Ram 1500 coolant smell

[INVISBLE]

Almost 5 years down the road and I still have the smell. I think its a vent hose connected to the overflow bottle that is outgasing the smell but which is obviously not causing any detectable amount of coolant loss.

 

[Arrowv]

My issue turned out to be the cracked headers! They replaced both under warranty and the smell is completely gone. Woo woo!!


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[Code2medic]

I have noticed a smell of coolant for awhile and checked and checked for leaks etc nothing was a mystery. Haven’t had issues with over heating or anything.

Food for thought I left work today and decided to check my coolant level since the truck was parked all day. I want to see what the res had in it. It was a tad low but nothing to think twice about. The truck was running while I used my sniffer to try and pin point where it was the strongest when I caught the flash of a drop inside the engine bay.

Small drop like a slow very slow water faucet drip……………. The drip……….. drip hidden on the under side of the pully area of the water pump. Took it over to a mechanic friends and he needed a mirror to see where it was dripping from…..

Hope that helps anyone and where to take a look. He replaced the water pump and no more smells…..or slow slow drip.

116,000 miles that’s it I’m shocked

 

[Mac2020]

Hey guys.

I had a 4th gen ram for years with basically no issues. I got a 2021 1500 limited about a month ago and it constantly smelled of coolant from the front end. No smell inside so I’m sure it’s not the heater core leaking. I figured it’s a pinhole in the radiator because my coolant stayed level. No leaks. Nothing. Then I figured a pinhole would still probably leak when it’s cold. I went to the dealer purchased a new rad cap. No smell for 2 days. 3 rd day smells came back. I looked for the a new cap but nothing was comparable. I didn’t believe this.

Fix.
I went to auto zone. They looked up the truck and said no sorry we have no cap for the truck. I asked for a universal duralast with the red release on it. They only one they had was 18lb. I took it. Next morning I put it on it while the engine was cold. The engine temps are cooler now. Guess what!! The truck doesn’t smell anymore. I guess those cheap rad caps the dealer has are mostly failing. I went ahead and got a 16lb one but haven’t switched it yet. I’m back in love with the truck. No more smell when opening my window. No more smell when walking by. No more smell when sniffing my grill lol.

duralast 7718 is the 18lb. Cap
Duralast 7816 is the 16lb cap.
I’m still on the 18lb cap. One week in and still haven’t smelled a thing.
Hope this helps people out.

oh. I also used 2 zip ties marine grade that are curved to squeeze better. I zip tied the tube under the rap cap that goes to overflow. I did both at the same time. I’m not touching anything. Experiment over.

Is it still fixed, I ask cause the dealer has had my dash out twice putting heater cores in.