Slight coolant smell when backing out of garage in the morning

[Clint Beastwood]

The past couple days when backing out of my garage, the FiST gets a whiff of hot coolant smell in the passenger compartment. Today it was really strong and smelled like burned coolant. It doesn't do it while driving, it doesn't do it while idling, but for just a quick second every morning I can smell it. I was thinking head gasket, but does anyone have any thoughts on what else I should check? It's a '17, but I don't think the head gasket counts as power train, right? I did check for coolant leaks, the amount of coolant in the reservoir looks fine, and the color looks totally normal.

 

[CarGuy]

First the entire engine and transmission are considered powertrain. I don't think I'd jump so fast to head gasket. Rent a pressure tester from Autozone and check it yourself. The rental is free, they just need a deposit on the tool. I'd lean toward a leak first.

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[dhminer]

What mods have you installed lately? I’ve found that just about every issue I’ve had, aside from the blend door actuator failures, have been caused by me screwing something up lol

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Just turn the radio up...you won't notice it any longer with sweet song of my people Staying alive by....The Bee Gees*

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[Jabbit]

I second the "cold pressure test" method. Maybe your heater core?

 

[Old Mike Emerson]

I would do a compression check, check the coolant lines to and from the turbo, then the heater core.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

What mods have you installed lately? I’ve found that just about every issue I’ve had, aside from the blend door actuator failures, have been caused by me screwing something up lol

Haven't done anything in a long time, then a few weeks ago I ordered the whoosh ramair intake. I didn't see anything coolant related in the path of install, it's basically just a replacement for the airbox.

I had my wife start the car this morning while I stood behind the car huffing exhaust and didn't smell any coolant. Didn't smell any under the hood either. It's a super intermittent thing. I *do* have a freakish sense of smell so I guess I'll just keep an eye on it. One thing I have noticed is that when totally stopped, as I start going before the turbo spools I hear a metallic squeak from under the engine bay somewhere, just a quick chirp, but the car runs smoothly, boosts fine, no other issues other than I'm pretty sure all my stock mounts have gone to poo.

 

[Woods247]

Mine used to smell like that. I had a slight leak under the coolant expansion tank at the hose clamp.

 

[Jabbit]

At least you know you don't currently have Covid.

 

[Intuit]

On radiator cap, there is a pressure listed.

When you're using the pump-up cooling system pressure tester, it is important that you don't exceed that number. It may be possible to over-pressurize your cooling system with one of those testers.

It may take some time, potentially a lot of time, but it'll eventually reveal itself. Prior car, I sprayed my hot radiator in a tight spot, trying to clean it. That highly localized, rapid cooling exceeded the metal's thermal gradient, resulting with a hairline fracture. Within a week I heard sucking sounds from the front of the vehicle after shut-off. Another week or two and the radiator started pushing out small amounts of fluid through that crack. The good thing about a leak at the radiator, is the coolant doesn't readily evaporate. The radiator mounts stay wet. (which unfortunately rots them out - if metal) Check your lower radiator mounts.

Within the last couple of years, my motorcycle developed a leak. It doesn't have a coolant monitor, only an overheat indicator and tiny reservoir. I noticed during an oil change that the reservoir was low. Couldn't find evidence of any leak anywhere. So I just kept an eye on it over the next year. Coolant loss was super irregular. Sometimes when it lost some, a "lot" went missing unnoticed. (again, tiny reservoir) Parked it at work. Came back out to find a small puddle under it. Great! Now I may finally find the source. It appeared to be a connection between the radiator and hose. Longer story short, the stock radiators are painted, and after a decade, that paint was breaking down. I had to sand all the paint off the radiator at the hose connections. This degraded paint, was also making it into the coolant; showing as fine black particulate. After sanding that connection, that particulate stayed gone whereas before it would quickly return. If you can't find the leak, may just have to be patient.

 

[Dpro]

Our coolant expansion tanks are prone to cracking at the top by the mouth. Mine has hairline cracks . My friends 2015 developed hairline cracks and he replaced it. They are just kind of crappy plastic. I would look there first. They are like $35 new and he looks at them as maintenance items.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Our coolant expansion tanks are prone to cracking at the top by the mouth. Mine has hairline cracks . My friends 2015 developed hairline cracks and he replaced it. They are just kind of crappy plastic. I would look there first. They are like $35 new and he looks at them as maintenance items.

I kinda like the idea of the aftermarket coolant expansion tanks but I hate that they're not see through :|

 

[Magnetic]

I kinda like the idea of the aftermarket coolant expansion tanks but I hate that they're not see through :|

Same here.

 

[M-Sport fan]

At least you know you don't currently have Covid.

Only the 'mild' cases result in a loss of sense of smell, the more severe cases usually do not.
But YES, of course one would know most definitely if they had a severe case.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Only the 'mild' cases result in a loss of sense of smell, the more severe cases usually do not.
But YES, of course one would know most definitely if they had a severe case.

omg if the only effect on you was the loss of smell for a couple months.... can you imagine how cheap your food bills would be and how much weight you could lose during those couple months? Salad for every meal? Why not can't taste it! No dressing? That's fine!

 

[M-Sport fan]

omg if the only effect on you was the loss of smell for a couple months.... can you imagine how cheap your food bills would be and how much weight you could lose during those couple months? Salad for every meal? Why not can't taste it! No dressing? That's fine!

I had it, caught in early January of this year, and had no sense of smell, or taste, until early July.
Yup, lost almost 25 lbs., with no real exercise, aerobic, weights or otherwise, due to NO desire to eat at all, until hunger pangs set in, and even then, much less than I used to consume.

My worry now is how much of that loss was any muscle mass, and not body fat, and was there any permanent alveoli damage done which would curtail the hard aerobic/anaerobic activity I want to get back into.
(Undergoing tests with a pulmonologist currently to determine whether this is the case, or not.)

 

[akiraproject24]

I had it, caught in early January of this year, and had no sense of smell, or taste, until early July.
Yup, lost almost 25 lbs., with no real exercise, aerobic, weights or otherwise, due to NO desire to eat at all, until hunger pangs set in, and even then, much less than I used to consume.

My worry now is how much of that loss was any muscle mass, and not body fat, and was there any permanent alveoli damage done which would curtail the hard aerobic/anaerobic activity I want to get back into.
(Undergoing tests with a pulmonologist currently to determine whether this is the case, or not.)

Look into supplementing NAC (N-acetyl-cystein) The FDA has been working to ban it but can still be found at local vitamin shops. I've done loads of research on it, its positive effects in raising glutathione levels....
We've had very positive results with it. Been supplementing it for about a year now.

 

[LilPartyBox]

I kinda like the idea of the aftermarket coolant expansion tanks but I hate that they're not see through :|

They can be bought with the site window as an option.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

WHAT! Gonna go look now.

 

[M-Sport fan]

They can be bought with the site window as an option.

I would trust those IF they were flush with the tank surface integrated into the tank BODY itself, NOT so much if it is an extended, external tube type sight glass (which most of them are, it seems?), due to those being a possible breakage/leak point.

As much as I like the looks/no main body leaks/cracks security of the alloy tanks themselves, I will just keep replacing the factory crappy plastic one due to the above sight window dilemma.