I have an 88 fleetwood 4.5 FWD. lately ive noticed a coolant smell but no leak under the car. But It does consume coolant little by little. I have let it set and idle and no leak visable but it smells like its coming from the drivers side. I did a pressure test and found no coolant leaking and the gauge went down slightly over an hour. again no coolant found. after the test I started it and it fired on first try no problem. checked the exhaust coming out to see if the coolant leaked in the combustion chamber because it would through white smoke, at least a little. Also It doesnt seem to be overheating. It stays below 225 degreese. I have no idea, what do you think???

Well cover the simple stuff first... Has it been flushed every couple years like it should? Does the coolant have rust or anything in it? Whenever it was last flushed, were Bar's Leaks or GM tablets put in?

Well I have only had the car for about 5 months. So as for the flush and bars leak I am unsure. No rust. It is also filled with the "Green Stuff". just in case that helps.

Should I start by flushing and filling using the bars leak?

I am new to the whole V-8 thing. I used to build hondas and nissans.

thanx ahead for your imput.

Should I start by flushing and filling using the bars leak?

Yep...

If your coolant is bright green, odds are the sealant has not been used. It should look like brownish dirty dishwater. This alone could cause the symptoms and smell you've described. Your owners manual or a sticker under the hood details the coolant maintenance procedure. Do it every two years at least, or every year best.

Best of luck!

I have an 88 fleetwood 4.5 FWD. lately ive noticed a coolant smell but no leak under the car. But It does consume coolant little by little. I have let it set and idle and no leak visable but it smells like its coming from the drivers side. I did a pressure test and found no coolant leaking and the gauge went down slightly over an hour. again no coolant found. after the test I started it and it fired on first try no problem. checked the exhaust coming out to see if the coolant leaked in the combustion chamber because it would through white smoke, at least a little. Also It doesnt seem to be overheating. It stays below 225 degreese. I have no idea, what do you think???

I noticed what you describe on my 1992 Eldorado 4.9L.
I could smell coolant (sometimes) but could not find a leak. Never overheated nor did the coolant temp exceed 220F. (I live near Houston, Texas which is hot, loads of traffic, A/C blowing nearly year around. 220F is when the thermostat would fully open from a cold engine and drop the coolant to 199F where it stayed most of the time)
I would add coolant as needed, not much but as needed until I found it.

A head gasket leak would consume a lot of coolant. You would be filling the reservoir every day or every other day depending on your driving habits. Rusty looking spark plug(s), white exhaust from a warm engine, milky oil, and overheating are all signs of a bad head gasket. I really don't think that is your problem.

My leak turned out to be loose bolts along the aft side of the water pump base plate well below the alternator. The leak was very slight but managed to rupture the gasket.
I torqued all the bolts around the base plate and water pump then changed the coolant adding two tubes BarsLeaks gold to the cooling system lower hose.

I had done this with the intent to purchase a new water pump and gasket set, but forgot all about it for a couple months. I began to smell coolant again. It was a tiny seep from the area where the gasket had ruptured. I then replaced the water pump and gaskets.

If you are absoluetly certain of a leak on the driver side, you might want to get your torque wrench, extensions, and sockets out and retorque the intake. Start from the middle and work to the ends of the intake. This may help but is not a sure fix.

thanx for the support. I will change the coolant and add the supplement today. than give it a couple of days and see what happends.

Draind and changed to coolant.(I didnt see any suppliment as i was draining). Than filled with 50/50 and two bars leak golden powder. drove it for about an hour total today. The temp will hit 105C than drop and hang about 98C. despite the fact I have a new radiator cap, I still see no coolant entering the overflow bottle and non going into the radiator after shut down. I pulled the overflow and cleaned it out and checked the hose. Its fine. So im gonna get another cap asap and see whats up.

thanx

Draind and changed to coolant.(I didnt see any suppliment as i was draining). Than filled with 50/50 and two bars leak golden powder. drove it for about an hour total today. The temp will hit 105C than drop and hang about 98C. despite the fact I have a new radiator cap, I still see no coolant entering the overflow bottle and non going into the radiator after shut down. I pulled the overflow and cleaned it out and checked the hose. Its fine. So im gonna get another cap asap and see whats up.

thanx
You may be low on coolant after refill. Open the radiator cap in the morning and check the level. How would you get coolant back to radiator if it did not get the surge tank (there is no overflow BTW)?

Might want to replace your thermostat in the process. Sounds like it could be the issue, and it's only 5 bucks.

You may be low on coolant after refill. Open the radiator cap in the morning and check the level. How would you get coolant back to radiator if it did not get the surge tank (there is no overflow BTW)?

I fixed the "no overflow" problem. It was the new cap. so I got another one and now i have overflow into the surge tank.

Also I will try the thermostat tomorrow. I also think that might be some of the problem because the temp in kinda bouncing from 91C to 103C. maybe thats how the cadillac is suposed to run?

That might be alright, but it sure can't hurt to replace it, like I said. I can't compare for sure because I put a 180 thermostat on mine (about 80 C), and the factory is 190 or 200, I forget. The fans also kick on at two speeds, and I think at 100C is one of those. You might just be getting the result from the fans kicking on and off.

That might be alright, but it sure can't hurt to replace it, like I said. I can't compare for sure because I put a 180 thermostat on mine (about 80 C), and the factory is 190 or 200, I forget. The fans also kick on at two speeds, and I think at 100C is one of those. You might just be getting the result from the fans kicking on and off.

I just replaced the thermostat with a 160 just to get the temp down. (I know this is probably contraversial). But when I took off the water outlet to get the thermostat out the outlet was kinda rusted a bit where it seals to the ?intake manifold?. I grinded it down a bit to get most of it off. That might have been my leak I will find out tomorrow when the sealant dries.