You need to top off the actual radiator, since there is a leak. You can get a radiator pressure tester as a loaner tool from the parts stores, call ahead to make sure they have one available before wasting a trip. Your leak may be a simple fix and you can eliminate a variable on why your car is having issues.

Was any work done on the car right before you started having these current issues?

I know the 94-97 accord check engine light would stay on if it had no codes stored in the ECU when the service connector was jumped. I was asking the wire colors just to verify you are jumping the correct connector.

If you get a spray bottle of water, lightly mist the distributor cap and spark plug wires to see if you have any arching when the engine is running.

You never answered if you have a compression tester. The parts store may have one as a loaner tool.

Do you know how to verify the timing is correct on your car? We can give you some instructions on how to do this.

 

The lights behave like they should without jumpering the SCS connector. So PA suspects you might have the wrong connector. I think another possibility is you're using a wire that's too large & doesn't make contact.

 

It's the only connector I could find located down by the passengers feet on the right side. I used a small paperclip
bent to a U shape. The wire gauge was just small enough to barely be able to get it into the connectors two pin holes.
I don't see how it wouldn't have made contact

 

The main issue I'm having here is that it starts OK, then if I drive to the Post office ten minutes away
when I come back out and start vehicle again, It doesn't start up correctly it starts coughing and
sputtering and idling really roughly. It will stall if I don't rev the engine up. But if I keep driving
for awhile like half an hour, it seems to go away somewhat.

 

Your description of your problem doesn't help narrow down the issue. It doesn't sound like you jumped the service connector based on your description, because the CEL should flash once then stay on if you jump the connector and the ECU doesn't have any does. Try to short that connector with some thinner wire.

See the video below.

 

when I used the jumper, there is four holes on obd, two did what you described, other two worked. Cant remember if it was top two or bottom two.

 

I topped off the radiator and the rough idle coughing start has mostly gone away.
The main issue now is there's very little engagement with the clutch, so it's
difficult to build up speed. I finally took it into the shop to get clutch rebuilt.
Hoping that will restore power. Then I will replace radiator. After that I'll
address smog issues starting with checking for clogged EGR, then oxy sensors,
hopefully I won't have to replace a caty converter because prices on them
have really increased significantly over the last 8 months or so

 

As far as the troubleshooting codes go, I gave up on that. It's seems like there may not
be any codes stored up anyway because the CEL wasn't indicating anything unusual to
begin with. Plus I literally could not locate any other connector by which to try jumping
in the general area of the passenger side under dash

 

I'm also seeing some evidence of coolant on the left side of the engine block.
Not really sure if it's from splash-back from the radiator leak, or if some
coolant breached the head gasket at some point. The oil looks ok. no
chocolate malts or root beer floats have I encountered. Last change was
five months ago. I guess I need to get one of those vacuum pressure testers
that was mentioned above.

 

Returning to this problem because I never figured it out and feel like it's important
to get the diagnostic system working so I can see what codes it sends when it
is in that mode. Now here's the thing, I know for certain that I'm jumping the
the right connector and I'm using the most ideal piece of jumper wire to do it with.
It's making good contact with the wire terminals inside the connector, but
nothing happens when I turn to second position on switch. Where does
the wire go? under the instrument panel? How can I jump the wire at the other
end? What is the actual component that runs the diagnostic test and
signals the CEL to flash codes? where is it?