Hey guys. This is my 4th day owning this car. I bought it on Craigslist from a guy who appears to not work on cars himself. Car has been sitting in a garage for a good amount of time. 119k. Test drove it, didn't notice a sweet smell. 1 day after putting it on the road, started to notice a sweet smell coming through the vents.

I associated the smell with coolant. I asked the guy if he ever had a coolant issue, he said none since he bought 2 years ago. So I look in the engine bay, didn't see any leaks. Looked underneath, no leaks. I noticed the coolant overfill tank was way above the max, but has not moved an inch since I've been driving it for 3-4 days. But since there's way too much coolant, that tells me something coolant related happened.

Is it possible since there's over the max amount of coolant, some vapors are escaping due to the excess amount of coolant? Id think since there's too much coolant, the pressure would be higher.

 

You won't have a major coolant leek to smell it inside the cabin, check all your hoses starting with the radiator over flow hose for moisture then check all the rest. You could take your G to a radiator shop and have them pressure test the system to be sure. That's what I'd do if I couldn't find what's causing the smell...Gary

 

It could be anything from a minor or seeping leak in the engine to the heater core.

Check your hoses make sure they are snug and not corroded or nasty.

I replaced the reservoir line and radiator cap, because it was always covered in this white stuff that never went away. Put a new hose on and haven't had the issue or smell since.

Do your windows have and weird residue on them? That could be the heater core.

If it's a small or tiny leak you probably won't see it until the car is on and has been running for awhile and it gets pressurized. You could buy some UV dye and glasses put some in and see if there are any leaks.

You could also rent a pressure tester from an auto store or bring it to the mechanic. Hook it to the radiator top, pump it up to about 13 PSI, and then see if there are any leaks or if pressure drops.

 

Could be a failing/failed heater core

 

Thank you guys for all the replies! Will make sure to look into everything. However, I think I may have found something to do with the smell. Does anyone know if windshield wiper fluid would cause a sweet smell? Apparently, the line is disconnected in the engine bay. I tried using the fluid before and none came out. I then proceeded to pour some in, nothing still. I decided to look into why none was coming out and now, I can see the line is not present on the passenger's side.

 

Was this car involved in a front end accident? Some of the stuff you're describing sounds like the types of stuff you see on a car that got blasted or blasted someone else with the front end and the repair shop did a half-a$$ed repair on it, not paying attention to little details.

 

RainX does have a little weird smell to it...as far as washer fluid goes

 

Gonna depend on what washer fluid you are running really. They all smell a little different.

 

Small leaks in heater hose can cause this, could be heater core/hoses/firewall hoses/etc.

Keep monitoring the coolant levels, if they noticeably dip, then a repair must be made soon. If they keep about the same (basically only need to add a little coolant every oil change) then I wouldn't worry about it. I had an 04 Mustang that did that to me, was the hose from the firewall to the intake manifold. I just silicone taped it and let it be. No issues with it in 2 years since, then I sold the car.