My '00 has just over 110K on it but I notice that every time I drive it I get the slight smell of coolant coming from the engine compartment. I have not found any leaks and the radiator is full as is the overflow. There also doesn't appear to be any coolant in the crank case, no milky residue on the oil cap or the dip stick and I cant smell it. Its just a faint smell every now and then. Could this be a case of a mildly cracked head, yes it has the 0331 head? If so where would the best place be to get a good quality head, not a 0331? I'll make the exhaust work and the coil packs I just dont want to have to replace the head again if I dont have to.

PS my Jeep has great oil pressure at idle and while driving so there is not a problem there and the coolant temp is good.

I'm new to the XJ world so if its normal to smell this, which I doubt, dont flame me too bad

 

We're not about to "Flame" you my friend... This isn't NAXJA here!


Honestly, My XJ gives off this smell quite often, nothing broken and my Heater works just fine. Others here commonly experience the same thing. This may just be a typical XJ quirk!

Really if everything is working okay and there's no leaks, just be happy, ya know?

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it"!



BTW- Pine Scented Air Fresheners Work AWESOME!!!

 

I dont see why everyone says this. Im a member on NAXJA and have never seen anyone get flamed or even mildy "made fun of"...

I wouldnt worry about the smell, as long as your exhaust isnt white smoke and sweet smelling you should be fine. Just keep an eye on stuff since you have that head...

 

I had the exact same problem.

I looked over everything in my engine bay, and gave up on finding a leak, as I hadn't found one yet.

One night I was under my Jeep as I slid into some rocks on the icy roads, and noticed some green crap on my frame below my radiator. I had checked my rad months before for leaks, and still had that "faint" smell of coolant every now and then.

I looked up above the green crap, and noticed a small leak out of the bottom of my rad.

I replaced my rad, upper and lower rad hoses, and even the serpentine belt while I was at it, and haven't had the smell back yet.

 

Cool, yeah I'm a member of a couple other forums where newbies are flamed for asking seemingly dumb questions. Yeah the heat works great and so does everything else. I'll just chalk it up to being a weird quirk about the XJ and I'll pick up some air fresheners, lol. Thanks

 

Heater core?

 

I seem to think on mine it is a weeping radiator end tank. They just weep a bit and you really can't see it. As long as you are not loosing coolant and it is not overheating you are ok.

 

Exactly. Mine was losing small amounts of coolant, and I would just add some more to the resevoir tank. Never over heated, but was running upwards of 100, now its a bit lower which is nice.