2020 ram 5.7 - A sweet smell when hot. Coolant leak?

[c_m_25]

I have been noticing that classic sweet antifreeze smell when my truck is hot over the past couple of weeks. It’s coming from the front driver side. I climbed all over this thing looking for a leak, and I decided to take it to the dealer. They climbed all over it and ran a pressure test. They even left the pressure gauge on it overnight and it held pressure. Any thoughts as to why I’m smelling that classic coolant smell?

 

[OldMarine]

maybe vapors coming from the overflow/fill tank cap?

 

[c_m_25]

maybe vapors coming from the overflow/fill tank cap?

I suppose that’s possible. Although, I haven’t really noticed it before. It seems like a fairly recent development. Are we still seeing issues with water pumps in these trucks or was that fixed?

 

[Jako]

Been on the forum 3+ years don't recall water pumps being an issue.

There is another anti freeze thread in this thread if you scroll down a bit.

https://5thgenrams.com/community/threads/antifreeze-maintenance.28195/

 

[eye exaggerate]

You could check for a film developing on your windshield. Coolant level on my truck was down 2 litres, this was days after the pressure test / them saying they couldn’t smell anything. Noticed this week that there’s a greasy film on the windshield. Got up close to smell it, actually, and it was exactly the smell in the truck.

 

[c_m_25]

You could check for a film developing on your windshield. Coolant level on my truck was down 2 litres, this was days after the pressure test / them saying they couldn’t smell anything. Noticed this week that there’s a greasy film on the windshield. Got up close to smell it, actually, and it was exactly the smell in the truck.

Any idea what it is?

 

[n8zcc]

I have been noticing that classic sweet antifreeze smell when my truck is hot over the past couple of weeks. It’s coming from the front driver side. I climbed all over this thing looking for a leak, and I decided to take it to the dealer. They climbed all over it and ran a pressure test. They even left the pressure gauge on it overnight and it held pressure. Any thoughts as to why I’m smelling that classic coolant smell?

I had this exact same issue (on my 2013) but I couldn't tell where in the engine bay the smell was originating. The smell was very pronounced in front of the vehicle right after shutting it off. I looked around the engine and radiator and kept an eye on the ground underneath where I parked but nothing was showing. Went to the dealer, twice, they also smelled it, could find anything, topped off the coolant level, and sent me on my way.

Frustrated with the dealer's lack of willingness to diagnose, I told my son what was going on. He added a leak detector additive to my cooling system. After driving around for a few weeks, he fired up his black light and found the source. In my case, it was the thermostat housing, one bolt wasn't properly torqued. He torqued it down and never had the smell again. He called it an "evaporative leak" because the coolant was evaporating on the hot engine and it only "bubbled out coolant" when the cooling system was under pressure.

I hope this helps you find your issue.

 

[c_m_25]

I had this exact same issue (on my 2013) but I couldn't tell where in the engine bay the smell was originating. The smell was very pronounced in front of the vehicle right after shutting it off. I looked around the engine and radiator and kept an eye on the ground underneath where I parked but nothing was showing. Went to the dealer, twice, they also smelled it, could find anything, topped off the coolant level, and sent me on my way.

Frustrated with the dealer's lack of willingness to diagnose, I told my son what was going on. He added a leak detector additive to my cooling system. After driving around for a few weeks, he fired up his black light and found the source. In my case, it was the thermostat housing, one bolt wasn't properly torqued. He torqued it down and never had the smell again. He called it an "evaporative leak" because the coolant was evaporating on the hot engine and it only "bubbled out coolant" when the cooling system was under pressure.

I hope this helps you find your issue.

Interesting. Will have to check that out. Do you remember if the dealer did any pressure testing on your coolant system while they checked it out?

 

[eye exaggerate]

Any idea what it is?

Leaving in 20 mins to find out, I’ll be writing a post when I know. My guess is heater core

 

[djevox]

I had this exact same issue (on my 2013) but I couldn't tell where in the engine bay the smell was originating. The smell was very pronounced in front of the vehicle right after shutting it off. I looked around the engine and radiator and kept an eye on the ground underneath where I parked but nothing was showing. Went to the dealer, twice, they also smelled it, could find anything, topped off the coolant level, and sent me on my way.

Frustrated with the dealer's lack of willingness to diagnose, I told my son what was going on. He added a leak detector additive to my cooling system. After driving around for a few weeks, he fired up his black light and found the source. In my case, it was the thermostat housing, one bolt wasn't properly torqued. He torqued it down and never had the smell again. He called it an "evaporative leak" because the coolant was evaporating on the hot engine and it only "bubbled out coolant" when the cooling system was under pressure.

I hope this helps you find your issue.

^ This is the standard way to check. Throw in a bottle of dye and check every inch of the system with a UV light. For heater core, the seams and the drain are the places to check.

The dye method came about when Dexcool was introduced because it is extremely hard to see leaks with that type of coolant.

 

[mikeru82]

Is the coolant level going down? You never mentioned needing to add coolant to the system. If the coolant level isn't going down you're not losing coolant and there is no leak. There have been threads in the recent past where people said they smelled coolant, but weren't losing it. The consensus was that they were smelling fumes coming from the overflow tank, like OldMarine said above. I wouldn't be too concerned about it if you're not losing coolant. But if you are then you definitely have a leak.

 

[djevox]

Is the coolant level going down? You never mentioned needing to add coolant to the system. If the coolant level isn't going down you're not losing coolant and there is no leak. There have been threads in the recent past where people said they smelled coolant, but weren't losing it. The consensus was that they were smelling fumes coming from the overflow tank, like OldMarine said above. I wouldn't be too concerned about it if you're not losing coolant. But if you are then you definitely have a leak.

