I smell coolant but im not loosing any?

this just started last week, once im driving around for 10-15 mins and my engine is warmed up, i detect the sweet smell of coolant. at some points its very strong. yesterday i pulled over, left it running and checked all around for leaks only to find nothing. nothing in the overflow bottle. I went to add some coolant to the system thinking i lost some somwhere but it was still pretty full. any ideas?

 

My Neon does the same thing. $sink noticed it last time I was there. I don't notice any loss and if there is it is so small I just don't worry about it.

 

small leak, check places like a slightly seeping water pump or something....

 

Might be your heater core. when you smell it turn the blower on and see if the smell is stronger.

 

:iagree:
ck the heater core.

 

yea, heater core might have a pinhole leak. usually not to expensive to replace, maybe 30 -50 bucks.

 

A HEATER IN A JEEP WHAT THE .................

 

Dittto on the core. A UV light can show antifreeze leaks.

Pete

 

if you smell it, it's leaking somewhere

 

You should have a little in the overflow bottle.

if it is a hot engine, then say a little over half of the bottle should have coolant in it.

Do you get this smell in traffic, or when you are motoring along by yourself?

 

I'll second checking the weep hole on the water pump.

That stuff smells so sickly sweet that it's easy to tell ahead of time if you're having a problem.

Heater core is another good place to check as well.

 

Might try to tighten the hose clamps. Sometimes they seep there.

 

sounds like a pin hole in the heater core if you have a heater,also check around the exaust manifold studs if its an F-head or an L-head,you have a very small leak and heat makes the smell intense

 

I've got a little leak on my lower radiator hose (worn hose ballooned a little, I need to replace it). I can smell it a little bit but it actually seems to leak faster when it's not running.

 

overflow bottle????? JEEPs have those?

 

Mine sure doesn't, it just dumps it on the ground. I'm kind of worried that the neighborhood cats are going to start dying if I don't fix the coolant system soon.

 

Only owner installed.R)

 

Animal cruelty? or Animal Control? Which is it?????

 

They use my lawn as a liter box. That makes me feel a bit justified, but I still need to fix it. I'm running a pretty light mix of antifreeze right now because I have to keep topping it off.

 

mine happens to be a pilsner urquell bottle zip tied to the side of the rad with a hose running into it