antifreeze smell, need help

[wylecoyote3]

Need some help. Have an antifreeze/coolant smell that occurs only after long uphills (or into strong wind) and at times after shutting off my Jeep. I never have the smell during the hill or under hard acceleration. Only after the hard work is over. I've checked all the hoses and looked for trace coolant leak marks and everything looks good. I have a 14lb cap on the radiator and it looks clean around the cap. Is there something else I can look for or something else with a similar smell?

[RepoMan]

heater core could be leaking.

[wylecoyote3]

can it be the heater core even if there is no smell when the heater is on?

[RepoMan]

well if it just started its often difficult to detect, rest assured if its the heater core it will get worse. Try smelling the vents directly, its hard to tell though w/o seeing it. Check the radiator cap too w/ a pressure tester, may even be able to rent one at an auto parts store. Other than those two locations the leak should be visable. Are you loosing any noticable amounts of coolant? Nothing else smells liike coolant.


...also check around the head could be leaking there as well.

[wylecoyote3]

I've had the smell for about 9 months now and it hasn't gotten any worse and I haven't lost any noticeable amount of coolant from the system, thats what really confuses me. I'm assuming thats because it leaks so rarely, but when it does I can hardly breath, sometime I have to stop and get out until it clears. Does a pressure test test your entire system or just the radiator? Thanks for the help.

[RepoMan]

Pressure tester does both, it will help greatly in finding the leak too if it cant be found on its own.

it will test the cap and then pressurizing the radiator will check that and the entire cooling system.