Over the winter, I had the motor pulled and the coolant pipes were pinned on the 996 turbo. I also just had my local shop install high-performance front radiators on the car. I'm still getting the smell of coolant all around the car after driving. I'm running water wetter in the car. There are no apparent leaks at all. any thoughts on what to check next. Could the vapors be coming from the overflow. I ran the car at mid Ohio today for a HPDE. Every time I got out of the car I could smell coolant.

 

What is the part number on your coolant cap? Newest ones end in "04". You may need a new one, or maybe current one is cross threaded??

 

only time i've ever smelled coolant the expansion tank had a hairline crack or it was a pinhole leak in a radiator. had overflow many times out the breather, but never had the sickly sweet smell of coolant.

 

Water wetter and water, or with coolant?

 

Water wetter & water. I assume there would a small amount of residual coolant left in the system even after replacing with wetter. Dumb question but does wetter have a smell to it if it leaks/vapor out.

 

Will check the coolant cap tonight

 

if you are running water wetter/water because you aren't pinned/welded, it should be a full flush(0 remaining coolant)
....have you topped up your windshield washer fluid recently?

 

The engine was pulled over the winter & water/water wetter was put in the car. I also just had new all aluminum (all 3) radiators installed & they put new water/wetter in the system. I haven't topped off the windshield washer fluid recently.

I think the coolant cap is original to the car.

 

Heater core? You'd probably smell it more in the car than outside of it though.

 

should really have any smell if just water + water wetter(IIRC, has no real smell to it)...next time it does it, feel around the bottom of the driver's front fender liner, wet?...a full washerfluid container often 'boils' over under hard/hot usage and can smell, seen it more than a few times on various 9x6's

 

And you ruled out the water pump?

 

new water pump put in when the coolant lines were pinned.

 

A) Residual coolant is that has been spilled is still producing smell when the engine is hot. Sometimes it takes a while to go away.
B) Something is still leaking, whether it is as simple as a spring clamp that has been placed in a different position or overflow tank that is on its way out. Many different places to leak. Monitor coolant level, if level drops, back to the shop it goes.

 

this might be the winner...

 

I had a coolant hose burst on my '04 TT recently; even after rinsing the engine compartment down after the repair it took almost 2 weeks for the smell to go away after shutting it off when hot.