I know this has topic has probably been posted over and over, but I was unable to find anything. I have a 2009 RX8 Last weekend me and a buddy changed out my radiator that was leaking. I took us about 6 hours but it was my first time doing it. We got it all fixed up and no leaks. Well today I got to work and smelled coolant once again. It is not coming from the radiator and it does not look like it is coming from the water pump. My question is. Is there a common hose that it may be? We semi checked the hoses when taking them off. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

No there is no hose that commonly leaks. Do a pressure test and see where it is leaking from.

 

You troubleshoot an RX-8 cooling system just like any other car. Check all the usual areas for wet spots or white dry spots. If you don't find anything, have the system pressure tested.

 

Advance Auto Parts will rent a cooling system pressure test tool for free (~$300 deposit is refunded when you return the tool).

I'm guessing any other big chain store will do the same. This tool will help you find your leak. If you can't find the leak using this tool then you probably overfilled the cooling system and it was burping out the overflow tube.

 

As others have said, there's no real singular point of failure in the cooling system. It could be almost anything. Old hoses, cracked overflow bottle, loose hose clamp, bad seals, it wouldn't even be unheard of if it was the brand new radiator.

Are you basing the fact that it's leaking solely on the smell? Or are you having to add coolant? The smell could be a bit misleading. Are you smelling it inside of the car, or outside? If you're getting a strong whiff of it outside then there's almost certainly a puddle of coolant collecting somewhere.

It definitely took a couple of days after my radiator change for me to stop smelling antifreeze with the A/C on though.