Had a coolant smell coming from under the hood. Didn't see a 'leak' but there was a 'wet spot' on the upper 'Y' pipe for the heater. Next time I checked, it was the same 'Y' pipe with same 'wet spot'. Found my leak.

I replaced the plastic 'Y' pipe with an aluminum one I found on Ebay. The kit came with everything needed to replace the cracked plastic 'Y' pipe - aluminum 'Y' pipe, hose, and hose clamps. It took about 15 min to do. Solved the problem permanently.

There were some you tube videos on this problem, with one suggesting replacing the plastic 'Y' pipe with a plastic 'T', but others commented they had to replace THAT after about a year for the same reason - the heat made the plastic brittle and it failed. Can't find the you tube video that showed replacing the plastic 'Y' with the aluminum one - forgot to bookmark it. It is simple to do, just cut the two hoses going away from the 'T' and remove the clamp holding the single 'inlet' hose to the car's metal flange. I cut the excess hose off the hose that came with the kit and still was done in 15 minutes. Easy fix!

Engine suddenly started smoking at a stop light. It smelled like coolant, so I pulled over to pop the hood and verified that the coolant in the reservoir was low. However, I couldn't see from where it was leaking so I had to buy coolant to refill the reservoir. By the time I got home, the reservoir was almost empty. I had my spouse tap the accelerator with the hood up so I might be able to pinpoint the leak. That brief tap resulted in coolant shooting at me with spray from the Y-joint. After researching this issue online, we discovered it's a common problem (due to the defective manufacture of the Y-joint). I'm surprised this hasn't resulted in a recall to replace this component with a part that doesn't malfunction like this. I realize one should replace radiator hoses after 4 years or 60k miles, but I didn't consider this a "hose".

Many persons have reported this problem with their Chrysler manufactured vehicles of various years. A small pinhole leak in the " Y " fitting of the heater hose coming from the thermostat housing. This small leak is allowing coolant to drop on the hot manifold shield and then is drawn into vehicle.. This problem is causing many people to be put at risk for some very serious and possible deadly health issues. Vaporized coolant sucked into the air cabin, is poisoning the air inside.

Problem traced to improperly made hose assembly fitting , i.e. put together wrong, at time of manufacture. Government notified and is investigating. Extremely large amount of vehicles are involved.