01 Dakota 4.7 with antifreeze smell

 check for coolant from the a/c drain-could be heater core

   rt

Where is the a/c drain?  I don't smell the anti-freeze in the cab
though.  I had a couple guys riding on my tailgate for a short while
yesterday and they smelled it and then I thought I smelled it coming
from under the hood after that while standing outside the drivers door.
 But, couldn't find any visual evidence of a leak under the hood.
Heck, I can't even tell where the thermostat goes on that engine.

Take a good look around the water pump. The seal went on mine at about 45k
miles. There wasn't much more than a couple of drops at any one time. Had
the dealership replace it; the "new" one failed at abour 200 miles. The
"plastic" impeller split into two pieces.

Wayne

The thermostat is on the bottom right side, just follow the lower radiator
hose. Remove the plastic splash shield under the front end, and go in from
the bottom.

Ben in TN wrote:

Not sure about head gaskets, but don't rule out the heater core leaking. Is
the smell stronger inside the cab than outside?

That sounds much more like a heater core leak.

--
If at first you don't succeed,  you're not cut out for skydiving

Heater core if you can smell it inside at all. Way up under the dash, The
floorboard or jute backing under the carpet will be damp generally the
carpet can be dry unless it is really a bad leak.
the bad news... the heater core means the whole dash and steering column
must be removed. disabling the airbags is imprtant too! Seats, removal
optional. The heater core inlet / outlet tubes are in front of the drivers
side of the firewall. They feed along the inside of the firewall to the
passenger side and are inside the a/c evaporator box. The A/C will need to
be evac'd and recharged too.
Dealers charge around 1000.00 to do the job!

Good luck