Other than leaking through the EGR cooler (which you probably couldn't smell anyway), the other leak issue is the reservoir (degas) bottle itself. It has been know to leak from the fitting hidden underneath the bottle. It's hard to see and usually causes a small leak over time that can be smelled near the front of the engine. Check under your bottle and see if it shows signs of any coolant leaking. Sounds like this could be your issue, and if it is, just have the degas bottle replaced. Please let us know what you find out.

 

I would think check the EGR defuser tube see if it's wet. The cooler could be leaking. This might take exhust pressure and put it back into cooling system. This will force coolent into intake. What small amount that doesn't make it through the intake will get displaced and forced out coolent overflow. Also check the turbo there's a seal that will leak. And it will burn off emediatly and leave a orange white crust.

 

I believe there's been several thermostate housings with a slight leaks ,also check your oil fill cap on bottom side for anti freeze residue ...

 

I think they also had changed that , back when they did my pump.. I would have to look into it to be sure.

I should note: Truck had timing chain cover , and water pump fixed/replaced at 17,000 miles(oil and coolant leaking on ground).. I think they also told me they changed the thermostat housing.. I now have 30,000 miles.

Thanks for ALL the responses ! I will check these things.

I also called FCA this morning , and opened up a case. I was informed that NO , I definitely should not smell burning coolant , and NO I should definitely not be losing coolant.. (no duh!) They apologized for my ongoing coolant issue , and assured me I would be hearing from a case specialist so they can get this resolved. I have it all recorded , as they give permission at the beginning of their call to record for quality assurance.
I will keep this thread posted ..

 

Pressure testing works great with large leaks.... or gas leaks.

Liquid doesn't like to escape through small holes. It does escape, but because you pressurize the system with gas the volume of liquid escaped (liquids don't like to compress as we all know) will not affect gas volume = pressure by much, so good luck...

Let me put it this way. If you pressurize your system which is coolant and gas under pressure. If you loose 1 oz of coolant gas will expand into this 1 oz volume, and this will not affect pressure by much..... You will most likely see this 1 oz by your eyes....


If you drain coolant system and pressurize it with gas, you have much better chance to find your leak.. because gases like to escape through anything.... as we get older we all know this better


But hey there is a better solution for you...



As a refrigeration mechanic I have to deal with microscopic leaks on regular basis....


Sometimes leak is small and frustrating, so we have to use UV dye.

I simply add special UV dye into system charge and go hunting with my special UV light.... as easy as that....

I used to work as mechanic back than and I know how most mechanics are "old dogs".... and don't like to do new tricks....


Good news for you UV dyes are made for about anything .... oil, transmission oil, coolant, you name it..


Simply add UV dye (make sure you get right one) into your coolant and go hunting with UV light....





I said: "Sometimes leak is small and frustrating"... I am wrong they are always small frustrating in my field.....

 

Pressure testing works great with large leaks.... or gas leaks.

Liquid doesn't like to escape through small holes. It does escape, but because you pressurize the system with gas the volume of liquid escaped (liquids don't like to compress as we all know) will not affect gas volume = pressure by much, so good luck...

Let me put it this way. If you pressurize your system which is coolant and gas under pressure. If you loose 1 oz of coolant gas will expand into this 1 oz volume, and this will not affect pressure by much..... You will most likely see this 1 oz by your eyes....


If you drain coolant system and pressurize it with gas, you have much better chance to find your leak..


But hey there is a better solution for you...



As a refrigeration mechanic I have to deal with microscopic leaks on regular basis....


Sometimes leak is small and frustrating, so we have to use UV dye.

I simply add special UV dye into system charge and go hunting with my special UV light.... as easy as that....

I used to work as mechanic back than and I know how most mechanics are "old dogs".... and don't like to do new tricks....


Good news for you UV dyes are made for about anything .... oil, transmission oil, coolant, you name it..


Simply add UV dye (make sure you get right one) into your coolant and go hunting with UV light....





I said: "Sometimes leak is small and frustrating"... I am wrong they are always small frustrating in my field.....

