I recently bought a 96 Accord with 160,000 miles on it. I just put it on the road 2 weeks ago. The previous owner has had a good bit of upkeep work done on it, most new hoses, spark plugs, plug wires, brakes, etc. I was on my way to work this morning, about 15 min into my drive my temp gauge was spiked above the red. I pulled into a gas station where my car died out on me and began smoking like crazy. I have just been able to look at it, first thing I check is coolant level and I added a little water in the radiator. It sat for about 9 hours, I got back to it after work and slooooowly drove it 8 miles home. No issue on the ride home. Upon further inspection I noticed a hose that has to be original with how worn it is. I found a small crack in the hose, just so happens this is right where all of the smoke was coming from. My check engine light stays on now. The hose that I found with the crack, if your standing in front of the vehicle, on the left side of the motor there is a hose that comes out of the engine and runs back towards the firewall and connects to another hose about 4-6" in front of the firewall. I am trying to find out what hose this is and if this could be the cause to my problem with it not being sealed properly anymore. Thank you for the help and I will try to answer any questions you may have to the best of my ability.

 

Possibly a heater hose. Do you have a picture?

 

..^..heater hose..run the codes also and post results

 

It is the hose in the top right, coming straight down 4" or so and 90s the the left, back towards firewall. I don't know what the hose is for.
This is top view of engine, passenger side. The hose is under the box where the spark plugs wires run in.

 

Double check me but the OE number is 79721-SV4-000.

Tricky to get to the end under the dist. Some will remove the dist for easy access.

 

Ok, changed the heater hose out, thank you guys. I'm still having an issue with it overheating!!! Drove about 10 minutes and it was above normal by a good bit. Could this possibly be air in the cooling system? Or do I need to go another route, thermostat? Water pump? I just don't know. Thank you for your help guys, y'all are amazing.

 

Did you bleed air out using the bleed valve on the thermostat housing? That's the first thing - Honda cooling systems don't like air pockets.

 

No I didn't know to do that. I will. Would that make the temp fluctuate? It heats up normal, than goes about 1/8 of an inch below red line, will drop back down and keep doing it. It's random, stopped or moving, heat or ac on, no difference. I'll try to bleed the air.
I just put a new cooling fan switch in as well, it doesn't seem to come on while the car is hot or anything, only after I turn the car off n take out the key?!?!? Weird. Thanks all for the help.you guys are life savers, keep it coming!!!

 

Thank you all so much, from the bottom of my heart, I can't thank y'all enough for the great advice y'all have given me. You saved me a lot of money on mechanic costs. So between the hose, hose clamps, radiator cooling switch and engine coolant, this turned out to be about a $65 job, but the learning experience was priceless. For a guy who has only ever changed brakes, tires, and one alternator, I successfully did this labor by myself, y'all are the brains of this operation.

So I bleed the air out of the cooling system, because after replacing the hose and the fan switch I still had the issue with a fluctuating gauge. I was directed to bleed the air, and poof, like some David Blain ****, it worked! I am officially a YouTube mechanic, not exactly sure of the qualifications, but I like that title! Just want to say thanks again to everyone here who helped me, or anyone else like me, you guys rock! I hope I never have to talk to you guys again due to another problem, lol, jk. I will definitely come here often, maybe I'll be able to help one day.

 

Congrats and glad the car is back to "normal". Keep an eye on it and check the coolant level a couple of times over the next few weeks.....everything checks out, call it good and move on