If a small puddle or stain of coolant forms under the car near the front of the vehicle lift the hood and start looking in the engine bay.Note: air conditioning systems often form condensation that can leak on to the ground, but what's dripping from them is pure, clear water. If there is no puddle but you smell the sweet aroma of antifreeze, kneel down and scan the vehicle's underside and see if you can see anything that's wet or covered in droplets. After the car sits for 15 minutes, look under it for a fresh puddle of antifreeze-colored fluid.Most recovery tank caps are marked with a symbol similar to the one shown. The illustration below shows the location of the caps for the radiator and the translucent plastic recovery tank. Do not remove the recovery-tank cap or radiator cap before the engine has adequately cooled. Caution: When the vehicle is fully warmed up, the coolant is boiling hot and under pressure. To find a leak, first drive the car until it's fully warmed up, then park it on a clean, dry section of pavement-a driveway if possible.The car starts running hot or overheating.Engine oil is gold or black (when dirty), and transmission fluid is dark red. Antifreeze makers use those dye colors to differentiate coolant from other fluids used in cars. Puddles under the car of lime-green, orange, pink, or blue-green after you've parked.You might be able to smell it from behind the wheel as well. A sweet aroma that you notice from outside the vehicle, coming from the vehicle after you've driven it.Worse yet, your engine can overheat, sustaining expensive and possibly terminal damage. If an engine is low on coolant, it can run too hot, which will hurt both performance and fuel economy. A pump on the engine circulates the coolant through the radiator, engine, and heater and keeps your engine running at the proper temperature-and not overheating-regardless of the outside temperature. Your engine's radiator is actually filled with what's called coolant, a 50-50 mix of antifreeze and water. It's part of your vehicle's cooling system, which controls the engine's temperature so that it runs properly and doesn't overheat. If your vehicle is leaking antifreeze, the problem needs to be repaired promptly, before it causes much bigger, more costly issues.ĭespite its name, antifreeze does more than just keep your vehicle's radiator from freezing up in winter. Antifreeze plays a key part in keeping your engine running properly, so it's important to know if it's leaking. If you've noticed an odd, sweet smell coming from your car after you shut the engine off you might have an antifreeze leak.

Coolant leaking from water pump