Thanks , I will suggest this to the dealer. I have heard of die kits , but never used or seen used.. For now , I am going to let them try to figure it out , and not get too hands on. I don't want them saying I messed something up. If it comes down to it , I will give it a try for sure. Thanks !

 

Pressure test is just the dealer's way of being able to quickly check you in and out and say "good to go".

I had the same thing, but not really a smell of coolant (or I just didn't notice). But I had disappearing coolant, a few rounds at the dealer, but they ended up replacing the EGR valve because it was faulty and that did the trick. They also replaced the intake.

Side note - is your truck shuddering at all? My was doing that on start up, and apparently it was due to coolant getting into the intake.

 

No not really , just the normal diesel rattle that smooths out after 20 secs or so.. But my loss is pretty slow , so it may not be enough to mess it up yet. The smell I am 110% sure on. I have been able to smell it since the day I bought it with like 375 miles on it. If I pop the hood and stick my nose right up close , it's undeniably strong. The dealer who pressure tested it said they did not run the engine , so they never smelled it. I plan on stopping in when its warmed up , and giving them all a good whiff. No qualified mechanic could possibly deny that one of a kind smell burning coolant puts off. I even told them to run it , and they would smell it, but they decided it was not necessary and said a pressure test is "Foolproof" and "Definitive" to finding a coolant leak. No possible way it can be wrong they said. ...

 

When you find that coolant leak, let the mechanic who talked about how "foolproof" pressure testing is, know.

Tell him you now have proof he is a fool.

 

That would be nice , IF I was even able to talk to the mechanic...
When I took it in last thursday , I asked on the phone if the diesel tech would be there still (after 5) and they said he worked till 8. When I dropped it off , I asked if I could BRIEFLY talk with tech who was going to work on my truck. I stated I would only take a min or two of his time and would make it quick. The service writer/bullsh#tter walked over and talked to the tech. I saw a disgruntled old guy (the diesel tech) throw his arms up and walk away. The service writer told me he would NOT talk to me. I was dumb enough to leave them with my truck after that...

 

For the reservoir to drain in 12,000 miles I will call that a substantial leak that’s probably over 2 gallons
If there are no visible leaks or along the radiator seam I would put my money on the EGR cooler

 

Trust me I know how annoying it is. The dealership we got the wife's car from did a service on her car. One of the bigger one's. I went through the car before it went. I noticed coolent was low and could faintly smell it but not see anything. Well went through services, went out to check the car.(yes I'm that guy ) Well coolent was still low! So went into service writer and asked. Hey you top off fluids with every service right? He looked at me and sed yes. why? Well when I brought my car in the coolent was at the low mark. And guess what it still is. Then he asked me what do you want me to do? I sed fill it. And in 5,000 miles and it's low again you're doing a pressure test. He sed it's $45.00. I sed not if it's a warranty issue. Next service it was low, did the test and it was a hidden clamp. They wanted to change $75.00 to fix it. So sense I saw where it was I saved myself $74.50 and fixed it myself.

 

-Other avenues to persue...
The turbo is cooled also , some have developped a leak at the tubo seal , coolant goes into exhaust , can't be good for the DPF...
I Wonder if it was not Pasechnik who mentioned that using his dye , he could look down the exhaust pipe
and see if the coolant made it all the way to the back of the exhaust with his UV light . ???

some have found the leak causing the strong mell to be 2 different things ,
- Under the large plastic cover , over the radiator , they could see the pink wax deposit of dried coolant on a crack in the plastic Radiator .
-others duct taped a empty water bottle at the end of the small hose that comes out the bottom of the degas bottle ,
it leads nowhere , just add the bottle on the end of the hose , after a couple of days using the truck , look at that bottle , if there is coolant in it ,
that is where you are leaking from .

One important detail , when bottle goes down , Vern said it will reach a certain level , and stop going down ,
but it keeps going lower in the entire cooling system , bad for water pump , if you add coolant and it goes down fast
it may just be refilling the cooling system , reason for not letting the degas bottle go too low.

 

Thank you for the advice !

