oksanab

Hey could someone help me figure out what it means if I can smell my coolant when I open my hood? I saw white smoke coming when idling and opened my hood and saw that it was near the radiator on the passenger side. I have a brand new radiator that’s been installed months ago and have never seen this problem.

TimC300

Im guessing there is a leak somewhere. Use a flashlight and inspect all the hoses and connections. With the engine cold open the coolant reservoir and check the level to see if it's low.

oksanab

So i checked everything and couldn’t seem the find a leak. but i did need to top off the coolant, it wasn’t too low. would you think there’s something else?

meazz1

Can you remove the engine cover and post a picture of the engine bay?
Check post #21 and see if you find any leak there, probably some black burnt spots?

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...iy-advice.html

TimC300

Im assuming you have driven the car since, do you still smell coolant or see anymore white smoke? If the car is up to temp and you look in the engine bay and checked all the hoses and connections and do not see a leak then im thinking its not an issue. I have smelled coolant before when parking the car and thought there was something wrong, but turned out to be nothing.

I have seen a few posts where people had coolant leaks while driving and it turned out to be a hose unplugged from the connection, they fit it back in and it was fine.

Just keep an eye on it. Put a jug of 50/50 coolant in the trunk just in case.

oksanab

here’s the picture, is this what you wanted?

TimC300

M272 engine. I don't see any leaks in the photo. Im assuming the area I circled in red is just a shadow? I tried to zoom in but its a little blurry.

Along the bottle of the oil filter housing oil cooler it looks a little dirty/oily, blue arrow. Feel underneath it to check for oil, mine was leaking in that area.

oksanab

here where i circled, there’s an unusual shiny liquid of something but i’m not sure where it’s coming from. but i still can’t seem to figure out why i had some sort of white smoke coming from that area as well, along with occasional coolant smell. coolant level is still fine.

TimC300

Could be oil, leaking valve cover? Stick a Q-tip in it and see what it is. Remove the air filet box and inspect everything.