Lately I have had some problems with my 96 Accord leaking fluids and overheating, it seems to be several different things that have happened and require it to be fixed. I replaced the T-stat over a year ago, the radiator was replaced two years ago and not too long ago I replaced a coolant hose.

When we had the cold front come in the car had a lot of water in the system and I believe it froze or partially froze and the car was driven a short distance like this. It was my fault, I had temporarily put water in the system when the hose broke, I replaced the hose and then immediately went out of town, well, I forgot about it when I got back and then we had cold weather the next week or two and when I realized the water froze I drained it and put anti freeze in right away.

In the past week I noticed it is leaking a lot of fluids, it has been about three weeks since it froze and then I replaced the fluids but only leaking this much in the past week. Before this, even before the hose blew up I had to put water in about every two months or so, so I don’t know if the cold weather just brought up a problem or if it caused the problem.

At any rate I put about ½ gal of coolant in it this morning and looked under the car and I saw a very heavy constant leak pictured below.

It probably has been doing this but I didn't notice it until it started leaking so fast. Is that the water pump or is it more sinister like the head gasket or something else?


Here you can see a unedited shot of where it is leaking. The pan in the pic is the oil pan, the leak is right above the corner.



This is the same pic with red lines, the red line shows the path, the dot is where it builds up and drips.



Another shot at a different angle.



Another pic with line showing path of water drip, it almost looks like it is coming from back behind the top of the oil pan.



Another angle and better over all area pic to get an idea exactly where it is coming from.

 

When did you replace the water pump last? Or maybe freezing the block did something to the block. No matter what it looks as though your going to have to remove the timing cover to see where it's coming from.

 

Did the water in your cooling system freeze over completely? Like hard ice or just slushy. If it froze over completely it might have damaged the water pump and judging by the location on the pictures, thats where its leaking from.

 

Since I bought the car in 02 or 03 the water pump hasn't been replaced yet.

I "think" it partially froze, the car was reving funny and as soon as I realized what happened after driving about 5 minutes I pulled over and looked at the water in the radiator and it was liquid, I let it idle another 5-10m and it drove fine after that until I got home and drained it.

How difficult is it to replace the water pump on an accord? I'm not really sure where it is located, is that the water pump right above where it is leaking?

I'll try to take the timing cover off later and see what I can tell.

Thanks for your help.

 

Yes the water pump is directly above your leak.

 

I doubt it's anything other than your water pump. I just replaced the pump on my son's 96 and it dripped from the same spot. Replacing the water pump on an Accord is not rocket science stuff, but its certainly more involved than replacing a thermostat. For example, just removing the crankshaft pulley bolt can almost be impossible if you don't have the right tools.

 

Does anyone know of a tutorial or something that can help me with replacing it. I have done a lot of various work on cars, I just don't have a lot of the technical knowledge so some times it helps to read over a tutorial or look at pictures and then I can do it with no problems.

 

It's most likely the water pump. The gasket probably got messed up.

To change the pump. Which is $65 at autozone btw..
-Drain the coolant
-Take the crank pulley off. With impact gun or breaker bar.
-Unbolt the timing belt cover. Should be two, you might have to take valve cover off. Not sure on the single cam.
-timing belt has to be removed. Make sure to line all the gears up.
-Unbolt water pump
I would used some high temp silicon gasket sealer for the new pump.

 

Hondatastic: Just sent you a couple PMs. Please disregard the first one with the B1 VTEC information in it. I sent that one by mistake....lol

 

Yea it sounds like the water pump is wheeping.. I had the same problem on my civic at one time..


Getting that crank pulley bolt off is ruff.. Your going to need a nasty impact gun and compressor...

 

Cool, thanks for the tips and info.

 

^ check autozone's website.. they have tons of guides in the repair info section...

 

There a good write up, with photos, in the FAQ section of this site.

How-To: Replace Timing Belt, Timing Balancer Belt and Water Pump on a F22B1

 

Obviously removing the timing cover is a good step and would show alot but I would check the actual "wheep" hole located on the edge of the water pump housing first for obvious "wheeping" before replacing it