Smell of Antifreeze

bigocciput · Oct 29, 2025

I have a 2020 V8 and for the past year I have noticed a smell of Antifreeze on the outside near the driver front wheel. It occurs when the engine is running. It does not smell inside. Is not leaking fluids, colland level is not low and does not run any hotter.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this or has anyone experienced this? My useless Genesis dealer wants to charge $300 as a diagnosing fee and needs the car for at least two days. Based on other items I had them fix when it was under warranty is not something I want to try with them.

EdP · Oct 29, 2025

bigocciput said:
I have a 2020 V8 and for the past year I have noticed a smell of Antifreeze on the outside near the driver front wheel. It occurs when the engine is running. It does not smell inside. Is not leaking fluids, colland level is not low and does not run any hotter.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this or has anyone experienced this? My useless Genesis dealer wants to charge $300 as a diagnosing fee and needs the car for at least two days. Based on other items I had them fix when it was under warranty is not something I want to try with them.

Did it start after a service done? If it was anti-freeze from the system, in a year it would be showing low. Could something have spilled on the engine or some component that is heated with engine running?

srobak · Oct 30, 2025

If it was spillage, I would it expect it to burn off after a year.

Rather than go to a Genny dealer - find an independent shop and ask them to do a dye trace on your coolant system. They will add the dye to your coolant, let it run a while and then bring in a black light to look for glow.

You mention you smell it from the front - is there any chance you smell it also when standing behind, perhaps even stronger? If so - that may be indicative of a head gasket - but if only from the front/driver side I would think it more likely to be a very small leak somewhere - which is far less serious.

bigocciput · Oct 30, 2025

I think I will do the independent dealer route. It only smells at the front driver's side (around the side marker area). The only thing I can think of around that time is that I drove "slowly" through some high standing water after a hurricane. It was enough to knock the oil change access cover from the under shield down, so I suspect it may be moved a hose enough for a light leak.