I "had" a tiny coolant leak under/behind manifolds in my 124. I could not figure out what it was, but every once in a while, I would smell hot coolant when I got out of the car. There was never a puddle and I usually noticed it away from home where it's easy to say "Must be another car".
Last week I got a strong wiff as I pulled into my garage, so I looked under the car to see where it was dripping. Still no drip, but as I got to the passenger side of the engine I heard a sizzle. The leak was small enough to only drip every 10 seconds or so and it dripped right onto the header pipes and sizzled away in a puff of steam. That explains the smell of hot coolant with no traces of a leak on the ground.
Since I can't see behind the manifolds and starter I am guessing it is a freeze plug at this point. The location seems right and this car has a manual choke, so no additional plumbing over there. The car runs pretty well and doesn't overheat, so I poured half a can of Bars stop leak for freeze plugs in the radiator and went for a 45 minute drive. No leak so far. Hopefully it will stay that way for a while.
Last week I got a strong wiff as I pulled into my garage, so I looked under the car to see where it was dripping. Still no drip, but as I got to the passenger side of the engine I heard a sizzle. The leak was small enough to only drip every 10 seconds or so and it dripped right onto the header pipes and sizzled away in a puff of steam. That explains the smell of hot coolant with no traces of a leak on the ground.
Since I can't see behind the manifolds and starter I am guessing it is a freeze plug at this point. The location seems right and this car has a manual choke, so no additional plumbing over there. The car runs pretty well and doesn't overheat, so I poured half a can of Bars stop leak for freeze plugs in the radiator and went for a 45 minute drive. No leak so far. Hopefully it will stay that way for a while.