My brother-in-law's POS Bonneville was in the shop so I let him drive my trusty 90 Accord DX, 160K miles for a few months.

Five minutes after he parks it in my driveway, steam is coming from the engine and my antifreeze is gone. He says it's just a hose, but I think the problem is more serious but can't figure out what.

Last week, I cranked it up to see what was going on. Started up just fine, no problem, I even backed it out of the driveway. I cut off the engine and checked the fluids. The radiator was bone dry, so I filled it up. Oil seemed fine. Not five minutes later, I try to start it up and it won't fire. Antifreeze is coming out in a steady stream from somewhere above the oil pan... couldn't see from exactly where. It's still cranking, but just not firing. Even when I spray Starting Fluid in the intake, it tries to fire but still sputters out.

Any idea what's wrong?

 

Was he running the engine when the temperature gauge was in the red?

 

Nope, temp was normal on last drive. Bro-in-law got alignment done, parked at his house, a few hours later drove 4 miles to my house.

 

I would check for engine codes. Read the thread about How to get CEL codes in the DIY section.

If you have a timing light....I would try to use the timing light on each spark plug wire. You want to see if there is enough spark to flash the timing light.

 

The CEL isn't on. Plus I don't have a code reader and this thing isn't moving without a tow truck.

 

Check the heater hose, part of it is runs under the distributor. If it is leaking there, coolant may have sprayed and gotten some into the distributor and spark plug wires.

Similar thing happened to my nephew's 95 Accord; it would start and run; but, ran very rough and had no power. After the hose was replaced, and things dried out, it was back to normal. Yous may have gotten more coolant into the distributor or onto the wires.

 

The code readers only work on 96+ vehicles. Read the DIY. All you need to check codes is they key to the car.

 

Thanks so far but the distributor is dry. I actually see coolant dripping from above and down over the oil pan.

 

There is a weep hole on the rear side of the water pump, there is a possibility the water pump went bad and the timing belt could have jumped timing.
Also there is a coolant transfer tube across the back of the engine that goes into the waterpump housing.