Does anyone else's car smell like coolant when you open up
the hood after driving, especially after hard runs?

Whenever I open up my engine bay after driving, pretty bad
coolant odor is always there. It's either coming from the radiator
or the engine itself.
I don't think I had this problem before. This started happening
ever since my car overheated and all the coolant gushed out of the resovour tank.

Since then, I even cleaned my engine bay area, and got rid of all
the stains/traces of the coolant. I hoped it would go away gradually,
but it still smells like coolant, and it's been 6 months.
If it's just a little I won't mind, but the smell is pretty bad

Possible problem?

 

does your car overheat at all? you might have a hairline crack on your radiator. You can pressure check your rad from any shop.

 

Yeah, either the radiator or a hose is the culprit. By the way, you ARE making sure your coolant level in the reservoir doesn't stray too low, right?

 

My coolant level is always at max. The car runs normal and does not overheat.
Maybe it's the radiator issues like mentioned.

 

I've noticed the reservoir tank cap isn't tight enough, so during the hard cornering or braking I think the coolant leaks out of the cap. Well, at least that 's how mine looks like. I always have dried coolant around the cap.