I have a 97 Ranger standard cab 2.3 5 speed that I bought to keep yard waste out of my mustang. It has about 180,000 miles on it, and runs and looks great still. I recently have been fixing her up including replacing a broken spring, and new plugs (180,000 on the factory plugs) etc. I smell antifreeze when it is warmed up, but it is not leaking, or dripping, the heater hoses are dry, and it is not really unsing any antifreeze to speak of. Anyone have any ideas about this? Is the waterpump maybe on its way out? Maybe a bad radiator cap? Thanks guys!

 

Do you have any smoke at all when you first start the truck in the morning ? If you have a little white smoke I would suspect a head gasket on it's way out.
Turn on the defrosters after it warms up. Any moisture on the windshield or if the smell gets stronger , the heater core may have a pinhole leak.
A '94 I had would chronicly leak at the thermostat housing but only a little over a long period of time.
As for the water pump , check the weep hole for any signs.

 

The heatercore is not leaking. The smell is from under the hood. It is not burning it, and not mixing with the oil. The waterpump is not leaking either. It appears that the smell is coming from near the timing cover even though it is hard to tell for sure, but again, the water pump (and wheep hole) is bone dry. Just the smell. I replaced the radiator cap recently. Anyone have any ideas? I want to get this repaired before winter, as this is my winter beater (Mustangs are not good in snow ) Thanks in advance!

 

Sounds like the infamous 3.0L problem. The coolant usually leaks out from the front cover on the engine, behind the water pump. Mines been doing that for quite some time now, you can smell it, but it doesn't leak or drip on the ground. On mine it'll come from the front cover and down around the passenger side of the engine block. The heat from the exhaust manifold causes it to evaporate and hence the smell of rad fluid.

Definatly something to look into, I personally don't have that kind of cash to drop into my 3.0L. Apparently the entire front cover needs to be removed to replace the front seal. Not too sure what's involved on the 2.3L though.

 

Check the heater hose.

 

I bet its the tube that comes off the side of the engine for the lower hose.

They rot out and leak, mine is leaking but I'm to lazy to fix it.

 

I had this problem and it bothered me for months. Turns out the something for the blower motor had a small crack in it. Think it is a control valve or something and it was made of plastic on the passenger side engine compartment. it costed 6 bucks and fixed my problem.

 

Weird, I don't have one of those.

Must be something for the A/C.

 

I forgot what it was called, its something for the heater all i remember. I will ask my step dad what i was called again tomorrow and get back with yall.

 

The smell is getting worse now. The truck is not leaking anywhere. All hoses are dry. This is really puzzling me. Anyone have any ideas? I do not think its the head gasket. It is not the heater core either. I only smell it under the hood or near the front of the truck when it is running. I do not smell it through the vents inside.

 

It just so happens My backhoe just developed a small leak That I couldn't find right off.
Take a clean rag and wipe the water pump pulley flange , down in where the shaft come out of the pump.
I found the bearing leaking only after the engine warms up and the system gets some pressure in it.

 

It looks like there is a leak coming from some metal lines that go under the timing belt cover. The lines are rusty, and there is a little antifreeze on the PTO housing that the fan runs off of. What is this part called, and has anyone else had this leak?

 

quote
PTO housing that the fan runs off of.

That is called a "Water Pump"

 

Okay. I was not sure. What is the part name for the metal hoses that the radiator hoses connect to? They are rusted and I think that is what is leaking. I was not aware that the waterpump and fan PTO were in the same location. I thought the waterpump was driven off of the timing belt under the timing belt cover.