coolant smell

[newtodsm's]

i just got tuning my car. after driving it for about an hour i can smell coolant. it isnt overheating my needle stays about half way on my gauge. i dont see any coolant leaks. any ideas? im think heater core. can i bypass it or do i need to replace it. i dont plan on driving it in the winter so i dont really need heat.

 

[rice_boi88]

i noe im smellin it too...car was overheating so i jux replace my t-stat and add new coolent n now it doesnt overheat but kinda smell coolent while driving

 

[newtodsm's]

yeah i replaced the t stat with a 160 degree and new upper and lower hose. coolant level is good not sure where the smell is coming from

 

[gsxofftheline]

You would have to have a leak in order to smell it. I have had many times where I smell coolant and it turned out to be leaking somewhere. You might have a small one where it drips on something hot in the engine bay and you can smell it. Here's what you do so you know for sure you don't have a leak. Get the coolant pressure tester from autozone to borrow, pressure test the system to 15 psi and look for leaks. Other times, you can have too much coolant in the resevior bottle and it spits out the coolant it doesnt need.

 

[lnvisiblejon]

you got a leak somewhere if u smell coolant for sure.

 

[miller97tsi]

like gsxofftheline said if you cant see leaks your bottle might just be spitting it out and hitting something hot or you have a pin hole leak and only spits it out under pressure try that coolant tester

 

[volkri25]

The chance of it being the heater core is nearly impossible, its either something in the engine bay or your imagination.

 

[landrocket]

its either a small leak that your overlooking or when you did the work some coolant may be resting somewhere on the tranny or engine that you cant see bu when the car heats up it starts boiling the coolant to where you smell it. if its your heater core then when you use your windshield defroster you will get coolant condensation on the inside of the windshield and smell it pretty good. you can bypass it by disconnecting the hoses rom the heater core and connect them together with a brass connector and some hose clamps. hope this helps!