smell of antifreeze

jturner18 · 03-25-2009, 05:52 PM

whenever i drive my YJ it warms up and i smell antifreeze. i cant find any leaks and its not over heating.. anyone have clues??

95 jeep wrangler 2.5L

yjjustforme · 03-25-2009, 05:57 PM

i have the same problem i found a small leak at the top of my radiator. so if anyone has a good used one pm me!

**Mean Max** · 03-25-2009, 06:16 PM

Heater core?

Max

azgurney · 03-25-2009, 06:38 PM

I have had similar problems on vehicles in the past. The problem is that small leaks evaporate as they leak when the engine in hot. Start the engine when it is cold and looks at all hose connections, water pump and t stat gaskets etc. when it is warming up you can sometimes find the leak, it may take a while so be patient. When my water pump was going bad there was a streak of antifreeze on the lower radiator hose from the seep hole in the water pump. Another time a defective hose clamp would not tighten a hose enough.

MiKESrEd94 · 03-25-2009, 07:28 PM

i had just gone through this problem this past week..tiny little pin holes on the back side of the rad. just like az said you have to sit and watch it for a while to spot it. good luck fixing it

Felonious_monk · 03-25-2009, 10:48 PM

Have you recently replaced your thermostat?

Mine leaked there after I rebuilt the engine.....somehow I creased my thermostat housing gasket and when warm, the pressure would push a little coolant out past the gasket.

Good Luck

mjmangus · 03-26-2009, 03:30 AM

I agree with Mean Max. If you can smell it inside the vehicle you might want to check your heater core. Does your windshield fog up when you hit the defrost? That's a dead giveaway.

jturner18 · 03-27-2009, 02:21 PM

well, yes i have recently changed the thermostat AGAIN! i have not found any leaks, one of the guys at work said the core might be going out. so i think i will take that as a hint. i was almost going to pull the head and check there. but i might start with the core. i have had problems with getting heat too. so bingo!!v

azgurney · 03-27-2009, 09:30 PM

Are you talking about the heater core? I would just bypass it and see if the leak stops. I would not go to all that trouble just to find out it was good. I always try the simple things first.

JACFF7 · 03-27-2009, 11:12 PM

you have a heater core problem.... absolutely........................................

jturner18 · 03-30-2009, 12:00 PM

well i did change the heater core, and it did have a broken line in it. so now i have to get the rest of the crap reassembled. thanks again for all of your advice!!! YOU GUYS ROCK!

jturner18 · 11-20-2009, 05:08 PM

well be are back on the anti freeze issue again, now its the head gasket that is leaking.

jturner18 · 11-20-2009, 05:13 PM

back to the grind stone

03-25-2009, 07:28 PM	#5
MiKESrEd94 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: northeast PA Posts: 15 Profile Gallery Classifieds My Jeeps	i had just gone through this problem this past week..tiny little pin holes on the back side of the rad. just like az said you have to sit and watch it for a while to spot it. good luck fixing it