Weird coolant smell
#1
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My 99 ls1 car has a random coolant smell only during driving and its just a strong whiff that goes away with in 10-15 seconds. I have watched the coolant level over the last few weeks and its not dropping substantially but was about 1 cup low, the weep hole on my water pump looks fine, no leaks from any hoses. I park in a clean garage and my floor has always been dry and shows no evidence of fluid. Carpet is dry so I dont think it is heater core related.....is it possible that the car is burning coolant randomly, possibly a pin hole head gasket? Im just grasping at straws, the car has 72,000 original miles and hasnt been beat on too bad.
#2
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I would top it off and see what happens, watch it daily and if it continues to drop with no external leaks might have to lift the heads and check out the gaskets. Do you ever see any white smoke from the exhaust? Do you have any coolant in the exhaust pipes after you shut her down?
#3
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I did just recently top it off and am watching it, and no i never notice any white smoke and the car runs fantastic.Never any fluids out of the pipes unles its cold in the morning and its condensation... Its just so strange it happens only about once maybe twice a day while driving and it is very strong random coolant smell and then it disappears no visable or smellable traces....do you think it could be a very slight water pump drip thats so minute that it burns off or disapates without any signs on the pump,surrounding area or hitting the ground?
#4
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I have the smell too, but not only 15sec. It's pretty much the whole time. I lose a lot of coolant while driving too. The carpet feels a bit damp, but doesn't smell like coolant, when it's damp I think it's just from the heat produced by the exhaust.