Smell of coolant, no visible leaks

[blocke]

My car hasn't been driven more than 50 miles this year. It has spent most of the year in my garage under repair (new clutch, tranny leak, oil pan gasket replacement, Central locking fix, cluster fix, etc...)

So yesterday I started it to let it idle in the garage. I had the garage door closed, but the side door open to let fresh air in. It was about 60 degrees out, and raining. Went inside, and after about 4 mins of idling, heard the car die.

I went in to see wtf happened, and the garage was pretty full of exhaust, so I figured that the door was not enough to ventilate, and the car choked on its own fumes. So i opened the large garage door, and restarted car.

Came out 10 mins later and notice that there seems to be a good amount of "smoke" coming from the exhaust. I'm not sure if it was condensation, just a byproduct of the exhaust being hotter than the ambient air, or what. A short while later I returned to find the garage smelling like coolant. Car was warmed up, not running hot at all. I found no visible leaks, no puddles under the car.

Head gasket? No milkshake in the overflow, under oil cap, or the dipstick.

I had to run immediately after, so I didn't have time to investigate. What should I check for today?

[jlevie]

The first thing I'd do would be to pressure test the cooling system. That should find any leaks. If there are no leaks, there is the possibility of a head gasket failure.

[bmwstephen]

i think its normal. I smell coolant if im in the front of my radiator after the car has been driven. no sign of leaks and no puffs of white smoke from tail pipe

[CorvallisBMW]

Leaking heater core? There's a small drip pan under it and the A/C evaporator that fills up slightly before draining on to the pavement below. Also check for pinhole leaks in the radiator and hoses, the kind that spew steam but not liquid. Could also bea leaking around your thermostat housing just a little bit and evaporating on the hot timing cover/oil pan before reaching the ground.