hi all, thanks for the feedback. feel like a bit of an idiot but that's nothing new

"If the water pump was replaced during the timing belt job, that would have been it." Duh. Totally did not think that one through.

Toe and Jim: I thought the radiator had leak but that problem was just coolant loss from the water pump replacement.

What does have a leak (drip) is one of the transmission lines that runs into the bottom of the radiator. Its the connector from the wire hose that comes out of the transmission. The connector is just a metal pipe (8 inches or so) that's corroded from the salt from the decade the car spent in Michigan.

To replace this I imagine I can just find the part at the Autozone?

 

If it's just the line leaking, I'd replace just the line.

On my own car ( my 99) that spent part of it's life in Indiana, it was the power steering lines that rusted out. The return lines first, then the supply line went next. Now they're done and no leaks.

 

Is it part of the radiator, or is it one of the separate pieces here?




My guess is it would be a dealer part, unless it's just generic enough that you can make it up with steel tubing and hose fittings.

 

Toe, that salt is no joke! Thankfully its down south now so hopefully the corrosion will slow a bit

Jim, its #11 from the diagram. Do you know the part number on that or know where I could find it? Just looked at rockauto and didn't see anything.

 

Looks like that's just a tube connecting hose #12 to hose #13. Maybe make it from some kind of stainless steel tubing with hose clamps. The only other thing you want is a way to fasten it kinda like how it's got a tab for the mounting bolt #19. You could use some kind of strap around the tube & hold it in place.

I looked at Majestic Honda, one of the on-line places like RockAuto. (They're not a sponsor so I'm not supposed to make an active link...
www(dot)hondaautomotiveparts(dot)com
enter your car's information by year/model/version or else enter your car's VIN.
category is "electrical/exhaust/heater/fuel"
then "radiator hose"

part # 25210-PAA-020

Looks like it's about $23 or else $33 from a dealer near you. Maybe they'll match the price?? Maybe shipping will offset the savings so you don't really save much on a small $$ order.

 

Thanks Jim. Haven't used/seen that site before. Very useful. I appreciate the advice as always.

 

Writing to ask for a little more advice

I went and pulled the part I needed but couldn't get the bracket that holds this little transmission line off my car. I finally got the bolts to turn but they are just spinning. The one at the yard just came right off--there was no nut holding them on. But the one on my car looks like it has a nut but its in an impossible to reach housing and so the bolt is just spinning and spinning (see picture above for one of the bolts with the nut inside a casing).

I can't tell if something was totally rusted together and then I just sheered it off when wrenching on it. But its not coming off as is. Does anyone have any ideas for how I can tackle this? I need to get this whole bracket off so I pull out and replace the transmission line that runs into the radiator that's attached to it (its #11 in the diagram posted by Jim in this thread)

Secondary question: the bolt on the negative battery terminal sheered off when taking it off. I just bought a small bolt/nut at Lowe's bc Autozone didnt have a square nut. Is there anything wrong with this? Don't want to do any damage to the battery or the electrical. (pics above)

Thanks in advance

 

You might try cutting the bolt head off. As for the battery bolt, it'll be fine, just not "stock".

 

Since it's boxed in by that plastic stand-off on the radiator, it looks like it may have originally had a clip like this, and was replace with a nut during some repair. This photo isn't a Honda part, but I think this type of clip can be found at car-parts stores anywhere. Used for things like the splash pan under the engine, or fender liners, or things like that.



But that doesn't help you get the nut/bolt off in the first place...

Keep an eye on that bolt at the battery post for corrosion. If it begins corroding, just clean it up & put back together covered with grease or something.

 

Jim, if you look at the bolt holding the bracket, you can see the nut is still there. It's just spinning in it's clip. The speed nut clip you posted would be a good way to fix it, once he cuts the old bolt head off.
Like Jim said, keep an eye out for corrosion on the battery bolt. An alternative is to go stainless steel (either the bolt, or the nut, so it'll come apart again).