'91' XJ: Coolant smell on startup

I get a distinct odor of coolant whenever I startup my '91' XJ. I haven't
noticed any leaking coolant anywhere (there are no puddles of coolant).
It looks like there may be leakage from the thermostat area because there
are some deposits there. Whatever it is, it's a slow leak, I just hope it's
not the heater core as I heard it's hell getting to replace that.

Does Mike Romain still post here? He was really helpful in some of my past
problems.

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FragSinatra wrote:
> I get a distinct odor of coolant whenever I startup my '91' XJ. I
> haven't noticed any leaking coolant anywhere (there are no puddles of
> coolant).

Usually when you see puddles it's "a bad thing"

> It looks like there may be leakage from the thermostat area because
> there are some deposits there. Whatever it is, it's a slow leak, I
> just hope it's not the heater core as I heard it's hell getting to
> replace that.

Yes, the core basically requires removing the whole dash. It's not fun.

There are lots of places for a small leak. One that had me was a tiny
pinhole on the heater return hose that was ****ing on the hood liner.
Just enough so that when then engine started it drew in the odor.

Eventually I found it when I was working on another project. Leaned on
the hose and it sprayed me. :/ Didn't have a spare so I cut off two
inches and put it back on. (now I have a spare but been lazy so the
spare is sitting in the Jeep)

One thing I've learned is to replace hoses about every ten years or so.
They just get soft over time and it's easier to fix them in the garage
than by the side of the road. Cheap insurance.

> Does Mike Romain still post here? He was really helpful in some of my
> past problems.

I think he does. This group isn't nearly as active as it used to be.

Take some windex and paper towel. Clean the hoses and fittings then
dry them. Start the engine and let it warm up so the system is
pressurized (you can tell because the top hose will get harder to
squeeze) then flex the hoses a bit and look for any leaks.
Then go out and check the hoses and couplings with some toilet paper.
If there is a tiny leak it will show up.

--
DougW

"DougW" > wrote in news:k59fos$leh$1
@dont-email.me:

> FragSinatra wrote:
>> I get a distinct odor of coolant whenever I startup my '91' XJ. I
>> haven't noticed any leaking coolant anywhere (there are no puddles of
>> coolant).
>


I just wanted to say thanks Doug.

Someone once suggested my wierd idling/cruising speed problems here
might be due to a bad electrical connection in the various sensors that
connect to the throttle body on my XJ. Well, I disconnected all the sensor
inputs and re-connected them and the problem has apparently vanished.


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