phiebert
Enthusiast
This afternoon I parked outside a friends place and left the car idling in the lot. When I came back out we were talking beside the car and I noticed the faint smell of engine coolant. It's the first time I had noticed it.
At first I thought that maybe someone's car had spilled coolant on the lot and that my side exhaust had heated up the spot and evaporated the coolant. But now I'm not sure. When I got home I tried to smell for it again but couldn't quite figure out if it was coming through the side cooling vents or from the exhaust but there did still seem to be a very faint coolant smell. Of course I may have just been paranoid.
So my question is, if there is a smell what is the likely cause. I haven't noticed the coolant level going down but I will watch it very carefully.
1. If it is coming from the exhaust does that mean the my head gasket is gone or worse the block is cracked?
2. If it is coming from the side venting does that mean I just have a hose leak or rad leak? There isn't any coolant on the garage floor where I park so that seems unlikely.
3. Something else common?
Like I said I haven't seen much change in the coolant level if at all so it isn't leaking quickly if it is. If the smell isn't just in my head then I think it is coming past the engine side vents and not the exhaust. The exhaust doesn't drip at all or produce any steam from what I can tell. Any help would be appreciated though because I really don't want to replace a head gasket or something else if it is a simple common problem.
At first I thought that maybe someone's car had spilled coolant on the lot and that my side exhaust had heated up the spot and evaporated the coolant. But now I'm not sure. When I got home I tried to smell for it again but couldn't quite figure out if it was coming through the side cooling vents or from the exhaust but there did still seem to be a very faint coolant smell. Of course I may have just been paranoid.
So my question is, if there is a smell what is the likely cause. I haven't noticed the coolant level going down but I will watch it very carefully.
1. If it is coming from the exhaust does that mean the my head gasket is gone or worse the block is cracked?
2. If it is coming from the side venting does that mean I just have a hose leak or rad leak? There isn't any coolant on the garage floor where I park so that seems unlikely.
3. Something else common?
Like I said I haven't seen much change in the coolant level if at all so it isn't leaking quickly if it is. If the smell isn't just in my head then I think it is coming past the engine side vents and not the exhaust. The exhaust doesn't drip at all or produce any steam from what I can tell. Any help would be appreciated though because I really don't want to replace a head gasket or something else if it is a simple common problem.
