Anyone smell coolant at shutdown?

nord

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2010
Location
Southern Tier NY
TDI
All turned back to VW. Now a 2017 Hundai Tuscon. Not a single squalk in 10k miles.
No loss of coolant being reported in most cases. An alcohol smell though. You don't suppose our heated windshield washer jets are cooking off a bit of fluid, do you?
 

Airborne1cav

Well-known member
Joined
May 15, 2014
Location
Auburn, WA
TDI
2014 TDI SE w/ Nav
Yeah, I've smelt antifreeze several times, seems to be after a re-gen cycle (although I don't always notice them). I've never seen any leaked fluid, change in fluid level, or lights go off. 2014 TDI with 20k miles.
 

LokiWolf

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2008
Location
Richmond, VA
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL
I have the smell also, periodically. No visible leaks or loss.

For most of us, I believe it is what Nord said, a non-issue, and just the vent.
 

clone1008

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 26, 2007
Location
Florida
TDI
2006.5 Jetta, 2014 Passat TDI SE
To my nose the factory windshield washer fluid has a similar smell. It always catches my attention when I get out of the car and my first thought is antifreeze but it's not. Just a thought.
 

clindt

Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2003
Location
Texas
TDI
2003 Jetta
We had the same smell since the car was new, 2013. Dealer said the water pump was leaking and replaced it and the TB under warranty.
 

cfm56

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Location
97068
TDI
2014 Jetta TDI SportWagen
still have this burnt coolant/burnt clutch smell coming from the drivers side of the front grill after parking the car. Its obvious when parked in the garage... I've mentioned it a few times when its been in for service and I get the same answer "we didn't notice any leaks, fluid level looks normal". At 31k miles and will pursue it once more prior to the warranty exp
 

jimbo1mcm

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2015
Location
CT USA
TDI
2015 SEL TDI PREMIUM Blue 2015 SEL TDI PREMIUM's Silver and Blue
At the next service writeup prior to the warranty expiration make sure your complaint is in writing on the service order.
 

JazzBeBop

Active member
Joined
Sep 25, 2011
Location
Texas
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SE manual
I have a 2015 Passat TDI SE manual and it has developed this smell in the past two or three weeks. It's at 60k miles and it hasn't leaked lately. It did leak, or at least I thought it did, once at 40k, BUT there was no smell OR light OR coolant on the floor of the garage. The reservoir was COMPLETELY empty. I bought the appropriate coolant and poured it in the reservoir. Problem solved until recently. The only difference between then and now has been the TDI software and hardware update and about 20k miles. I'm going to take it in to see what's up with the coolant smell.
 

Dubin20th

Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2018
Location
Illinois
TDI
2015 Jetta
If your still leaking coolant fairly rapidly but no visible leaks, have them check the intercooler as they can leak internally causing you to burn coolant

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 

jrm

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2013
Location
Oregon
TDI
2013 Passat SE with nav (totaled)
keep us updated, im in the market for a 15 after the wife totaled my 2013 last month
 

06bluebeetletdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2012
Location
Middlesex, NC
TDI
'14 Passat TDI SEL and '13 Beetle TDI
My ‘14 had a faint coolant smell, after finding a puddle under the car, had my local dealer look at it, it only leaked when the car was running. Failed water pump at 53k, also had coolant on the timing belt. 14k later all is good. (I bought mine after dieselgate and it sat for awhile during the whole process).
 

bustNfuel

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2002
Location
Raleigh, NC
TDI
Sold: 13 Passat SEL TDI
Arrived home after running some errands today, and discovered a large puddle of antifreeze on the garage floor that had leaked prior to me making my runs for the day. While I was out I noticed a strong odor of antifreeze, but couldn't find it from topside looking with a bright LED flashlight.



Now that I'm home, I'm going to pull the belly cover and see if I can trace the source of the leak from the underside.

I have an extended warranty that's good until June 2020 and 98K miles (currently have mid 70K miles) so hopefully it's covered under that minus the $100 deductible if it's something serious.
 
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