

[theKnifeArtist]

sometimes when i give gas usually boosting i can smell the smell of burning coolant. i don't see any leaks under the hood, and i don't have any white smoking coming out the pipe...this really sound like a dummy question...
any ideas whats goin on?

 

[boost fiend]

i have the same issue. have to add coolant all the time now. looks like doom has reared its ugly head to bring the dreaded


::bhg::

 

[trydrew]

I smelt it constantly after the BHG was replaced, and I could never find out why. Then one day I came out to my car and there was a puddle of coolant sitting there. My lower radiator hose was loose but I never could tell, until it near popped off.
After that quick fix in a Remke's parking lot, I havent smelt coolant. Well, untill another hose started leaking.

Run the car then sniff around the engine bay and look over all the hoses. There should be a bit of coolant still in the affected area. Try this before jumping to conclusions.

 

[theKnifeArtist]

i always check around for puddles and dont see anything..maybe i gotta do a really good wipe down and check under the hood..it has to be a very small amount cuz my coolant level doesnt seem to be dropping at a rapid pace.

 

[johnathan1]

pressure test the cooling system and get it over with.

 

[Carrot Top]

I smell it too. Weird.

 

[Figit090]

my leak was the hose that attaches to the firewal to supply the heater with...heat. forgot to clamp it and its hard to see. it dripped down my firewall and down the frame, and even made it to the REAR wheel. yes, i had a small drip of coolant just in front of my driver-side rear a-arm. smelled coolant and thought it was just my extra bottle of coolant sitting in the car w/me for when the air worked out of the system.

pressure test or get the parts schematic for the cooling system and find it by checking everything.

if you dont find a puddle, park it in a clean, dry garage RIGHT after experiancing this...maybe rev it a little if you arent afraid of busting a huge leak...then shut it off and wait for drips to show. its possible you have a leak but it gets evaporated before it touches the ground though, hence the smell of 'burning' coolant.

i dont know about turbos, but, could your turbo be eating coolant?

 

[xXxICExXx]

i dont know about turbos, but, could your turbo be eating coolant?

negative

 

[smagnotta]

One check is to put a piece of cardboard under your car while it is in idle and give it some gas. If you have a leak then you'll immediately know. If not, pop the hood - sometimes a coolant leak will splash around from the fan turning and again, you will know something is leaking. This happened to me.

You could have a pinhole in a hose somewhere. Likely places on these older cars is the hose that goes along the firewall (I think someone mentioned that one), the upper radiator hose, and the long skinny hose to the overflow bottle. Some ace who worked on my car put the overflow hose close to my fan and it shredded it upon starting of course.

Do you hear a "waterfall" sound behind the dash when you start the car? Is your overflow bottle always full? How old is your thermostat? Cheap things to replace are the radiator cap and the thermostat. Do more diagnosis and then check back.

 

[theKnifeArtist]

yes i do have the waterfall soung behind my dash...its been there for ages..so i burped it one day...but it was after the car was driven and was warm so i wasnt really effective...it seemed to get better but its still there. i replaced my thermostat about a month ago. my radiator cap was tested a while ago and it was good..but this was a while ago..this was when i tested my cooling system and it was good.. i probably have a small leak..those hoses are always busting on me. eventually ill have em all replaced..

 

[IJ.]

 

[theKnifeArtist]

hey thats me!

 

[grygst76]

I have the same problem, brand new motor, boosted to 11psi, under certain conditions I smell coolant as well, I am not losing coolant and my system is always running cold even when it is hot outside it perplexes me....

 

[theKnifeArtist]

system is running cold? maybe your thermostat is stuck open. thats not a good thing. cold engine=fast wear. i dunno if you want your new motor wearing like that.

 

[Supra]

Recently had the same problem on my fresh rebuild. Turned out to be a pin hole leak in the rear most 90 degree elbow hose. The hose finally kicked the bucket at the CHI2k6 meet, where i had to do a parking lot replacement. :3d_frown: Owned by a $2.00 hose.

I've seen a hose that was oversized from autozone weep. We would clamp it down and it would wrinkle, make ridges that wouldn't seal well. It looked and felt like it was clamped, but it would leak. That took a bit of time to figure out.

Last - I've seen this problem happen when I used a bad hard line once. The two mounting tabs are spot welded and corrosion happens at these points. It sprays to the exh. manifold, which burns the coolant off. You'll never see coolant on the ground, but constant water fall sound in the car from drawing air and coolant consumption under boost. Now I pressure check the hard line before installing by capping all ends but one. Air compress the one to 25psi (stock coolant system is ~13psi max, maybe a bit more after the pump).

 

[MKThree]

Does the inside of your windshield ever fog up on you? I think my heater core is starting too leak because im getting the foggy window and slight smell of coolant inside the car.

 

[Supra]

Does the inside of your windshield ever fog up on you? I think my heater core is starting too leak because im getting the foggy window and slight smell of coolant inside the car.

Ouch... That will likely be the heater core.

 

[tookwik4u89]

Oooooooh....those suck!

 

[theKnifeArtist]

yeah my inside of the window fogs up...but its at 5 in the morning driving to school so i think thats just fog..
for the compression test. i give it 13 pounds of pressure and it should not budge correct? it should stay at 13 as long as the tester is on it right? or is there an excpetion to this..
also where can i get a diagram of all the coolant hoses so i can inspect em.