ben in tn

My wife drives a 2000 Excursion with a little over 80k miles and recently I
have smelled the sweet smell of anti-freeze just after it's started. Seems
like I smell it more if it has sat and cooled for 30 minutes or so and when
she restarts it the smell is pretty strong. It's not so noticeable at the
exhaust pipe after it has been running for a short period. So I'm curious
if any of you have gone through this and is the headgasket being blown the
only possible cause? I checked the anti-freeze level the other day in the
radiator and appeared to be full. So if it's burning anti-freeze it's not
burning much. How much is this likely going to cost? Thanks much for the
info in advance.

Ben

351cj

Sounds like you have a pin hole leak in your heater core, which resides
inside the passenger compartment under the dash.
That is generally the only way that pretty strong smell of anti-freeze will
be in the passenger compartment with you...

ben in tn

I'm afraid the smell is coming from outside the vehicle. Like when my wife
has just started the Excursion as walked around it. I just had her start it
while I was back at the exhaust and there is the slight sweet smell. Very
slight but, i'm fairly sure it smells like coolant. So I'm not sure what
I'm going to do next.

Ben

snoman

Are you loosing coolant? Also does oil look okay and has the engine
been hot? Something you can do while you sort this out is to install a
lower pressure radiator cap. I have been running them for years and I
have do had any problem for them and they extend hose life and when a
leak happens, it is a lot less agressive.

whitelightning

It can be done, but it is risky on new cars. Water boils at 212 F, each
pound of pressure raises that 3 degrees F. Antifreeze and water in a 50-50
mix boils at 248 degrees F at sea level. There are surfaces
in the engine that will approach this temperature. I would be nervous on a
vehicle with a standard 198 degree to 212 degree thermostat running less
than a 10 pound cap. Also remember water boils at lower temperatures at
higher elevation, 5000 feet lowers it 11 degrees.

I would have the coolant system checked for the presence of hydrocarbons, a
good indicator of head gasket leak.
The longer you wait to fix, the more expensive it will get.

Whitelightning

ben in tn

Does anyone know about how much this would cost to have fixed if it is a
blown head gasket? Does the Ford dealer have a way of checking the
anti-freeze for hydrocarbons?

ulysses

I've never done it but I've heard that you can buy a test strip at auto
parts stores that will detect the presence of exhaust gas in the coolant.
Another possibility is a leaking intake manifold gasket. If it is leaking
internally you might possibly smell the coolant but I would suspect you'd
see white smoke and would be losing more coolant if it was leaking enough to
smell it.

I have a '92 Explorer with a 4.0 OHV V6. I suspected the head gasket to be
leaking because the radiator was bubbling after I shut off the engine and it
would produce a lot of white smoke when first started in the morning. I put
in a can of radiator stop leak that says it will seal cracked heads and
leaky head gaskets. No more smoke, no more coolant loss, and no more
bubbling in the radiator. I don't expect this treatment to last but at
least I know it would be worth the trouble to replace the head gaskets (275,000 miles on it).

ben in tn

My wife drives a 2000 Excursion with a little over 80k miles and recently I
have smelled the sweet smell of anti-freeze just after it's started. Seems
like I smell it more if it has sat and cooled for 30 minutes or so and when
she restarts it the smell is pretty strong. It's not so noticeable at the
exhaust pipe after it has been running for a short period. So I'm curious
if any of you have gone through this and is the headgasket being blown the
only possible cause? I checked the anti-freeze level the other day in the
radiator and appeared to be full. So if it's burning anti-freeze it's not
burning much. How much is this likely going to cost? Thanks much for the
info in advance.

Ben

351cj

Sounds like you have a pin hole leak in your heater core, which resides
inside the passenger compartment under the dash.
That is generally the only way that pretty strong smell of anti-freeze will
be in the passenger compartment with you...

ben in tn

I'm afraid the smell is coming from outside the vehicle. Like when my wife
has just started the Excursion as walked around it. I just had her start it
while I was back at the exhaust and there is the slight sweet smell. Very
slight but, i'm fairly sure it smells like coolant. So I'm not sure what
I'm going to do next.

Ben