I am of course scared when fluid leaks.

2004 Dakota. 70,000 miles 4.7L. 4x4. Transmission cooler.


Was backing out of the garage. Truck did not want to turn. Hit the gas. All ok.

As I was driving, could smell a sweet smell from the vents. Then I saw a little smoke coming from the hood-not the car in front of me.

Shut off the truck immediately.

I think it is oil being sprayed by the fan. No real pattern other than from the fan.
There was a good drop from the front of the engine. It did not look like it was coming anywhere else that the front

When cool:
Engine oil seemed a little low
Tranny fluid level seemed fine
Power Steering level seemed fine
Coolant seemed fine
I did not see anything out of ordinary from the gauges.


Other info:
Fluid on the garage floor. It looked like it had a pink color but hard to tell on the dirty floor.
This is the first time I have smelled this.

towed it to a mechanic. Not a dealer.
He said he would look at it Mon and Tues.

What could I be in for?

Of course-I know it is like shooting craps.n
Thanks for any suggestions.

 

if the steering is tightening up, then it's something with the power steering. Could well be spraying from a pressurized hose and hitting the fan.

Modern coolant is orange, but the only thing pink is transmission and power steering (both deep red).

 

I've put 2 PS pumps on-both under warranty.
15,000 and 40,000 miles.

Maybe its time. If so,, the next one won't be a Mopar.

 

wow, that's early.

It's not just mopar. They're all cheap rebuilt POS.

I'm thinking more along the lines of a pinhole'd hose. It's either that, or a trans cooler line pinholed, or the cooler (part of the radiator) pinholed.

 

Antifreeze leaking, from your water pump, will give you that sweet smell, and the smoke. If it was on the pulleys it could also cause the belts to slip and your weak/no power steering problem.

 

I was on the same thought process till I got to "pink oil on the ground and sprayed on engine" then I switched to PS/Trans cooler

 

I'm with you but antifreeze isn't just green anymore. I've never seen pink transmission or p/s fluid. Dark red even almost brown or black if its old maybe.

 

All power steering fluid I have used is clear never seen red!

 

If I may add:

I realize the truck is at the service station.. Might have taken the fan off and see if you can tell where it's squirting from. The difficulty turning was cured when a little throttle was applied... assume not the issue.

My trans fluid is more pink than red. My PS is colorless.

My guess, it is not an expensive fix once the pinhole is found. Then again, it's only my $0.02 worth ;-)

I'm new to working on my truck, but deduction (process of elimination) is in my blood. Curious to hear what the tech finds...

 

There are two kinds of auto users in my opinion the guy that takes his auto to the shop every time or the DIY guy who will take it to a shop if he has no time or just lazy that day.

This guy is not a DIY guy he is only interested in an opinion nothing wrong with that not everyone is DIY inclined.

I prefer to know and understand anything I use in life especially an auto something you depend on to get you around in life an auto is so essential.

Can you imagine if we all still used a Horse to get around man the stench would be horrendous people now don’t have a clue how stinky life used to be back in those days horse poop everywhere