Do I have a coolant leak or am I insane?

Howdy y’all. I have a 2018 Tacoma TRD-OR. Done a lot of my own work on it, mods, etc. The last few months I feel like I have a phantom issue with a coolant leak and/or I’m crazy or maybe the AC is just dirty? I feel totally crazy. Anyone with experience chasing this stuff down would be great. I don’t really want to spend $1,000+ on a ghost problem.

Symptoms:
Sometimes I smell a sweet antiseptic smell in the cab when the AC first turns on. It usually fades within a few seconds. Some passengers have noticed. Most of the time it’s faint but on hotter days, it can be more potent and last a little longer, like 30-60 seconds. Internet says this is coolant smell, but it doesn’t quite match the smell of the radiator cap which has a more rubbery toxic smell to me. Still it’s not super pleasant, almost an ether smell? Hard to describe.

That’s it though. No leaks anywhere (except see below), no overheating.

Tests I’ve done:

• Replaced radiator cap with TRD cap.
• Ran the heat at full blast and it gets super hot when the engine at temperature
• Pressure test. slowly lost pressure about 3psi over the course of 20 minutes. But no sudden loss or big drop. This *might* be in standard threshold for the device
• I’ve searched high and low in the engine, even looked up on the water pump joint, hoses, everywhere. Not a single bit of pink crust anywhere. Nothing wet (except see below)
• The reservoir was at Low, so I filled it half way between Low and Full when cold a few days ago, smells seems gone for now

I did notice some wetness on the reservoir drain plug. I’m wondering if it’s possible THIS is vaporizing and then getting sucked in through the AC intake???? (See picture). I wiped this off and I’LL keep an eye on it. But like…damn I feel nuts.

Or maybe my upholstery just needs to be shampooed…

 

Did you check the bypass on the back of the engine?

 

as much as I could from both sides underneath and from the wheel well. It looks clean. Also this looks like a good way to gain access to it

 

Not sure those are mutually exclusive. So maybe both?

 

Check your a/c along with the interior of your cab on the floor for coolant and/or a greasy feel even on the vents after the heat has been on for bit. Also look closely at the radiator. Possibly remove the fan should and look for staining on it. Otherwise you could try repositioning that hose under the bottle. May sure you line the clamp back up into the same dimple it made though

 

I've been chasing the same thing for a year. Finally added some coolant a couple days ago because the reservoir was about empty. No signs of a leak anywhere. My smell is more like the rainx wiper fluid than coolant though. The fluid has to be going somewhere but I can't find it to save my life.