2005 tj smells like coolant when air/heat is on

I have a similar, but different issue - coolant is disappearing with no obvious explanation. And no smell of coolant at all. One complete reservoir gone in 250 miles! Suggestions anyone???
 
Well, it must be going somewhere. If you have thoroughly inspected under the vehicle and found no leaks at all, then it's either going into your oil (blown head gasket) or leaking into your vehicle (blown heater core). The latter should be pretty easy to figure out. Just feel the carpet and see if it's wet.

As for the head gasket, check your oil and make sure it isn't milky. That's a lot of coolant to be losing over 250 miles.
 
Chris said:
Well, it must be going somewhere. If you have thoroughly inspected under the vehicle and found no leaks at all, then it's either going into your oil (blown head gasket) or leaking into your vehicle (blown heater core). The latter should be pretty easy to figure out. Just feel the carpet and see if it's wet.

As for the head gasket, check your oil and make sure it isn't milky. That's a lot of coolant to be losing over 250 miles.
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Or it may be going out an exhaust pipe--gasket or cracked head or cracked block. Get a pressure tester from autozone or o' Reilly's ( a lot of places lend these tools for free just require a refundable deposit). I found a leak on mine this way. It was leaking in suck a place that it was evaporating as fast as it leaked so it wasn't visible. Putting the system under pressure solved the problem
 
Stinger said:
Or it may be going out an exhaust pipe--gasket or cracked head or cracked block. Get a pressure tester from autozone or o' Reilly's ( a lot of places lend these tools for free just require a refundable deposit). I found a leak on mine this way. It was leaking in suck a place that it was evaporating as fast as it leaked so it wasn't visible. Putting the system under pressure solved the problem
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Yeah, that makes perfect sense as well. Bottom line, if he's losing this much coolant and it's not coming out under the vehicle, it's definitely coming out one of these places we mentioned.
 
Stinger said:
Or it may be going out an exhaust pipe--gasket or cracked head or cracked block. Get a pressure tester from autozone or o' Reilly's ( a lot of places lend these tools for free just require a refundable deposit). I found a leak on mine this way. It was leaking in suck a place that it was evaporating as fast as it leaked so it wasn't visible. Putting the system under pressure solved the problem
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This is what we went thru with my son's TJ 2 months ago. Head gasket degraded at one of the cooling ports and leaked into cylinders 2 and 3. Not a drop in the oil but nice sweet white smoke out the exhaust. The pressure test revealed a leak somewhere other than the normal places to look.
 
Thanks for all the help. The good news is a leak was found at the thermostat housing. Better news is the problem has been fixed and the cooling system pressure test identified the location. Great suggestion. Also regarding the loaner pressure test kit from the auto parts store. The bad news is there must be another leak somewhere.
 
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Grandpajoe94 said:
Thanks for all the help. The good news is a leak was found at the thermostat housing. Better news is the problem has been fixed and the cooling system pressure test identified the location. Great suggestion. Also regarding the loaner pressure test kit from the auto parts store. The bad news is there must be another leak somewhere.
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Don't know the circumstances. But you need to test the system twice. Once when it's cold and again when it's at operating temp. Notice I didn't say when running just hot. Sometimes then fan will eliminate a slight leak before you can see it.
Good luck and please post what you find.
 
Hey everyone, thanks for all the support. we had the heater core replaced, yet when we turn on the heat we can still smell the coolant. is this possibly just the old coolant still in the heater duct work or did we just pay tons of money for nothing??/
 
tony'sgfhasajeep said:
Hey everyone, thanks for all the support. we had the heater core replaced, yet when we turn on the heat we can still smell the coolant. is this possibly just the old coolant still in the heater duct work or did we just pay tons of money for nothing??/
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Give it a few weeks. It could be coolant someone didn't clean up, yes.

Is it visibly leaking from anywhere?
 
that's good question, i haven't actually gotten down by the original place of leakage to see if its leaking again
ill check that out later
 
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