good morning Scotty. I was contacting you in hopes that you could give me a recommendation or idea of what problem I could be dealing with. I have a 2002 Lexus IS300. I bought it a few months ago and it is my third car in just a few months. I plan on having this car for as long as possible and having it run the best it has in years. It currently has around 173,000 miles, but there is one issue I am encountering. Whenever I start my car up from being cold, and whenever i step on the gas, I smell coolant, but it is only from the outside of my car and i can only smell it while driving when my windows are down. I know for sure it is not my head gaskets or the heads themselves, I am also fairly certain it is not my heater core as there is no other signs that this could be it and the smell is not from inside the car. I have replaced the radiator cap with the OEM one and still smell it. If you have any idea on what this could be or any recommendations it would be much appreciated.
How often do you have to fill the coolant reservoir, and how much?
You need to find the leak source first and keep in mind you may have more than one leak. Use the UV dye that is designed for coolant to find them.
make sure that the reservoir isn't overfilled, and the cap is on tight. Watch the temperature while you drive to make sure it's normal. Look for leaks around your hoses and radiator.
So the coolant is either leaking onto a hot surface or leaking into a combustion chamber(s).
You could buy a bottle of Coolant Leak Dye and add into the radiator. Then you could use a UV light to see if any leaks are evident. (The location will glow green even if the coolant has evaporated)
If you don't find any leaks, maybe watch Scotty's video on testing your coolant system for combustion gasses to rule out any coolant leaks into the combustion chambers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0U8Iyf0kk4
