Double_A

So yesterday I go pick my cousin up from work. He was running late so i was sitting there in my car for about 20 mins. with the car on and off periodically. So he finally comes out, gets in my car and the first thing he says is, "It smells like burning antifreeze, are you leaking antifreeze". So I told him I didnt think so but lets pull the car up a lil and check the ground where I had been sitting for the past 20 minutes. We look and see a small spot of something. I checked it out and smelled it, it was only water (Im guessing condensation from the exhaust). So we think nothing of it and I take him home. Later on that night we went down to his garage to work on my buddies car. So I pull up and my friend comes over to check out my trunk (sub box). With no prior knowledge of what my cousin and i talked about my buddy says, "Dude it smells like burning antifreeze". So we checked stuff out and couldnt find a leak anywhere. Now both of theses guys now what there doing when it comes to cars so they probably are really smelling it.

So my question is, what could be causing the burning of antifreeze when there are NO visible leaks and only a "trained nose" can smell?

Dmitry

I think sometimes I have the same... maybe it's leaking from a radiator (heater) inside the cabin

DTN

Could be comming out of the exhaust.the only way radiator fluid gets in exhaust is when your head gaskets go bad. It smells kinda sweet out of the exhaust and emits white smoke. Exhaust should never smell sweet. It should smell exhausty, musty.

If you are burning antifreeze, then you'll probly notice your coolant level dropping, and getting very hot, maybe even expelling extra antifreeze out of the resivoir.

Another option is if you have a radiator leak dead center and it's spewing a fine mist onto your header/manifold cover. It would vaporize pretty quickly and you wouldn't see much.

Double_A

^^Thanks for the ideas. The second guy that smelled it said the same thing about my head gasket, so i might consider checking that out after I check the levels again in about a week. And the water under the car, Iv only noticed that in the past 2 weeks maybe. I know that youll always have a little water, but I dont think I should be seenig as much as I am.

Im going back down to the garage tonight to check it all out more thoroughly right now. So ill see what we can find.

DTN

if you check your coolant resivoir, you may see bubbles in it. if you do, it's a sure thing that your head gasket is going. The force goes both ways, on intake it intakes water and on compression and spark, it exhausts through your gasket usually. When it makes it back to the resivoir it bubbles out just a little coolant through the release.

Run your car for a bit. Check for a exhaust smell in your coolant resivoir, or any kind of oily substance, look for bubbles in your coolant and if theres water vapor / exhaust comming out of the resivoir, that's a sure sign that you've blown a head.

SilentSecret

check the weep hole on your water pump. just look from under the car at the water pump you will see something if it leaking.
if your smelling it that means is being burnt off. you wont really see pudles under your car.

if you are not car friendly take it to a ube place and tell them to check it out they will tell u were its coming from.

Double_A

Yea I or my cousin and i do just about all the woek on my car so I would be able to ckeck it all out. The water Im sure is coming from the exhaust. It only comes out where the connections are. I have custom exhaust and there are two places with pipe clamps. Both of those places leak some water out. You see it if the car is running, The thing that has my stumped is that if the car has been on for a little and you look under it you can what sounds like water boiling. Like if you had a hot stove and spritzed water on it. It has that sizzle kind of sound. So im not sure if the smell and extra water in the exhuast are related, but it seems that they probably are.

Im very confused about all of this. Like I said im gonna check the coolant level again in a few more days to see if its getting burnt off. Thanks for the help so far, if anyone has anymore ideas, please let me know.