Q: i smell coolant and found some on top of motor

asked by on September 29, 2017

i smelled coolant and checked under the hood and found some on top of my motor

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Hi Marcel. Thanks for submitting your question today. If you found coolant on top of the motor, then it is more than likely that the coolant inlet hose attached to the top & side of the motor either has a small hole or the connection is faulty / loose. When coolant spills on top of the motor, it tends to come into contact with the exhaust or intake manifold - which can get rather hot and burn the coolant. I would recommend having a professional mechanic come to your location and complete a coolant leak inspection, so they can determine what is broken or causing the coolant leak. This will ensure the right repairs are made.

Hello, thank you for writing in. The first step is to make sure the cooling system has enough coolant in it to run some simple tests, and to keep the car cooled as best as possible. Running without coolant will ruin your engine, do not do so. Secondly, open the hood and run the car with the heater on full blast. This will ensure that coolant is running through every passage its supposed to. Let the car get to normal operating temperature. Meanwhile, inspect the areas around each hose connection (ie, on each side of all hoses), the water pump, radiator, and engine block. Look for signs of a leak, dripping, or accumulation of coolant that will lead you to the leak. Take any repairs from there. For more help with testing and repairs, contact our service department to schedule an appointment.

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