Coolant smell in exhaust but no leak
 

Hello everyone,

The problem i'm having is that I keep smelling coolant in my exhaust, but there is no white plume. Also, I have not been able to locate a leak and my reservoir is always full. I even took it to the dealership to inspect, and they too were not able to find any leaks or issues. I also should mention that the car had been parked for a few months without being driven. I don't know if that makes a difference but I figured i'd throw it in. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ok, with the car running do you have any air bubbles appearing in the expansion tank (reservoir) ?

Im not sure. Haven't checked in a few days since I haven't driven it. Last time I checked the tank there was pressure when I was removing the cap.


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Bump this thread.. Because I've been having the same problem for a few weeks now. Changed my coolant and replaced my hoses about a 6 weeks ago. About 2 weeks ago I started to notice a recurring whiff of coolant while driving and after i shut the car off there's a faint smell of burning coolant. I checked all hoses and the coolant bottle for leaks. Also under the car.. not a single noticeable leak anywhere. My coolant level has stayed constant in the bottle.

AC and heat work perfectly fine. I replaced the reservoir cap with a pressure release cap rated for 13psi last week and I'm still getting a faint smell. Been reading on this and i don't think I've blown a coolant seal since I'm not getting any white smoke from my exhaust and the car starts hot and cold fine with no hesitation.

While redlining I did get a coolant light twice so I jacked up the front of the car and let it idle with the cap off, since i read on here that's apparently the right way to bleed bubbles from our system. Since then no coolant light :) still no leaks and power has stayed consistent. I'm just baffled by the smell that I've been getting lately. Its and 04 6speed just recently hit 79k.

I noticed the scent when I changed to aftermarket silicone hoses during hot temperatures but that could just be due to the material itself. No leaks either so there was no issue, I wouldn't worry about it.

As for the coolant light, the sensors on the overflow container are known to go bad just as mine did. You can either replace it by buying a new overflow container (over $100 iirc) since you can't separate it or just unplug it and leave it unplugged which is what I did.

Just check your coolant levels from time to time or get an aftermarket water temp. gauge to tell you what the real temperature is to warn you.

^ Thanks and yeah I switched to silicone hoses so I'm hoping that that's the reason for the smell. And I'm assuming that my coolant sensor works fine since I'm not getting a light anymore but if it does go I think I'll just unplug it since i always have a watchful eye of all the fluids in my car lol.

Just an FYI in case you don't know, but since you mentioned a watchful eye on your fluids I will tell you that other than the gas gauge, the rest are just dummy gauges. In other words they won't budge until it's too late.

You may want to consider getting water temp, oil press & temp gauges to install in the car to monitor them.

I'm actually considering getting aftermarket gauges or a scantool to read out temperatures. But when i said watchful eye I meant quite literally lol I actually pop the hood daily and check oil level, coolant and even windshield washer levels lol. I think i may be ocd when it comes to maintenance.