Coolant Smell - No Leaks?

[Jet-X]

I'm looking for some help in locating a possible coolant leak. I have a slight odor of antifreeze under the hood, but I cannot locate a leak. The radiator tank is full and the level has remained unchanged over the past week. The truck is an '02 5.3L, 68K miles. I've checked the water pump, hoses, perimeters of the heads, and the radiator. Nothing....

[jro909]

sometimes the pump leaks out of the wheap hole and burns off before it hits the ground...otherwise castec heads is the other thing to look into

 

i might add if i drive my truck for awhile if i stick my head into the engine bay i can notice a faint smell of coolant which is from the hot fluid in the resovoir

[Guest pjblurton]

Intake manifold or you might need new cylinder heads. GM made some bad heads that year.

 

His intake manifold is plastic and is not plumbed for coolant. Castech made some bad heads for GM for several years.

[jwhjr]

I had same symptoms that went on for about a year. Coolant smell, no noticable loss of coolant, and no visible leaks. It ended up being the water pump gasket on the passenger side. I found it when it finally made it's way down and I saw if from underneath the truck. I had 111K on the truck at the time, so I just put a new water pump/t-stat in instead of only replacing the gaskets. Easy job and everything has been good since.

[The John]

I agree with the Castec heads thing as I was just a victim of it and had to replace my whole motor. Easiest way to check is to take the oil filler cap off and put your nose to the tube and sniff. If there's coolant under the valve covers, you'll smell it.