the_toxic_hotdog

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

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.

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.

BlueRidgeMark

It's not normal. You have a leak somewhere.

cruiser54

Have the system pressurized and watch for leaks.

Uh-oh, it's an 01.......

BlueRidgeMark

Uh-oh is right.


Hotdog, you need to get one of these and use it.

the_toxic_hotdog

Will do

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.

the_toxic_hotdog

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

the_toxic_hotdog

appreciate the advice. Won't hurt to have it around

BlueRidgeMark

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.

dave1123

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.

fijicorey25

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

Jeepin'_Aint_EZ

How about the damn radiator cap lol. I could smell coolant from my xj and the cap was shot. Done and Done!

Odonnell2189

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