99 4x4

As the truck gets up to normal operating temp there is no smell of coolant. When it hits operating temp it smells like coolant for a minute. (With or without heat being turned on) Then there will be no smell again with or without heat.

This has been going on since last year.

Replaced radiator. Replaced all coolant hoses. Flushed everything including heater core. No coolant on passenger floor or fogged up windows. No visible leaks. Heat is great. Had to add maybe a cup of coolant in a year.

At first my original radiator was weeping from the end tank, not enough to see leaks, so I figured that was the culprit and changed it. But no good. Thanks guys

 

The #1 cause of smelling coolant inside of the cab is a small leak in the heater core. Doesn't take much of a leak to get that smell in the cab.

 

Yeah I figured it was the core. Just wondered why it would only smell for a minute and go away.

Well if it stays the way it is I can live with it until the summer and pull the dash

 

Usually these leaks stay small for a while, but results on any leak can of course vary.

In the meantime, start searching for the threads on how to replace it. There are a number of good ones. It's a pretty comprehensive job, especially if you haven't ever done one before. Taking it into a shop, this is a very expensive repair.

 

I read somewhere maybe a week or so ago on the forum that this specific repair at a shop could go north of a grand to be professionally repaired.

I've wrenched on my own vehicles and other peoples for many years now. And even when I come across an in-depth repair that I haven't tackled before on a given vehicle, the instant I see what it would cost in labor to have a shop do it.... after the heart-attack subsides, that's enough motivation for me to throughly read up on it, take my time to make sure I'm doing each step right, and do it myself.

In the end, not only do I save the bag of cash that I would've had to part with to a shop for it, but getting the personal satisfaction of having learned how to do it myself in the end is a Win-Win.

 

Welcome to the club. Honestly, if you don't have that attitude, you really have no business driving a 20-year-old Jeep.

 

Welcome to the club.

FYI couple years ago I flushed my radiator also. The jeep was new.to me so she got all new juices...with a radiator flush, then the heater core leaked. What happens is the previous owners put some stopleak in the system and it works. Then you flush it out and expose that small crack or hole. Then came the sweet, not too often and never consistent smell. Then once the initial hole is exposed it will either disappear on its own or get worse. Here's to hoping yours goes away. Mine flooded. During winter.

 

Mine had no heat, so i flushed the core x and now have a smell in the cab. I'm in SW Florida and only need heat like 3 days a year so am thinking of just bypassing the core for now.

 

thanks... yeah.. I've been wrenching for many moons. In fact, I had done my first complete motor rebuild before I was old enough to have a driver's license. And that was out of a vintage Porsche.
It also helped having a Dad that used to build and drag race when he was young too. lol.

I'm new to the Jeep family and the configuration of them, but learning quickly... especially with all the maint. I've already done on mine.