Not saying anyone’s wrong here, but a very small pinhole leak seeping onto something hot like an exhaust manifold could cause what he’s describing and you wouldn’t see a change in coolant level for a very long time.

 

[mikeru82]

Not saying anyone’s wrong here, but a very small pinhole leak seeping onto something hot like an exhaust manifold could cause what he’s describing and you wouldn’t see a change in coolant level for a very long time.

Definitely true. And I'm not saying he doesn't have that. The fact that this is a recent development might even support that. But even a pin hole leaves evidence of the leak. Coolant doesn't disappear when the water evaporates out of it. It leaves a nasty residue behind. More than one person has "climbed all over" the truck looking for evidence of a leak, and found nothing. The pressure test the dealership did should have revealed a pinhole leak, if we can trust that they know what they're doing. Obviously, we can't diagnose this issue from behind a keyboard. And every issue can be unique. I was just mentioning that he's not alone in what he's experiencing with his truck. My suggestion would be to continue driving it, keeping an eye on the coolant level. Eventually the level will drop if there is a leak.

 

[c_m_25]

Definitely true. And I'm not saying he doesn't have that. The fact that this is a recent development might even support that. But even a pin hole leaves evidence of the leak. Coolant doesn't disappear when the water evaporates out of it. It leaves a nasty residue behind. More than one person has "climbed all over" the truck looking for evidence of a leak, and found nothing. The pressure test the dealership did should have revealed a pinhole leak, if we can trust that they know what they're doing. Obviously, we can't diagnose this issue from behind a keyboard. And every issue can be unique. I was just mentioning that he's not alone in what he's experiencing with his truck. My suggestion would be to continue driving it, keeping an eye on the coolant level. Eventually the level will drop if there is a leak.

You know, it’s hard to say whether I’m losing coolant as I haven’t checked the overflow regularly. I can say that it was at min level when the engine was cold, but when driving, the overflow tank only showed the levels one notch above minimum. However, we just had record cold weather so it’s not like the engine was getting super warm.

After picking the truck up yesterday, I sat in a drive through for 20 friggin minutes, and with the warmer weather, I checked and it was at max level. That being said however, it’s possible they added coolant while in the shop. I’ll be keeping a close eye on it going forward.

 

[n8zcc]

Interesting. Will have to check that out. Do you remember if the dealer did any pressure testing on your coolant system while they checked it out?

I left it with them for the day on the first visit and took their shuttle to work. When I picked up the truck, the work order stated they could smell an antifreeze smell but could not locate a leak (no mention of how much pressure was used for the test or the time length). Said the cooling system pressure checked OK. On the second visit, they wouldn't even look at the truck outside of topping off the coolant level.

I should also mention, as discussed here, the amount of coolant loss took several months before it dropped a couple of holes on the coolant dipstick. The coolant leak was very minimal but the odor of the coolant wasn't.

 

[mikeru82]

I left it with them for the day on the first visit and took their shuttle to work. When I picked up the truck, the work order stated they could smell an antifreeze smell but could not locate a leak (no mention of how much pressure was used for the test or the time length). Said the cooling system pressure checked OK. On the second visit, they wouldn't even look at the truck outside of topping off the coolant level.

I should also mention, as discussed here, the amount of coolant loss took several months before it dropped a couple of holes on the coolant dipstick. The coolant leak was very minimal but the odor of the coolant wasn't.

Some people are more sensitive to the smell of antifreeze than others. I've smelled it on other vehicles I've owned when other people said they didn't smell anything. Bottom line is if they had to top it off it is leaking somewhere, whether that's an external leak or an internal leak. Coolant doesn't just evaporate in a closed system.

 

[n8zcc]

Some people are more sensitive to the smell of antifreeze than others. I've smelled it on other vehicles I've owned when other people said they didn't smell anything. Bottom line is if they had to top it off it is leaking somewhere, whether that's an external leak or an internal leak. Coolant doesn't just evaporate in a closed system.

You, I, the typical guy on the street, and the rest of this community know that. Good luck trying to get a dealership's service department to spend any amount of time looking for the cause. The service writer told me warranty doesn't pay for diagnostics. He said if they can see the issue then they will fix it, and concluded with "they did the pressure test on their own dime". I think he wanted me to be grateful.

 

[mikeru82]

You, I, the typical guy on the street, and the rest of this community know that. Good luck trying to get a dealership's service department to spend any amount of time looking for the cause. The service writer told me warranty doesn't pay for diagnostics. He said if they can see the issue then they will fix it, and concluded with "they did the pressure test on their own dime". I think he wanted me to be grateful.

Maybe it depends on the dealership. I've never had a dealership in my area tell me the factory warranty doesn't cover diagnostics. Even with aftermarket 3rd party warranties I've bought, the diagnostics was covered. Personally I think they are feeding you a load of crap, hoping you'll just go away. But I guess it could be small town dealerships going the extra mile.

 

[n8zcc]

Maybe it depends on the dealership. I've never had a dealership in my area tell me the factory warranty doesn't cover diagnostics. Even with aftermarket 3rd party warranties I've bought, the diagnostics was covered. Personally I think they are feeding you a load of crap, hoping you'll just go away. But I guess it could be small town dealerships going the extra mile.

Well lucky you. I'm in SE Michigan and the dealers here simply put, suck except for one. They have an excellent diesel mechanic, or at least they did the last time my 3500 was in for repair (the water pump SNAFU).

Where are you at, I'm willing to drive to get good service the next time I need it.

 

[mikeru82]

Well lucky you. I'm in SE Michigan and the dealers here simply put, suck except for one. They have an excellent diesel mechanic, or at least they did the last time my 3500 was in for repair (the water pump SNAFU).

Where are you at, I'm willing to drive to get good service the next time I need it.

I doubt you'll want to drive that far, I'm near the Idaho/Washington border.