Hieuamn

I recently purchased a 96 Acura RL and so far its a good car.

I have a few questions though...

1) Should I be able to smell my radiator fluid (sweet smell) after 15-30 mins of driving from outside the car? I drive to school and park my car, get out and its a pretty heavy smell for just 15 minutes of driving. What should I do? I checked for leaks to see if any coolant is missing but it stays the same level every time. The previous owner said there was a leak but he got it fixed. I don't smell it from the passenger seat only outside the car. I have new brake pads with new tires.

2) The car at the moment has 180.xxx mileage and I was wondering should I take the car from Houston to Fort Worth and then back to Houston ( estimated 600miles )? The car runs fine and the temp gauge has never went to Hot nor have i had any other problems so far. But the longest I taken the car was on a constant trip was maybe 2 hours, mixture of hwy and traffic speeds.

Thank you

ksenf

I have the same issue. I have a 97 RL. It has 168K. I am not losing any fluid, but it smells like antifreeze around the car. I cannot smell anythin inside, it is only when I get out of the car. Not sure what it is. Any help would be appreciated.

Megatron

I have a 96 RL with 180K miles and I had this happen to me at around 140K. If you smell Antifreeze, there IS a leak. The fact that you don't smell it from inside (just like mine) rules out the heater core. That only leaves the radiator and/or hoses because a head gasket leak you would smell in the exhaust, not from the engine area.

My money is on the radiator. That's what mine was. Even if you don't see it, it is there. Mine was not obvious, but it was in the seams of the radiator.

Check your coolant level in the radiator itself and see if it is full to the cap. If it's not, then just hot antifreeze fumes can get out and cause the smell with no sign of a leak. If it is full, you might just have a tiny leak where the antifreeze seeps out and into the seams without being very noticible. When it gets heated up, you smell it.

Remember that the tanks of the OEM radiator are just plastic. Very easy for a leak to develop over the years as the plastic gets brittle from the thousands of heat/cool cycles.

I replaced my radiator and the smell was gone. Anyways, just my $0.02.

ksenf

That was my original thought, so I replaced me upper hose and the radiator and the smell is still there. I am wondering if it may be the reservoir?

Megatron

So you replaced the radiator already? Did you also replace the radiator cap?? Maybe you just have a bad cap.

I doubt it's the reservoir... but that would be easy to check. Just pull it out and look at it.

ksenf

I replaced the radiator, cap and lower hose. Not sure what else it could be. When I check the fluid it is at the top of the radiator.

sandenscot

I have a '99 RL and the coolant smell is inside the cabin. I have 180k mileage and the car runs great. There is no issue with idling or anything. This smell only happens after about 50 minutes of run time on the highway. I will not smell anything in the cabin for short rides at all. I do need to add coolant about every 3-4 months but can see no leaks. I fear it is a serious problem with the head gasket or such...any thoughts?

MaxPowerIntegra

If you smell coolant in the cabin, it means you need to do two things. 1) you DEFINITELY have a leak. check your hoses and let the car sit with the a/c on and let it idle for 10 mins. check underneath and inspect for green fluid. Replace accordingly. 2) for the time being, make sure you ALWAYS keep air ciculating withing the car and minimize the "auto" mode for your a/c. This doesnt sound good idealy you would bring it to a mechanic.

SMELL AWAYS = LEAK

sandenscot

I did that, and I can smell it, but none on the pavement...ten minutes later...also, the fluid level is the same in the "overflow" container as well...so the leak must be very, very slow....what next?

MaxPowerIntegra

flush the system change the thermostat (real quick while your doing that) and add a sealant additive

Hieuamn

Well, since i barly purchased the car I hardly knew anything about it. Now that i had it for a few months now, i figure it was just a burp of coolent ha false alarm. and the trip went super smooth lol

SeamusNH

I chased this same problem around a few years ago. Smell of coolant yet no coolant on the ground. It was a hairline crack along the top of the radiator. This has happened to other early Rl's. The top of the radiator is plastic and stress cracks develop. Mine was on the driver's side, facing out. Strarted about 4 inches to the right of the radiator cap (while looking at the car) and went about 6 inches towards the battery.

Ron A

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Ron A

I deleted your thread and edited one of your posts.

I sent you a PM explaining why so please checkit out.

94Cobra

I just bought my 99 RL 10 days ago and also have the coolant smell. It is only noticeable when standing near the front of the car, especially if I bend down near the grill area. I'm going to check the cap and the small hose that connects the overflow bottle. I am noticing very slow coolant loss from the overflow bottle.

SeamusNH

94Corbra, check the top plastic housing of the radiator for cracks. Mine never leaked any coolant on the ground, but it would come out like steam under pressure when hot...

94Cobra

I took my RL into Acura today for the tranny fluid service, differential service, and an alignment (there goes part of my economic stimulus check). I also told them to check for a coolant leak. They pressure tested the entire system including the cap - they couldn't find a leak or any problem. They put some die in the coolant. I am losing 1/2 inch in the coolant overflow bottle in about 1 week. I will keep an eye on it and let everyone know if/when I find the leak.