I did pop the hood last night , and though I did not have time to search for anything , I saw my bottle was down at least a 1/2" or more below the sharpie line. I only drove it about 100 miles after I picked it up the other day.

I am going to call a few other dealers , and try to find one who seems to have experience with this motor. The first dealer who did my 17,000 mile water pump and timing chain cover , had a rookie kid work on my truck. Took 12 instead of the scheduled 2 days to repair , and when they gave it back they told me the kid lost his ass$ big time working on my truck, and did not make any money (They get paid per job). The second dealer , well you know the story... They also said they had no experience working on the ecodiesel EGR or Timing chain cover.. So obviously they have not had many come in(small town). I need to find a dealer who works on these , and has a good tech. I keep dealing with idiots , and expecting something to be done right just ain't gonna happen.

Milwaukee area , anyone know who I need to take it to ?

 

Which dealer/dealers have you been to?

 

I live south of milwaukee, so none in milwaukee yet.. Kunes in Elkhorn , Lynch in Mukwonago , and Miller in Burlington. I was hoping someone personally knew of a specific dealer mechanic who knows these engines well ,and has had a good personal experience with a similar repair.

 

Maybe call customer care. Ask them if there's a ecodisel qualified mechanic close to you. That isn't too busy to actually find out your concerns. Cause you drive it every day and noticed what it's doing. Again this is why there's an autabl sigh from the service writer when I pull my wife's car in the bay. They hate me cause I go over my cars all the time, and I do know how cars work. And also how shops work. I worked in one for 2 years. That really makes them angry.

 

FWIW - I had the same problem, though not as bad of a leak. I could always smell coolant. First dealer told me same thing 3 times...no leak detected under pressure test. Took it to another dealer and they found a bad radiator. It never leaked on the ground or any other visual evidence...though I did note a very small pink residue on a very small visible portion of the radiator.

 

Did this once.
In presence of service writer. Refilled expansion tank. Used sharpie to mark level.
1500miles later returned to stealer. Popped hood. Low and behold on same patch of concrete, fluid had obviously dropped.

 

This is what I did also the other day. Made them fill it , and mark it.

Mine dropped 1/2" the same afternoon I picked it up , and after about only 100 miles. It has been parked in my garage all week. I am going to stop in with it this Friday to show them ,, IF the roads clear back up.. We just got more snow last night , yay springtime in WI !

 

1) If your getting a strong smell in the cab could possibly be the heater core. Check the carpet, passenger side upper left foot well and see if its damp.
2) The turbo has 2 Bango fittings that circulate coolant through the turbo. If they were to leak it would burn off on the hot turbo and exhaust and not show signs of a leak.
3) there are 2 hard lines that run from behind the water pump and under the intake. They have O-rings and when they leak it is very difficult to notice the leak.

With number 2 and 3 situation you would have to remove the cab of the truck to do the repair.

Hope this helps

 

Oh boy... Thanks !! I will be sharing all this info with the dealer.. Crazy how you guys have WAY better idea's how to move forward than these "mechanics" who are clueless ..

 

My 2015, with the same symptoms and 34k mi. needs a new EGR cooler. It is located on the right side of the engine and you can see it better if you take the plastic cover off the top of the engine. I could see evidence of coolant leakage on mine. I have been told it is a $2,100 part and it is not covered by FCA after the 3yr. , 36k warranty. I would find another dealer , or talk to the service manager at the dealer you are using, and mention the EGR cooler . I hope this is helpful, I am now waiting 2 to 3 weeks for the parts to arrive.

 

I am hesitant to post this , as I kinda feel like a ass when I hear it back..
Sometimes I just can't handle all the bullcrap , and it gets me on a tirade.

This was what happened to me on Friday.

Thoughts ? How out of line was I ?

 

I am hesitant to post this , as I kinda feel like a ass when I hear it back..
Sometimes I just can't handle all the bullcrap , and it gets me on a tirade.

