Folks,

I noticed in the last couple of days that there's a sweet smell coming from the engine bay. First I looked at the expansion tank which, even after driving and the engine warm, is below the minimum line. I then noticed this streak on the engine, which I'm guessing is not good. Any ideas? Fortunately I have a little time left on my warranty, and a dealer that I like, so going to get it into them ASAP but always good to know before you go...

Thanks.

 

The most important thing is getting it to the dealer before the warranty expires. Don't let them just top off the coolant and send you on your way either.

 

Thanks, I'm already in touch and will definitely press the issue, but my experience with this dealer has been great. Here are two more pics of what I'm seeing, any guesses would be great. Upside is clearly there is a leak that needs to be addressed...

 

Definitely looks like a coolant leak, possibly from the water pump. Have you noticed any squeaky belts at startup?

 

I haven’t noticed anything unusual until yesterday when I caught a whiff of coolant. It was at the dealer a couple weeks ago or something unrelated but they didn’t note anything unusual, and just started to happen. Dropping off at dealer shortly, initial thought from them is it could be the “air charge cooler” which isn’t unusual apparently but they said they need a full check before determining. Thankfully happened before my warranty ran out! I’ll report back when the final verdict comes in.

 

"Sweet smell" without a lovable person with a better scent than me almost always means coolant leak. As other's have stated: get it taken care of ASAP while on warranty! Please post pics/info afterwards and good luck.

 

Several folks including myself have had leaks develop at the fitting to the super charger. Under warranty, they'll replace the line with an updated part. And no, there isn't a recall on this.

 

It's at my dealer now and will report back but that was the tech's initial reaction looking at the photos only, said something to the effect of, "we're seeing more of this issue lately." While I'm not thrilled it's happening, at least it did just before my warranty expired...

 

Quick update -- my car is still with the dealer, but they've had to order a "water pump assembly," so that must be the source of the leak...

 

To close out this post, it was the water pump that needed to be replaced, the seal failed. They ran a pressure test, and it was the culprit. So, thankfully, I have a new water pump and coolant under warranty.