Engine temp seems fine. Radiator fluid is normal level. Hear loud pulley sound under hood. Faint smell of radiator fluid in cab when windows closed and driving.


oil level is fine, and no radiator fluid I have found in oil

Any ideas from my ignorant description?
Thanks

 

Take off the serpentine belt, and give the various pulleys a spin. Might be able to feel which one is getting loud.

 

Removed the serpentine belt.
Spun the pulleys by hand and saw/felt none that seemed suspect or wobbled.

Noticed the non-grooved pulley on the fan can rotate while the blade is held in place.

Is that a safety feature, or is my fan connection loose somehow?

When I put the new belt on and started the truck, the fan appears to rotate just fine

still smell fluid a bit. No clue where its coming from.

Oil has no water in it

 

As far as pulleys. The idler and tensioner pulleys are usually the first to go out. Without the belt they should not spin incredibly fast and for a long time. Instead their operation should be smooth and only slightly turn if you spin them. They are cheap and easy to replace.

The water pump, if it is leaking, has a small weep hole on the underside of the snout that will be a source of a small or slow dribble down the front of the engine.

The power steering pumps can groan or whine if they are low on fluid or if they are beginning to fail.

The alternator will usually exhibit a dry raspy type of squeak when it decides to die and it's easy to feel when you spin it with no belt on.

How bad and how loud is the pulley noise?

Oh, and as for the sweet smell of coolant in the cabin...you're looking at a heater core replacement. Pull up the passenger carpet and see if the insulation is wet on the floor. If not the leak isn't bad yet but that smell is a dead giveaway for a failing heater core.

The bad thing is that replacing it is TOUGH for a novice and a shop will charge 1/3 of the truck's actual value just to replace it...since the whole dash has to come out as a unit and it involved a LOT of labor.