Coolant leak with a hint of fuel?? What can it be?!

[mrsanchez925]

For the past month I've been losing coolant slowly. I usually loose about an inch a day. But I haven't had any over heating problems.
It only seems to happen on a very cold start up or right after i turn the car off and park it.

So last night I decided to put a pan underneath the car to see exactly how much I was losing. When I checked it this morning (after i warmed the car up) I noticed the leaked coolant had a hint of fuel smell to it... I Then decided to check to see if the coolant in the Radiator & overflow tank had the smell of fuel but neither of them did. I also noticed that I let off white smoke on a really cold start up but it soon goes away after driving a couple blocks..

I am Scheduled to get the 120k kit done next week. So could it be a faulty pump? I have had my belts squeal lately also on very cold startups.

Can anyone help me figure out what might be going on? Could it possibly be a blown head gasket? or something even worse?


Thanks!

-Nick
mrsanchez925 is online now Report Post Reply With Quote

[es.biggs]

You could have a leak from your water pump, a hose, a thermostat housing, radiator, coolant reservoir, or heater hoses. Try and isolate where the leak is coming from.

For the smoke, I would definitely have a compression test done. That will tell you if you have a bad head gasket or anything else.

Definitely have the thermostat and the water pump replaced during the 120k. Make sure they replace idlers, tensioner, cam and crank seals, etc. Do it right and do it once

The squeal could be from loose accessory belts on the front of your engine. They will be removed for the 120k, and they should be re-tensioned properly after that. If they are cracked up, might as well replace them as well.

Are you sure you aren't leaking fuel also? There shouldn't be a fuel smell in your coolant, I don't really know how that would happen unless you have a fuel leak dripping into that pan also. Is there maybe fuel residue left in the pan from when it was used another time? Do you ever smell fuel inside the car when you are driving or when you turn the heat/ac on?

[mrsanchez925]

^ hey thanks for the reply! I have located the general area where the coolant is leaking from...its coming from the backside of the engine. Its a very slow leak and I. Think it only happens on cold start ups.
I did have a fuel smell from the heat/ac only when the car was cold. But I tightened up my fuel line clamps and I only have a slght smell of fuel now...but its mostly the smell of coolant. Could oe of my injectors be faulty?

[es.biggs]

It's probably fuel lines. I had the same exact problem, tightened the clamps and it reduced the smell but didn't go away. It went away after I replaced every last piece of fuel line under the hood, including the two on the frame rail.

Check the heater hoses for leaks - the are right along the firewall, behind the intake manifold. It's pretty tight back there, but see if that's the spot it's coming from. If that's not it, pray to goddd it's not a freeze plug

[mrsanchez925]

Well I guess I'm going to be replacing all fuel lines just to be on the safe side =) lol.

Yeah I tried checking today but couldn't get a good view of the heater hoses. But I also didn't notice any possible leaks. I'm going to pick up one of those tiny mirrors to check out small areas behind the engine that I can't see from above.

Ah if its a freeze plug how hard will that be to replace/fix ?? you have me worried now. lol

[es.biggs]

Replacing the lines is a good idea man, that extra mile is worth it.

Maybe you could have the cooling system pressure tested...you know that you have a leak but just can't find it. Sometimes when the engine off and pressure is applied to the system, it is easier to spot the leak. I've even heard the leak on a few cars lol.

I just remembered there are a few small coolant hoses that branch off of the coolant hard pipes (metal ones that attach the heater hoses to the engine). Those hoses run to the throttle bodies and they go from the heater hose pipes, underneath the intake plenum, to the TBs, back under the plenum, and back into the heater hose pipes. If I remember correctly. It is common to remove those hoses because they are pretty much pointless and they can spring a leak and become a PITA. I didn't even think of them before because I removed mine and forgot they used to be there haha. So check out those hoses...they could be leaking behind the plenum or underneath it and dripping down the back side of the engine.

Some of the freeze plugs are really in some hard-to-reach spots...so hard that I can't even imagine trying to replace them without pulling the engine out of the car.