1998 Honda Civic. Car has been driving fine for years. Just today the car overheated. I took a look at this and found there's a leak coming from near the bottom side of the distributor. The thing is, it only leaks when the AC is turned on. Within about 30 seconds of turning on the AC, the leak will be as strong as a pee stream, shooting down from the bottom of the distributor (this is only approximate, but it's where the distributor mates up with the engine). Another 30 seconds or so after turning off the AC, the leak will just about stop, except for a few drips. This is about all I've been able to figure out so far. I drove the car home about 7 miles after it cooled down with the heater on full blast and never had a problem. Got home and it wasn't dripping. Then I turned on the AC and it started up.

I'll probably take the distributor off tomorrow to get a better idea of where this leak is coming from, but was just curious if anyone knows why the AC coming on is affecting this? The AC doesn't really bog the engine, not to mention I drove it home under load. Maybe the coolant pressure is somehow higher when the AC is on? Any reason why? Any help would be greatly appreciated as this is my daily commuter. Thanks.

 

Ah crap. Just realized I posted this in the Accord forum and not the Civic forum. Mods may move if they want. As far as the problem goes, surely someone here can still help.