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Smell coolant after driving?

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Old Sep 21, 2016 | 05:53 PM
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Default Smell coolant after driving?

Hey guys, so after driving when I shut off the jeep, I can smell coolant when I stand on either side of the truck. Truck isn't overheating, no loss of coolant, everything seems fine.

Any idea what it could be? or is it normal?

Thanks in advance.

01 xj
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Old Sep 21, 2016 | 07:47 PM
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Check around the water pump and check around the threads of the inlet tube to the water pump. Check any coolant hose/clamp area.
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Old Sep 21, 2016 | 07:57 PM
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I'm curious if you have been mysteriously losing coolant without any sign of leakage?

What is the color of the oil?
What is the color of coolant?

Anyway. Sometime there's a leak on the radiator that escape as steam, not in liquid form.
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Old Sep 22, 2016 | 07:35 AM
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It's not normal. You have a leak somewhere.
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Old Sep 22, 2016 | 08:30 AM
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Have the system pressurized and watch for leaks.

Uh-oh, it's an 01.......
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Old Sep 22, 2016 | 08:31 PM
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Uh-oh is right.


Hotdog, you need to get one of these and use it.
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Old Sep 22, 2016 | 08:41 PM
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Originally Posted by dcollins3208
Check around the water pump and check around the threads of the inlet tube to the water pump. Check any coolant hose/clamp area.
Will do
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Old Sep 22, 2016 | 08:43 PM
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Originally Posted by XJwonders
I'm curious if you have been mysteriously losing coolant without any sign of leakage?

What is the color of the oil?
What is the color of coolant?

Anyway. Sometime there's a leak on the radiator that escape as steam, not in liquid form.
Nope. No loss of coolant, my head is okay (so far, knocks on wood). No oil in coolant, oil and coolant seem okay. Just the smell.

I might end up just getting a new radiator and go over the whole cooling system after winter.
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Old Sep 22, 2016 | 08:43 PM
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Originally Posted by cruiser54
Have the system pressurized and watch for leaks.

Uh-oh, it's an 01.......
I'll probably do that before I flush it in time for winter.

Head looked okay to me, but again, i'm crossing my finger lol
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Old Sep 22, 2016 | 08:45 PM
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Originally Posted by BlueRidgeMark
Uh-oh is right.


Hotdog, you need to get one of these and use it.
appreciate the advice. Won't hurt to have it around
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Old Sep 23, 2016 | 07:19 AM
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Won't hurt to use it now. On another similar thread, several people posted that they had a cracked head but saw no sign of it in the oil.

As for flushing, see my sig.
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Old Sep 23, 2016 | 10:19 AM
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My head cracked into valve port and I had loss of coolant, steam from the tailpipe, and coolant dripping from the pipe if I idled for a long time. No oil contamination.

However, my WJs water pump has a "weep chamber" or small pocket that holds a tiny bit of coolant that might get past the shaft bearing, holds it, and allows it to evaporate. When the seepage gets bad enough, the coolant drips into the back side of the pulley and is thrown off on startup.

I found out about this chamber after we fired up the jeep while on the lift to check out an exhaust leak. When it fired, coolant gushed down the front of the engine, then stopped! When looking at the AC Delco water pump in a catalog, they explained this chamber.

I hope this helps.

Last edited by dave1123; Sep 23, 2016 at 10:22 AM.
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Old Sep 23, 2016 | 12:43 PM
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Originally Posted by the_toxic_hotdog
Nope. No loss of coolant, my head is okay (so far, knocks on wood). No oil in coolant, oil and coolant seem okay. Just the smell.

I might end up just getting a new radiator and go over the whole cooling system after winter.
Do an oil analysis anyways. It's really the only sure fire way to tell. Also, they tell you how your engine is wearing. I had no signs of a cracked head as I had coolant leaking from a hose, therefore hard to diagnose a slow leak from another source.

www.blackstone-labs.com
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Old Sep 24, 2016 | 11:27 AM
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How about the damn radiator cap lol. I could smell coolant from my xj and the cap was shot. Done and Done!
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Old Sep 25, 2016 | 01:10 AM
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Hey guys I don't know if this the place for the question I have about my 2000 jeep charokee laredo 4.7l v8 I bought it for $800 with only 219.000kms an i drove it home an from where I bought it was like an hour away from my house so as I'm driving, jeep was fully heated up where it should be an i can faintly smell coolant so I was like wtf lol so I started to turn my heat on bc like I said it was little chilly so I did an when I turned it on I can smell coolant evan worser but not loosing coolant so I got it home left it parked for like 2 days than drove it bout 3 times within a week than parked it for like a week than go an start it to let it run bc it sat so I shut it off an than check all my fluids an my coolant level is maybe down 2 hairs from where it normally sits an that's at the line where it should be....... just would like the smell gonna let the jeep get threw the winter thays coming soon bc it's 4x4 works awesome an the motor is a 4.7l v8 an runs very smooth
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