Recently took my car to a mechanic worried that oil was leaking from either the valve cover seal, oil pan gasket, oil sending unit or maybe head gasket and burning off of the exhaust manifold causing a good bit of smoke at stops and for a couple minutes after parking, it smokes right where header pipe attaches to headers really..

They replaced the valve cover seal and charged me $80, apparently sprayed some degreaser around the top of the engine and told me to bring it back next week to see if there were any other places it could be leaking.

Well I think I did need a new valve cover seal because it had a very slow seepage but I discovered the fluid was in fact a good amount of P/S fluid dripping from a leak in the high pressure hose right above the exhaust after inspection, so they didn't notice it and I'm glad I did because I don't think this is as serious of an issue but I will still want it fixed.. Yet might not bring it back to the shop but idk yet, I've cooled my jets now. I had a hunch about it b/c I had been losing more P/S fluid lately and Bingo!

How should I go about getting this repaired? Can I patch the hose? Luckily it is right where I can access it.. To replace the hose the whole thing comes in one piece ($50-$90 part + labor) and has metal attachments on each end, definitely a tricky fix when having to remove/attach to the racks gearbox or wherever it goes. Should I be worried about this leak and the burning off the manifold very much? I don't mind keeping fluid in it, I've always kept an eye on my fluids.

EDIT: 1989 Honda Accord Lx w/123k miles original

 

You need to have it replaced. Worry a little bit, I forget the flash point of ps fluid but just know that it can start a fire.

I've done two of these on 3rd gens (86-89), not too bad but I suggest a crowsfoot flare to get it off the rack. Then on the pass side where it goes down, it is a bit of a puzzel to snake it out/back in.