Jeep running hot

[woodmaster58]

My 06 LJ smells hot after a trip, gauge reads everything ok but heat radiates like crazy and smells like antifreeze.
Should I be concerned
Thanks

 

[Jerry Bransford]

A leaky heater core can cause the aroma of hot coolant.

 

[pagrey]

Radiator cap is a cheap good first step. After that careful inspection and maybe even a coolant pressure tester. Smelling coolant almost always means a leak but there are plenty of places it can leak.

 

[pagrey]

To beat the dead horse, Jeeps run very hot, enough to burn you. When you pop the hood it'll be like it's on fire, that's normal. Smelling coolant isn't normal, that's the problem.

 

[Fishtaco]

If you can smell coolant/Antifreeze then you either have a leak in the system or coolant is getting too hot.

Check your header/overflow tank for sighs of overflow or leak from radiator/hoses. I haven't really smelled coolant in any vehicle unless it was getting too hot like dripping on hot parts or overheating, given your gauge is not going up then is more than likely a leak on to hot parts.

My 06 TJ runs really hot under the hood, hotter than any other vehicle I have owned but my cooling system is working, hopefully you just have a coolant leak and have never noticed how hot a TJ get under the hood after a run.

 

[Fishtaco]

To beat the dead horse, Jeeps run very hot, enough to burn you. When you pop the hood it'll be like it's on fire, that's normal. Smelling coolant isn't normal, that's the problem.

When I got my TJ I was convinced it was overheating but I had no sighs of overheating other than the heat coming from under the hood! After a few longer trips in very hot temperatures I realized the engine just radiates a lot of heat and cooling system is doing its job.

 

[mousehunter]

Probably not the core of the problem, but what are your tires and gears... If you are geared too low, your Jeep will be way out of it's power band. The engine will work harder while the cooling system will be running at lower RPM and not cooling as much. Not intuitive, but apparently fairly common.

 

[txbemis69]

Radiator cap is a cheap good first step. After that careful inspection and maybe even a coolant pressure tester. Smelling coolant almost always means a leak but there are plenty of places it can leak.

i agree on the radiator cap. mine was losing coolant and checked the cap and the rubber was rough looking. new cap and overflow bottle level is staying where it should. always check the simple stuff.