Howdy y'all,
A while ago I started noticing a coolant smell. I couldn't find any leaks on the ground, and couldn't find any obvious leaks looking under the hood or around the radiator. I checked the coolant level, looks normal. I noticed the coolant smell seemed to come from the engine. I can't find any white smoke coming out of the tailpipe.
I don't really have any tools, but I had my dad help me a bit and we found one of the spark plugs loose / some oil leaking there, which turned out to be valve cover gasket. Still doesn't explain the coolant smell though.
So I brought it into a shop, and they called me back confirming what I already know. They also could not find any leaks in the coolant system and tested the head, said head was fine too. So I'm getting new spark plugs and valve cover gasket, I'm told I should test it like that.
I still don't feel confident that anything is really fixed. Where would this coolant smell be coming from if it's not head gasket, heater core, or radiator? I don't get it. It's a 2004 5-speed hatch with 124,000 kilometers.