Antifreeze smell?

Hi all,

I get a slight antifreeze smell every so often and I cant see leaking anywhere, and its driving me nuts. She gets new coolant every spring so I know that my maintenance is up to snuff. Any ideas?

Chuck

Check the heater core, valve, and hoses. Could have a small leak you're not quite catching.

they all do it i have a 00 and 01 cherokee with 4.0 and they both do it.. really seems to be after a long run when relly hot.. sound right??

leadfoot77 said:

they all do it i have a 00 and 01 cherokee with 4.0 and they both do it.. really seems to be after a long run when relly hot.. sound right??

Click to expand...

Doesn't sound right at all. I have a 2000 Limited right now, and don't have the same symptoms you're describing. My previous XJ (2001 Sport) didn't have this issue either. Again, check the heater hoses, valve, and core. You may have a leak somewhere you can't see. Oh, and also check that the overflow tank isn't leaking.

I'd say check the radiator and main hoses, but since you're not seeing huge amounts of coolant pouring out start with the small stuff and work up.

My 99 does this too. I was worried about it at first, but after checking everything out & not finding anything I just live with it. It's more noticeable in the summer. Come to think of it, I haven't noticed it in a few months now.

If you find the source, let us know and I'll double check mine

get the system pressure tested. we have a pretty sweet little tool at school for doing it.

I have pressure tested and it holds and holds . I even went out and bought myself i nice snap-on kit for doing it to almost anything out there and , i've looked for leaks numerous times and naaada leak to bo be found. smell still there seems more noticeable in the summer when it hotter..

Pressure testing hint: some very small leaks will only show thier ugly head when the engine is stone cold or totally warm try both.....

Thanks to everyone for your insight. A little more info is in order, reservoir is sound and level is good, smell comes after normal driving of about 15 min or so, my commute actually. I have no fluid seepage anywhere that I can see, I can't say for sure that its coming from the heater core, seems to come from front of the vehicle somewhere. When vehicle is cold, there is no odor. If I have to live with it, so be it--I am anal about this vehicle and anything like this just drives me nuts. Any further input is appreciated with this new info I gave you.
Thanks,

Chuck

PS: Mileage is just under 114k.

mine does it. 2000 with 66,750 miles.
has done it for about 15k. only when hot. it only smells outside the vehicle or when i've got the windows down and i'm doing stop and go driving. that leads me to beleive its not the heater core. if it leaked inside the dash, thats inside the vehicle, and i'd smell it inside.
sevral members of my club have the same issue. 2001 XJ with 115k, 2000 XJ with 96k both do it, along with an 00 TJ with 40some.

Seems to me this might be a quirk associated with the later models ('00 and '01) Do you know if the other members of your club have found anything? I agree with your assessment that it's not the heater core because the smell is outside. The only thing I can think of is that it might be coming from a slightly loose clamp somewhere. What do you think?

ok, look at the side of your engine block, basically under where the spark plugs go. there's undoubtedly a bunch of crap there on the block. every jeep 4.0L i've seen has it. i'm thinking maybe there's a TINY head gasket leak that's letting out coolant onto the hot engine block causing it to burn off rapidly and never drip to the ground.

there is a member of capitaljeeps with a 96XJ with well over 150k, his doesn't smell.
none of us in the group have found anything suspect, but i know i lose about a cup of coolant every couple thousand miles, which has gotta be enough to cause the smell.

could be a clamp. chrysler uses these ubergay clamps to hold on the radiator hoses, well, all of the coolant hoses for that matter. they're spring steel. take those off a couple of times, then put them back on, who knows if they'll clamp as tightly as they did when new. i don't trust them. i replaced all of mine with stainless conventional style hose clamps, the ones with the little screw that actually binds down on the hose. that didn't help, it still smells.
i replaced my radiator cap with a levervent cap. that didn't do anything either.
could it be the water outlet/water neck/thermostat housing leaking onto the water pump? unlikely, because you'd probably see some crap all over the hood getting flung up onto it from the belt turning, but might be something to check out.