coolant smell

dntlkbak · December 17, 2014

My first 2014 Silverado had that exact leak in the rad in the same spot as yours, it was a defective rad and GM replaced it on warranty. If I remember correctly it was a problem with some of the rads made in Mexico, some are made in Mexico and the others are made in the US.

Pb_Foot · December 18, 2014

The dealer called and stated the radiator needs to be ordered and replaced.

robsieb · December 21, 2014

Glad to see others are having some luck getting this fixed. Took mine in on Friday to have this looked at as well as have a couple of recall software updates done. I decided after a bad experience with the service department at the dealership I bought the truck from I would give another in the area a try. Keep in mind I had been extremely happy with the Chevrolet dealership very near my home prior to GM issuing the edict that only GMC dealers can do warranty work on GMC vehicles.

Alas, I digress. Dropped the truck off at the service department and told the service adviser "There is a strong coolant smell coming from the drivers side near the grille when you walk past it." Got in the GMC Terrain the provided me as a rental and headed on down the road. about 5 hours later the service adviser calls to tell me the recall updates were done but they've looked all over the truck and cannot find a leak OR smell any coolant. I asked him to take it out on the highway for a couple of miles, pull off, get out and walk around to the front drivers side and smell around the grille. "Ok, I'll do that and call you back." Two hours later he calls back saying "still can't find a leak or smell anything". I tell him I'll pick it up and he advises "we have it documented and if it starts leaking we'll have you bring it back in".

So by now I'm thinking I'm nuts. I pick up the truck, discuss it with him and sign the paperwork and head out the door. Get home, walk around to the front of the truck, guess what? Coolant smell almost knocks me over. I grab the work order which reads "Customer states bad coolant smell while driving more on driver side." What!!!! That is not what I told him on more than one occasion.

In any case, just me venting. I suppose I'll wait until it bursts the seam in the radiator while out on the highway then I guess they'll be able to find it. I've absolutely had it with GMC service departments. Just ticked off that I've got two new GMC's in the driveway and will have to deal with trying to find as good a service adviser at another dealership as I had at my local Chevy dealership.

schlegle1 · December 21, 2014

picked mine up at the end of last week and they deemed it "no problem found" i told them to keep it until it was fixed, my service adviser said that they had it on a pressure tester all night and couldn't find anything….the next day i was driving through a parking garage, rolled my windows down and almost got knocked over by how bad the smell was….Im very frustrated. GM needs to do something here.

Spike-Z · December 22, 2014

UPDATE: My radiator was leaking. Changed the rad and now the temp is right where is should be and no more coolant smell. They even fixed my moving driver seat, from the 1st attempt!

rocnrol · December 22, 2014

Exactly the same for me. Strong smell of coolant from the upper passenger side of the rad,i have seen steam too. it was at the dealership on Saturday to be looked at and got the "no issue found " they put in dye and I'm to go back in a bit.

Spike-Z · December 22, 2014

Rocnrol your rad is probably leaking too. This is exaclty the problems I had.

schlegle1 · December 23, 2014

any GM reps on here?

rocnrol · December 23, 2014

I get home tonight and the truck smelled like coolant again, so figured I'd take a look myself, seriously, how hard do these people look?

GMCustomerService · December 23, 2014

any GM reps on here?

Hi schlegle1,

I understand that you are unsatisfied with your dealerships answer. We'd be glad to look further into this for you and contact the dealership on your behalf. Feel free to send a private message here on the site and include your VIN and contact information. We look forward to hearing from you!

Andraya

GM Customer Care

schlegle1 · January 1, 2015

bump.

K2jer · January 1, 2015

Just a tip for you guys. Most rad core leaks aren't apparent under pressure at ambient temperatures. Tell the dealer to get the truck hot before they test it and it will make a big difference in finding leaks.

Pb_Foot · January 2, 2015

I need to call the dealer tomorrow, I have yet to hear from them when the replacement radiator will be installed and not only is my truck leaving puddles now, I have to keep the vents on recirculate because of the smell in the cab.

Spike-Z, did the dealer explain how they fixed the seat, my drivers seat also exhibits the movement upon acceleration and when turning.

FL335i · January 4, 2015

I have the feeling from some experiences that most dealerships don't really want to chase down problems, they want you to bring it in completely flat out broken so they can just "change the part". Just face the fact the dealers are hiring driveway salesman as service writers and not ex mechanics. Plus the techs are part changers, not techs...

schlegle1 · January 22, 2015

Im not going to lie I'm pretty upset over my experience with this. Ive had the truck in the dealership 3 different times for this issue (sometimes with multiple issues) but each time deemed as "no problem found". So about two weeks ago i called into the service dept and said "look i know you guys haven't been able to track this coolant smell/leak down so i was wondering if you'd be able to put some dye in the system before i leave for the week, that way we can check it when i get back." The response i got was " Dye? i don't think they make that for coolant, I've never heard of that before.", so i gave up on it. This past week i was out of town for work and when driving my truck i noticed a very strong coolant smell coming from the vents. So this weekend i finally said screw it and started to investigate myself. Low and behold after taking the two bolts out of the passenger side cooling fan and pulling back a little i see from the pass top corner about 6-7in down the radiator is covered in crusted coolant and fresh coolant in the fins.This has left quite a bitter taste in my mouth, as i don't want to start any problems at my dealership but I'm really disappointed with this. I called in on monday making sure i didn't loose my cool, I explained everything and said ill send the pictures i took to you. The response I got; "don't bother, ill just order you a radiator." Its now three days later, have yet to get a follow up call to schedule an appt, I'm loosing coolant slowly but surely and i have the thought in the back of my mind of "….so did they know it was a radiator the whole time and just put it off and put it off? because they just ordered one without wanting to look at it again." GM needs to help me out here because I'm really frustrated.