This was what happened to me on Friday. Thoughts ? How out of line was I ?

wow, hmmm, maybe U can shame them into assistance, but looks like a merry go round there. Good luck on all this... Not a mechanic, just a bird, I like you get a lot of good info on this forum. If I ever had to take my truck to local dealer here for something like this, I would be in the same boat U r, just saying... IMHO

 

As an owner of previous problematic vehicles I can sympathize with you Pohlhammer, BUT I will shoot straight as I always do. Take your video down because you come off just as bad as the rep(s) you had on the phone. Bickering back and forth like you were isn't gonna get you anywhere. You asking them what the next step will be is perhaps your right, but regardless of what they tell you is that going to fix the problem over the phone? No. Bickering about scratches and other service related problems isn't going to make your case any stronger or make them address the leak any faster either. Bottom line is unfortunately you will have to take it back to the dealer and let them go through the process as painful as it may be. I know exactly what its like to loose total confidence on a dealership, again I do sympathize with your situation Pohlhammer and its obvious there is a legit problem. My best advice would be take it to another dealer and try to start on a clean slate, see how that goes and if there isn't resolution you may need to refer to your state lemon laws and give FCA back their POS. Your still under warranty so I would also push real hard to be put in a loaner vehicle until they get the problem fixed permanently. One time I was in a loaner for nearly six weeks waiting for a problem to get fixed 100%. If they can't fix it, the longer it stays at a dealer it may make a potential lemon law case stronger depending on your state laws.

 

You have many great ideas and a certain "frankness" that is exemplary. That phone rep. is just a secretary or paperwork case manager. You need to somehow get FCA to put someone on the phone that is a mechanic and can talk intelligently to your mechanical questions.

Ask them to connect you to someone mechanical. Now you sort of did that and were told it's not possible. Horrible cooperation from that reps. part. Turned into a joke.

Best I can suggest is follow up their procedures and get some kind of case going to deal with FCA from a legal standpoint.

 

Unfortunately you are not going to get anywhere with this unless you follow their mandated protocol for warranty repair. You have done the right thing in contacting FCA but now I would follow what they are telling you to do,. I would take it to another dealer, probably the biggest dealer in your area would have a greater likelihood of dealing with previous Ecodiesel coolant loss issues. I would tell them you have been to two previous dealers that didnt know where to start in rectifying the coolant loss situation and that you suspect it may be the EGR cooler or Turbo line coolant leak. Just plant that seed and see what they do about it. Good luck........but stay cool and don't let your frustration show.....YET !! At least you are under warranty. My EGR cooler leak was not.

 

Go to the dealer that did not scratch your fenders and grill and book your truck and ask them for a loaner < BE NICE > . Then open a star case to address
address all your problems direct with FCA including the other dealer damage to your paint and grill while you drive there car .

 

Thanks for the responses.

FCA knew I was taking my truck in last friday for that pressure test , I had talked to them a few days prior. I had also called them last summer several times to tell them about my coolant problem , and yet the the dealer still just sent me away... so clearly FCA never had any intention of getting involved. This call was a call back from the case manager assigned to me , after I talked to a much nicer lady first , who was not my case manager.

I had prior to taking this call , already decided I would take it back to my selling dealer. They are farther away , but have had more experience with this motor. They told me back when I stopped in last summer, they had changed 3 blown Eco motors at that point. I have not had any issues with them as of yet , and have heard better things about them from people in the area.

I knew that call was going to lead to no where , but recording their incompetence and obscurity was important to me. I had hoped they may at the very least direct me towards the proper facility , or tell me anything that could give me confidence they had a direction to move forward. Leaving my truck sit somewhere , out of my sight , out of my control with no idea what their plan is , leaves me uneasy.

 

Keep in mind, Chrysler cannot legally suggest to you which dealer you should use. It would be a breach of contract with all dealers if Chrysler was to direct business to any dealer period.

 

No. I’m getting a new truck because I’m almost to 150k miles.

 

Did you ever try UV dye test???

Just order one compatible from Amazon and do it. You will find your leak and then you can push their noses into the leak..... just like kittens ...

 

LMAO , Good one !

No , I did not get one I want to let them fix it ...


going to take it in tomorrow , and hope this dealer finally gets somewhere. Fingers crossed , expectations low.

 

Well, good luck, maybe U can get lucky, just saying, but I's a bird....