My 94 accord started overheating on my way home from work (about 40 miles). I really didn't notice until I made a quick stop at my local convenient store approx. mile from my house. When I shut the car off I heard hissing and noticed some coolant/water coming from underneath the car In between the distributor and the plastic intake tube.. I quickly drove home while the meter started to go towards the red. I popped the hood and this what I saw. In the first photo it shows where the top of the air intake tube is wet. I checked the radiator and hoses, it seems to be concentrated near the left rear under the hood. The second picture shows the coolant just collecting on the intake. The 4th picture is the same as the first however, I made a circle to show where the spray where I think the problem originated. Any ideas?

 

Examine the heater hose that attaches underneath the area of the distributor, that is a relatively common issue if oil from the distributor drips on it, which causes it to deteriorate faster.

 

Ok, if that is the issue, would it cause the car to overheat? Also what can I expect to pay to have it repaired? Is it something I can do? Thanks again.

 

Yes, it can cause the car to overheat if a lot of the coolant came out. You can do it yourself. The hard part is reaching the end of the hose underneath the distributor. Depending on the type of hose clamp on there, you can use long needle nose pliers or a screwdriver to loosen the clamp. Then cut a slit in the hose to remove the hose, as sometimes they are stuck on. Alternative is to remove the distributor for easier access.

 

Ok, well I replaced the hose, and the old one was splitting just underneath the distributor cap. Yay! However when I turned on the car it steadily rose in temp almost to the red. Could the thermostat be bad. The fan kicked on by the way when I turned off the vehicle.

 

At what point are the fans supposed to kick in? I had it in the red, and my fan did not come on until after i turned it off. Faulty fan? BTW: I don't think its the tstat, because when I touched the upper hose it was hot, thus telling me that the water was flowing.

 

Sounds like the fan switch is bad. Get a new thermo switch A from Honda.

Aftermarket fan switches are not worth the savings and never last as long.

 

Just replaced the thermo stat A, had to buy from oreillys because of time constraint while I wait from Honda. Still no go. Any other ideas? Thanks by the way, this is a great forum.

 

Did you refill and bleed the coolant properly?

 

yes

 

1. With the car running, turn on the A/C, does both cooling fans run?

2. Next, unplug the connector to the Thermo-switch A (Fan switch A) located at the thermostat housing where the lower radiator hose is. Use a small paper clip or wire and jump the harness wire connector, then turn ignition to ON. Does both fans run?

 

I pulled out the ac fan because it doesn't work. I put power To it and it didn't work. The car has ac, but I am not running it. Does that matter? I didn't think the ac fan made a difference because I don't use the A/C for now.

 

Although it is called an A/C condenser fan, it will help your car's cooling. Both fans are suppose to run at the same time whether A/C is on or not if the coolant temperature at Fan Switch A is above 199 degrees F. The only time one fan suppose to run is after the car's been on, and with the ignition off, if the coolant temperature at Fan Switch B is above 223 degrees F, then the radiator fan will run for a few minutes.

 

So what you are telling me is that in order for the radiator fan to work properly I need to get the ac fan working first? Sorry, don't mean to sound dumb, but this my first Honda and or import. Thanks again.

 

No. I am saying that if you also had a working A/C condenser fan, it will help with the cooling. They are both cooling fans.

Regardless, even if one fan didn't work, what I previously posted still applies as a simple test of the circuit of at least one, if not both of the fan circuits. If both fan motors did worked; but, one didn't run under the simple tests, then we would move on to troubleshooting where the problem is in the respective fan circuit. -- That was the purpose of what I previously posted regarding turning on the A/C and jumping the connector (the ground signal to the cooling fan relays comes from a different source in the two different situations).

 

Ok, I will test this tomorrow afternoon and share my results. Also, if it does or doesnt happen to work, whats the next course of action? Thanks again.

 

If the fan did not run when you jumped the unplugged harness connector with the ignition on. Then as another test, take a long piece of spare wire and plug one end of the wire into the harness connector terminal cavity with the Green wire, then touch the other end to body ground or the negative battery terminal. Turn the ignition on, does the fan run now? If it does, then it means there may be an open (break) in the Black wire of the harness connector to Fan Switch A.

 

If the radiator fan runs with the ignition off that means the motor is good. You said you replaced the thermostat when i told you to replace the thermoswitch A.

There is no such thing as "thermostat A". You have only one thermostat in your car.

Not sure why you would think removing either fan when its not working is either ok or beneficial.

 

I did replace the thermo switch, not the thermostat. I only removed the condenser fan because I tested power to the(condenser) fan and it did not work. I am assuming that I need to first fix the cooling fan issue not properly cooling the car then be worried about the ac fan problem. Is that not correct?

 

 

Your car shouldnt overheat with only fan running but it depends on if the one fan you got working is actually working when the car starts to overheat or not.

So check that out first.

You've already been given specific instructions but you dont appear to want to do any troubleshooting as of yet.

You would be best served getting a new condenser fan installed back in.

 

Sorry, haven't had the time to troubleshoot been working all day. Just got home. Ok, so I tried jumping the wire via a paperclip and the fan runs when put in the start position. So, that means that (I would presume) that the switch I just replaced is at fault. I replaced the switch that looked exactly the same. I actually test drove the car went down to the local convenient store. The car stayed cool as long as I was driving. The temp started to rise little by little when I got to the store when I was idling. The fan kicked on for like 10 seconds when I shut it off. Now, on my way back as long as I was driving the temp stayed down so I pulled in the driveway, hoping to hear the fan come on after it had almost reached the red, but no go. When I shut the car off, the fans kicked on again but where on a little longer then previously mentioned .So what am I looking at?

 

When you jumped the harness connector to Fan Switch A and the fan(s) ran, was this with the A/C button switched off?

 

You either got the wrong switch or you replaced the switch in the wrong location

 

Yes