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Defender v8 coolant odor on startup

Old Dec 27, 2023 | 09:33 PM
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Default Defender v8 coolant odor on startup

Hi friends

i have a 2023.5 dv8 with 14k miles on it. More recently, when i start the car for the first 5-10 min i get a moderate coolant odor in the cabin that fades as i drive to an occasional whiff. No warning lights or low coolant levels and no visible leaks . Took it to my local dealer and they claim no leaks, normal pressure tests, and can’t perceive any smells.. but I’m obviously not making it up and I don’t think my dealer was that thorough. Wanted to see if anyone else had this problem and if so what the resolution was.
 
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Old Dec 29, 2023 | 09:51 AM
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Originally Posted by speedyj
Hi friends

i have a 2023.5 dv8 with 14k miles on it. More recently, when i start the car for the first 5-10 min i get a moderate coolant odor in the cabin that fades as i drive to an occasional whiff. No warning lights or low coolant levels and no visible leaks . Took it to my local dealer and they claim no leaks, normal pressure tests, and can’t perceive any smells.. but I’m obviously not making it up and I don’t think my dealer was that thorough. Wanted to see if anyone else had this problem and if so what the resolution was.
i've noticed the same with my 2023.5 V8 with 5k miles on it. I can only smell it when the heat is on, with AC i'm not getting the odor. I haven't taken it in yet, but not seeing any leaks on the garage floor.
 
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Old Dec 29, 2023 | 10:59 AM
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Dealing with it as we speak. As I said in my thread about this issue... Its more than likely your heater core if you're smelling it in the interior. Tell em' to do the pressure test with the heat ON. That said, dpending on how bad the leak, it may not register much on the pressure test. Mine defintiely failed the test, they didn't even try to feed me any mess. Plus the maple syrup smell was strong enough for even my kid to notice it...

Heatercore on back order. Trucks been sitting at the dealer for 2 weeks now. They have no idea when the part will come in. Could be a week. Could be 6 months. Opened a case with JLR and no response from them, and the dealer does nothing other than checks to see the status. which states "backorder no eta")
 
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Old Jan 25, 2024 | 08:20 AM
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I just got my car back from the dealer, and no coolant leaks were found. They indicated that it could be burn off as this is the first time I'm using the heater since getting the car. Don't know if that is true or just BS they are feeding me. They did replace the cabin air filter as well.
 
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Old Jan 25, 2024 | 09:56 AM
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Originally Posted by foldpages
I just got my car back from the dealer, and no coolant leaks were found. They indicated that it could be burn off as this is the first time I'm using the heater since getting the car. Don't know if that is true or just BS they are feeding me. They did replace the cabin air filter as well.
my dealer- which to their credit has tried to diagnose the issue. Is saying that they think it’s from a spill in the cabin… problem is nothing has spilled and I’m the sole driver. Wondering if it’s just a design issue.
 
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Old Jan 25, 2024 | 10:05 AM
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My old 2011 LR4, which had the NA 5.0 V8, almost always smelled like coolant at startup and went away after a few minutes. It was a lot worse when the coolant crossover pipes went bad or when I had a coolant leak, but regardless, it always smelled like coolant.
 
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Old Jan 25, 2024 | 10:24 AM
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If you are not afraid of somewhat "Blue" comedy, Dennis Leary did a bit on Coffee Flavored Coffee. He has an experience with Maple Syrup Flavored Coffee, which he panics and thinks his heater has sprung a leak.

 
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Old Jan 25, 2024 | 02:39 PM
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funny cause i’m experiencing the same. only when my heater is on and my kids notice it also. it does go away after 5-10 minutes.

for back ordered parts, going through a similar issue with a so called back ordered part for months i was able to find the part at a neighboring dealership the same day.

i can tell you they don’t look very hard. i would not accept their response with no timeline
 
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Old Jan 25, 2024 | 04:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Ehloo
funny cause i’m experiencing the same. only when my heater is on and my kids notice it also. it does go away after 5-10 minutes.

for back ordered parts, going through a similar issue with a so called back ordered part for months i was able to find the part at a neighboring dealership the same day.

i can tell you they don’t look very hard. i would not accept their response with no timeline
i'm surprised reading so many comments about coolant smell. makes me wonder if it really is coolant or something else.
 
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Old Sep 29, 2025 | 09:37 PM
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Originally Posted by foldpages
i'm surprised reading so many comments about coolant smell. makes me wonder if it really is coolant or something else.

Hey, did you ever get this sorted out? Experiencing the same in mine.
 
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