Everytime I get in the Jeep I smell antifreeze. It usually goes away within a minute or so. There is NO antifreeze dripping onto the passenger floorboard and NO mist on the windshield when using the defroster.

Notes:
1. Under the hood, I hear a gurgling noise for a minute or so after I turn the engine off.
2. I was getting no heat from the heater until I drained the core and filled it directly with straight Prestone flush. Left in an hour, drained and repeated. It now has great heat. I can't remember smelling antifreeze in the cab before doing this.

Anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions as to what to look for?

 

Does the coolant level seem to decrease over time a given amount in, say, a week? If so, I wonder if you're head it cracked. I believe 2000 and 2001 XJ's have a "bad" head design where they crack very easily. One symptom is unexplained coolant loss. The gurgling sound is probably air going through the system, I think

 

More than likely, you have a seep in the heater core. This is "usually" a prelude to a full-blown leak, at least in my experience. You might get lucky and it'll never blow. I had a friend that had this same problem. She'd fire it up, turn on the heat, get the fog on the windshield and smell antifreeze. After the car warmed up, it'd quit. She didn't want to pay for having it fixed until she HAD to and it lasted for several years until she traded off the car.

 

Mine is a rubber freeze plug I put in 11 years ago. It only leak when it is really cold. I smell it inside for a little bit.

 

A cracked head is VERY unlikely to produce a coolant smell in the cabin.

No, they do not "crack very easily". They are more likely to crack than the older heads, if you overheat them. If you don't overheat them, no problem.


Which wasn't mentioned as part of the OP's problem.

 

Yep. These are classic tiny leak symptoms.

 

I agree with leaky heater core,

I just had a cracked head on a 99 cherokee 4.0, head casting #s 0630, I bought the jeep this way, But anyways I had no smell in cabin at all.. I would fill the cooling system let it run in driveway for an hour no coolant loss, But as soon as I drove it all the coolant was blowing out the exhaust.. Get back home and be like damn where the hell is the water I just put in???

Anyways from what I have been reading on here and other places, if you suspect the heater core is leaking or any other issues with it, either just eliminate it or put a new heater core,

I only say this cause it is not worth taking the chance with the cooling system.. I agree with the head is only a problem if you let it over heat... So better to keep the cooling system up to par...

Just my thoughts..

Ant...