Hey, 1996 Accord Wagon EX automatic 183k miles.

I have a hose that's leaking, it only leaks when the engine is on. There's no white exhaust smoke, the exhaust doesn't smell sweet, no oil in coolant, no coolant in oil so I'm sure it's not the head gasket. When the coolant is topped off the engine runs cool (about 30% on the temp gauge) so I don't THINK it's the thermostat, radiator, or water pump but I may be wrong. I've pinpointed the source of the leak, here are some pictures. (Not my engine bay)





It's circled in yellow. What is this hose, what does it do, where can I get a new one, and how hard is it to replace compared to installing headers?

Also, here's a picture of my oil in case I was wrong about there not being coolant in it.




Thank you all for your help!

 

That goes to the heater core. It likely failed due to oil contamination from a leaking distributor o-ring. I've seen situations where just the very end of the hose was affected. I cut about an inch off the hose and it was fine. Others were bad enough to warrant replacing the entire hose. It's a pre-formed hose. Not sure if aftermarket parts stores will have one.

 

That describes the issue exactly! Thank you for your imput! That would explain the oil on the distributor cap and the leaking of the hose! So I'm guessing replacing the whole distributor and that pipe would fix all my problems.

 

I'd try replacing the ~$3 o-ring on the dist before the entire thing.....unless the oil is coming from inside but then again there is a thread on replacing the seal....just my 2 cents.