Smelling Antifreeze But No Leaks? – Find Out The Reasons Here
Antifreeze is an engine coolant responsible for regulating the temperature of a car.
Unlike its name suggests, its functions include cooling down your vehicle’s engine if it has become too hot. It also helps maintain the engine’s temperature in winters, as the engine may become too cold due to the outer temperature.
When there is a leak in the engine and the antifreeze is oozing out, it is common for you to smell it. If you cannot see any visible leaks or there is no liquid on the ground, but still there is the smell of antifreeze in your car, there is a chance that it is an early stage of leakage.
You can prevent your vehicle from massive damage by finding out why you are smelling antifreeze, but no leaks are there.
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Reasons For The Smell Of Antifreeze Without Any Visible Leakage.
If no external leakage is detected, internal leakage must be going on, as there can be no smell without the liquid coming out. So the following are the reasons you can check that would help you detect the actual reason pretty quickly.
Head Gasket
Mostly, in such cases, the problem is with your car’s head gasket, and if you want to get your car checked, the mechanic will tell you the same. Nothing will be leaked on the ground if the head gaskets leak as it leaks everything in the combustion chamber. This justifies why you would only sense the smell if the leakage is happening, as the ground will be completely clean.
You can quickly know if your car’s head gasket is leaking by looking at the exhaust, as there will be a lot of smoke which will be white coming from it. The white color signifies that something other than gases has burnt, as gases leave transparent smoke after combustion.
Besides gases, the only thing that would have burnt is the coolant or antifreeze, making it clear where the leakage occurs.
Radiator Cap
If your exhaust is not letting out white smoke and the smell of antifreeze is still prominent in the air, this means leaking is happening somewhere else in the engine. So there is still a possibility that the coolant of your car or the antifreeze is being burnt somewhere else.
There is a lot of pressure held by the radiator gap inside it, is the sealing of a radiator cap becomes loose, the coolant escapes in the form of steam.
This steam can easily be seen escaping the radiator cap, so it is pretty easy to detect. Unfortunately, this also makes your car’s engine extremely hot, thus making the driver obliged to check it. If smokes are present, replace them without any delay to save both radiator and the antifreeze.
Engine Block
Many people leave the possibility of a leak on the engine block, as any leakage makes a puddle on the ground. This is true, though, but only when the car is stationary; the vehicle’s engine is not on, thus is cold. The coolant falling will not evaporate or become steam if the engine is not on.
Only if the car is on, which means the engine is hot, then only the coolant gets burned, and hence no residue in the form of liquid is seen on the ground.
This is one of the rarest cases of leakage, but still, the possibility of it happening is not zero. So taking a look at it when the engine’s bay is releasing some smoke will only help you clear the doubt.
Heater Core
This is the most justified reason for a person smelling antifreeze but no leaks detected externally. The heater core is used to take the warm air to spread inside the passenger cabin from the coolant or the antifreeze. If there is any crack or hole in the core, the antifreeze gets out.
This leakage makes the air inside your car mix with the antifreeze, letting you smell this odor while sitting inside your car. This leakage is quite common compared to other ones and 8 out of 10 times is the reason for the driver smelling antifreeze. No leaks are visible to his eyes.
Must Read: Side Effects Of Bypassing Heater Core; Discussion.
Internal Puncture
Internal puncture is a real thing and is often neglected by car owners. Like the leakages mentioned above or damages, seeing external leaking in the case of internal puncture is not present. But if you happen to see the radiator get dry very quickly, or it is demanding re-fill very early than the average time, this is an internal puncture.
With internal puncture, no coolant is detected in liquid as the radiator is smoking hot and makes it vapor instantly.
You can easily see any internal puncture in your car by looking at the cylindrical lock or the head gasket. This shall provide you with the reason for the car smelling like antifreeze.
Usually, all leaks can be handled quickly by the owner of the measures taken with extreme care. You can do this by replacing the radiator cap or fixing the small holes by replacing the component.
However, there is still some chance of this smell occurring due to external puncture or leakage, which sometimes only happens while the car moves.
In those cases, detecting a puddle while moving can be tougher, so it is recommended to look at it yourself or get it checked by a mechanic.
Going to a mechanic who can easily guide you if any issues go undetected before can help you save yourself from significant damage.
As frequently, these leakages are signs of another considerable damage that is about to happen in your car.
If you do not neglect any of the signs mentioned earlier by your vehicle, it shall be easier to find out the real reason you are smelling antifreeze but no leaks inside your car.
