sweet smell - can't find

[TSTONE]

i have an autostart on my x, and when it's been warming up for 15min, i can smell a sweet smell(antifreeze i'm pretty sure), i don't smeel it inside the truck though and it doesn't appear to be leaking(i garage park and put cardboard down to see if anything was dripping), i had my cooling system flushed about 5000 miles ago. any ideas?
todd

 

[Jason_25]

Maybe your heater core has a slight leak?

 

[TSTONE]

thats was my first thought, but wouldn't i be smelling it inside the truck?

 

[nosaj122081]

Check around all the hose ends and the thermostat housing... It might not be a huge leak, but you may have a little bit dripping out that is baking on the block, which lets you smell it. I'd give everything a good going over to see if I can find it. Is that the only problem you have, no oil in the water, vice versa, or overheating problems? If not, proly just a little dribble somewhere.

 

[TSTONE]

the x has never overheated or even run hot for that matter, it seems to sit on the "o". oil's clean, rad fluid appears clean, and i have checked all the hose connections i could find, man this has got me stumped, question though - if i were to replace the t-stat, does anyone know if theirs a benefit for going anything different than stock?
todd

 

[nosaj122081]

I don't think theres any benefit in a stock motor from going with a different temperature thermostat... Some modifications can benefit from a lower theromstat (some things like to run a little cooler, or cause the engine to run hotter), but on a stock motor I'd just stick with the OEM rating.

 

[Big Nick]

You might want to run through your coolant system closer. My mustang has a constant smell of antifreeze, never ran hot, or leaked and had a brand new heater core. Turn out to be the radiator was starting to go and the leaks were so small the water would evaporate before leaving a mark bt would cause the smell. Drove me nuts.

 

[Jason_25]

Also check your heater control valve. They are prone to leakage.

 

[yob_yeknom]

You could have a leak when up to operating temps, but the heat of the engine evaportates it. Then when the engine cools, the pressure goes away and it doesn't leak anymore.
Keep an eye out for any greenish coloration on your engine. Or any flaky, green white stuff that looks baked on. That is a sign of antifreeze being vaporized from the heat and would point you to the leak.

 

[TSTONE]

thanks - i'll take another look, last night i installed my kkm and looked/smelled around the only baked white i saw was on the lower hose side about parallel w/ the cap, but it also looked as though there was some down the side of the radiator, also that side of the engine is where the smell is the strongest

 

[Ross-N-Chicago]

My two cents-- If you ran rad flush through your system I hope you did a good job of getting all the chemical out. I ran Prestone's Super Flush and after a month or so I cracked two heads b/c the super flush leaves residue which can cause problems with gaskets and fittings. For peace of mind, I would drain your system, run pure water through for 15 mins, drain, repeat and then fill up again. I was so pissed I couldn't see straight. BTW, how's the water pump? Maybe a good time to replace (cheap insurance).

 

[TSTONE]

water pump seems ok, the rad flush was nearly 2 yrs ago. i watched him do it and i don't recall him puttin anything in the rad chem wise?

 

[TSTONE]

thats a good idea - i've got some nephews. lol

 

[Archie]

My 97' has the same smell tracked it to a frost plug on back of engine block?

 

[JOSEPHOUYSON]

nasty

this may sound weird but sometimes the calking that ford uses in the seems of there body work can smell like b.o. We had this problem on an 85 ford 3/4 ton. just make shure that no heat is geting to any seals or calking, this may be your problem but I doubt it. Good luck

 

[shooter_1000]

I had the same problem as Gimp did....new rad cured that. Also at the same time I notcied the the timing chain cover gasket was crawling out from where the water jacket of the waterpump goes through. The tiniest of marks was left on the cover and evaporated before it could leave any puddles on the floor.

More recently, I had a cracked cylinder head and bad head gasket and on startup it would smell like antifreeze till it all evaporated out of the cylinders and exhaust system. There was also the tell tale sign of white smoke coming from the exhaust.

Hope this helps

 

[mahieber]

My 92 had the freeze plug on the back of the passenger's side head rust out... it was like you described until the poor little bugger couldn't hold it anymore. The bad part about running out of antifreeze is that the tempature gauge shows cool, because their is no hot water flowing in that part of the block.

 

[Rhett]

Gimp! My radiator is doing exactly the thing you describe. The leak is gradually getting worse. Seems to me that you have a good explanation because it's a weird leak--sometimes it does sometimes not. I got under there and the rad is wet on the corners. I used to think I had a cracked head, until I found that leak.

It's gettin pretty old having to put coolant in it every week or two, so I am probably gonna do something soon.

Also, anyone know how you can tell if you have a single core or double core radiator?

 

[TSTONE]

Thanks for everyones input

thanks to all - i think i got it, the following is from my post, "i feel tupid"

oh yeah, i almost forgot, i started a thread a couple a weeks ago
"sweet smell - can't find"
ever since the tstat replacement, the smell has gone away, my friend's guess is that the gasket around the plastic rad tank ends has a slow leak, and since i was taking so long to get up in temp(which was never past the "n" even after 1hr drive time) the gaskets were taking along time to swell and close off the seapage, now my x heats upto dead center(noR^Mal) within a couple of minutes, thus heating up the gasket before it has a chance to seap