Strong coolant smell

Hello!

On our 2013 Passat TDI manual I have been noticing a strong coolant/anti freeze smell while the car is hot, like right after my wife gets home. I have looked around under the hood and do not see leaks or wet spots.

Do you guys know of any common issues I should check before I let the monkeys at the dealer poke around under the hood and probably do more harm than good?

I've checked the obvious stuff like radiator hoses etc. I'll spend some more time tonight looking but thought if there is a common issues you folks might know.

Thanks a bunch, Happy New Year!

There is a thread or two here about some others that have also reported this issue. IIRC no one has found a source for it yet. I sometimes smell coolant as well. Level isn't dropping and no evidence of a leak either.

I've noticed this as well. But no coolant loss over 10k miles.

I'm suspecting it might be the urea injection. Might leave a smell after shutdown.

I have noticed the coolant smell occasionally. I haven't seen any wet spots or noticed the level decreasing, so I've chocked it up to "no big deal."

After noticing this in my 09 JSW, I'm now wondering if the coolant is over-pressurizing at times, causing the cap to release pressure? Still doesn't explain the odor coming from the driver's side front corner...

When I did my 20K service, I noticed that the coolant reservoir was a bit low, riding just below the minimum line, and seemed to have dropped over time, albeit slowly. So I added about 8 oz. of G++. Now that it's gotten a little cooler, I noticed that it seemed to have dropped some more. So I was monitoring it both when cold and hot, and seeing only a slight fluctuation in level. Well the other day, when hot, I noticed that the coolant was just below the min line still. So I got the idea of cracking the tank lid to see what would happen. Well as the pressure was released, that coolant came up to the middle of the tank mold line, above the high level. Also heard some gurgling of coolant from the top of the engine - was hard to tell exactly where it was coming from. It would seem that the coolant is there, that I haven't lost any that I can discern (IC inlet dry) and temps are fine. I'm going to check it again today to see where it sits. Plus the ball shape of the coolant tank does not lend itself well to monitoring levels since the internal volume changes so dramatically as level changes.

So I went and checked it cold again, and the level was a smidge below the min line again. So I added a few more oz. and put the level between the 2 lines. So keep monitoring and see what happens over the next week or so.....to be continued.....