I can smell coolant from???

[95stocker]

Just this weekend after driving the car 150 miles, I pull into the parking spot, and I see a cloud of white smoke coming from my driver's side fenderwell. So I popped the hood and got a quick whiff of coolant and then it was gone. The car is not overheating, and the fluid level is not noticably going down at all. The cloud of coolant only seems to be present after hard and/or long running. I'm not burning any coolant (that I can tell), so where should I be looking first. Intake, hoses, etc....????

 

[95stocker]

suggestions.....anyone?????

 

[302fordracer]

my buddy's 98 gt had this very same problem and his problem was a cracked upper intake manifold....every time he revved the engine high there was a cloud of smoke and then under the hood coolant smell was present...however the difference between his and yours is that your manifold should be iron (hard to crack) his was essentially plastic...

 

[Scottstang94GT]

hey bro, i got a 1994 GT...mostly stock....run mycar like a baby, but when i decided to tromp on it and let it sit for a second, i get the SAME EXACT THING AS YOU from the same exact spot. check your AC lines. because they're located over the manifold, there might be a crack in one of the seams. the lubricant that runs through the a/c lines might be dripping on to the headers from time to time....either that, or the block has a slight crack in it. i'm still wondering myself which it is......friggen ongoing mystery.

 

[95stocker]

well it won't be the a/c lines because the lubricant you're refering to is R-134A; a refrigerant, and if there was a crack in the line somewhere, it would be gone completely with in a matter of days or hours depending on the size. I have been experiencing this for a while now, so I have ruled out the a/c. Also I think a cracked block is out of the question, as it would take some flying broken internals to crack a stock block with stock compression and low rpm usage.

 

[Scottstang94GT]

eh well. one day last year when i was wiping down my motor, an orangy-like viscous fluid was leaking from the A/C line over the manifold. noticed it dripped and hit the header and smoked. that's what i'm going with on mine. didn't say it was the refrigerant. said it was the lubricant that runs in the lines. There IS a difference.

 

[jmuva44]

maybe a heater hose is loose/cracked??

 

[KG94GT]

Coolant smell.

95stocker,
Possibly the intake manifold gasket(s). I pumped air in and could see where it was steaming out. Never saw any on the ground but a slight loss in the overflo every couple of hundred miles. Good Luck!

 

[donjohn]

before i replaced the tstat a few days ago the same thing was happening- the leakage was just squirting from the radiator cap as far as i could tell. So i replaced the tstat after it already caused the heater core to crap out. It was causing the radiator fluid to rise and dump constantly so it ran out in like 10 miles.

Even though i replaced it I still noticed a little bit of smoke in the same location you're describing but 30 minutes ago when I got on the gas. I assumed it's just a little squirt from the radiator cap (a slight overflow like KG94 said)- but ionno, maybe it could be more

oh yea- did it smell like maple syrup??? - mine did and all i could think of was pancakes

 

[95stocker]

I have replaced the cap, the t-stat, hoses(a while ago), and flushed the coolant as i wrote before. But none of those fixed it. Then just 5 days ago it decided to stop leaking . I haven't lost fluid since.

 

[donjohn]

coulda been too much fluid to begin with and now its at a good level

 

[DougNuts]

I would check the radiator end cap. They are plastic and crimped on to each end of the radiator. I thought most of them went bad on the passenger side, but maybe yours is bad on the driver's side?

 

[95stocker]

Plastic end cap as in a freeze plug? Or are you talking about the cheezy plastic drain plug?

 

[DougNuts]

I can't think of the actual name for these parts. If you look at your radiator, it has plastic ends that are, I believe, called the end tanks. Our stock radiators seem to develop small leaks inbetween the plastic and metal parts. That's where I would look, up and down each side. Go take a peek, you'll see what I'm talking about.

 

[mus1994stang]

water pump?

mine had a simialar problem. i was smelling coolant through the vents then it just all leaked out after my car overheated. it was the water pump and i replaced the t-stat too.

 

[donjohn]

mine had a simialar problem. i was smelling coolant through the vents then it just all leaked out after my car overheated. it was the water pump and i replaced the t-stat too.

i had the same EXACT thing happen the other day (that's what i described up there) but i didn't replace the water pump, the tstat was causing the problem

today i found another leak from a loose hose clamp-> puddle of coolant on the valve covers

 

[mo_dingo]

A few things. First, you could be leaking in a number of places. Just narrow it down. If you haven't replaced your radiator hoses , do so. It's cheap, and also preventative maintainence. Replace the upper/lower/bypass & the other hose(small one like the bypass hose). Secondly, replace your t-stat w/ a 180* tstat. Keeps the car running cooler, and will eliminate this from the equation.

Next, with the car at normal running temperature, inspect for the leak. It could be anywhere. Look at the intake manifold, heads, water pump, etc. Take your time.

You might need someone to rev the motor hard to get it to leak enough for you to see it.
Scott