smelling coolant and squealing at start up

Every time I start up my XJ, there is a squealing sound from the belts but it normally goes away pretty quickly. When my heat is on it stays for a while then goes away. It started happening when the temps dropped and salt was being placed on the roads. I am assuming there is just salt on the pulleys. Also, after I step out from driving, I smell coolant. The reservoir is not dropping however and there is no coolant in the oil. At least not that I can tell. A little while ago, my water pump went out and sprayed coolant everywhere. The motor never overheated becuase I realized what happened right away. After I replaced the pump, I was an idiot and did not put the preassure cap on all the way after filling it up and coolant shot everywhere again. Shut it off before it over heated. Becuase of these two events, is that why I am still smelling coolant. It has been a little while and everything is running fine. Thanks for the help. I am somewhat confused as to what is going on.

More than a few times now I sprung a radiator leak that sprayed coolant everywhere. The belt started squealing shortly after. Hot water and mild soap works well to wash the coolant off the belt, then some silicon *rubber* spray (to soften the belt). A pretty good idea to get as much of the coolant as possible out of the engine compartment anyway, it can cause electrical shorts. Coolant conducts better than plain water and has fried my alternator in the past.
Some things to avoid when washing your motor at the quarter wash, like the TB and the distributor. I also don't spray it down any more than necessary. But to date I've only had one problem in the hundreds of times I've washed my motor.

The smell could still be from the engine bath with coolant. Or it could be something new. Keep a close eye on the coolant reservoir to make sure you don't have a slow leak. The level there will tell the story.

8Mud has some good advice for cleaning the serpentine belt if that is the case. Do NOT use belt dressing. Also be sure to verify proper belt tension. The serpentine belt on the 4.0 needs to be awfully tight to stay quiet. Inspect belt for wear/glazing (shiny streaks), replace if necessary. Goodyear Gatorback is a great replacement belt option.

8Mud, what kind of silicone dressing would you use on the belt? I just remember when I though my motorcycle seat looked so good after I Armoralled it. But then I slid all over the seat when I rode.

Get one of those Krikit II tools from NAPA and make sure your belt is at the right tension. Should be @ 170 lbs. I'd try that before 'dressing' the belt. If the tension is off, you could make things worse.

The belt has some shiny streaks starting to show and feels somewhat loose. I was planning on replacing soon, guess that is going to be a priority right now. Were can I buy a Gatorback?

Just tighten it until it stops squealing. But it wouldn't hurt to replace it and keep the old one as an emergency spare.

winterbeater said:

8Mud, what kind of silicone dressing would you use on the belt? I just remember when I though my motorcycle seat looked so good after I Armoralled it. But then I slid all over the seat when I rode.

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I got some stuff for door rubber, I picked up at a Shell station. Softens and cleans without leaving a glaze. Though I'm guessing it leaves some kind of coating, the doors quit sticking when they froze.
Worked well for me, though there are all sorts of brands out there. One thing I did learn is to read the label, some silicons attack rubber others are good for it. This stuff softens and works well.
Mild soap and water worked well for awhile but would the squeak eventually come back. I'm guessing my belt was hard as well as being coolant soaked.
The belts have to be tight, but you can over do it and cause premature bearing failure.