[Marek K]

Welcome!

If you have a coolant leak, you wouldn't have a "exhaust" smell. Hot coolant, leaking out onto a hot engine, has a distinctive sweet smell -- some have compared it to hot maple syrup.

If you have a coolant leak, it could be from lots of sources. Simplest and cheapest fix is if it was leaking around the overflow tank -- here it is on my 2021 Trailhawk with the 1.3T negine. Make sure the filler cap and hose connections are tight.

 

[Marek K]

at least for me it was not creating a burning coolant smell either

I don't think the typical smell is burning coolant. I think it's just hot coolant.

I heated some up in a teaspoon once so my family would be able to recognize the smell; it didn't take heating it to boiling to definitely smell it.

I'd think the coolant in the overflow reservoir would be hot enough to generate the smell...

 

[Marek K]

That's all.

You mean you're surprised that's all the coolant I heated up?

Or you mean that's the only thing I heated up in a teaspoon? Yeah, I was wondering whether someone would have sick mind. Guess I found out...

 

[Marek K]

Hopefully the syringe and the spoon were clean !!!! J/K

I've actually got a large syringe, just for the purpose of sucking up a bit of coolant to check its color...

 

[Marek K]

Regardless of being pedantic about burning vs heated, we are talking about the same smell, and it wasn't present.

Got it.

But it's not just pedantic. I think there would be a difference between the smell of hot coolant (operating temperature), vs. the smell of burned coolant -- like if coolant was getting onto the exhaust manifold...

But you know, I did write in Post #2 that the smell would occur with coolant leaking out onto a hot engine. True, but you'd still smell it if there was just a leak of hot coolant, without hitting the engine...