I was recently driving and noticed my heat gauge in the red. I have a 1992 Honda Accord 4 door LX. When I opened the hood what appears to be water was all over the place. Is this the water pump or something else? I want to fix it this weekend so I was hoping for a better understanding of what it might be. I am aware of the labor involved with the water pump and removing the timing belts to get to it. Thanks a bunch in advance!
could also be the thermostat. but be catious if it was in the red for too long then it might have damaged the head i would chech the thermostat first because they are more likley to have problems (plus they are cheaper)
it should,nt be water, it should be anti-freeze if it was leaking. if you meant anti-freeze the it don,t have to be the pump. it cold be a busted radiator hose, the radiator or 1 of the heater hoses leaking.
since you have aluminum heads im betting your head gaskets are blown if it got into the red. Those 4 bangers dont stand up to the heat well.
No it doesn't sound like the water pump, There wouldnt be water everywhere if it was the water pump. It sounds like it could be the thermostat not opening up and causing everything to back up.
Almost certainly not the water pump. It will leak from the weep hole on the back of the block, near the timing belt housing if it fails, and that won't produce coolant all over the engine. My daughter's 1993 Accord water pump failed and I had a hard time seeing the leakage because most of it happened gradually when on the road. Even if the shaft leaked because the weep hole was plugged it would be inside timing belt cover, not spraying all over. My bets are on a hose, especially near the thermostat housing where the heat is the highest. The thermostat is in a housing on the back edge of the engine - follow the lower radiator hose (weird, huh?) back to the housing. Several hoses come together there. The thermostat isn't going to cause the leak but you need to know where the housing is. The radiator is also a major suspect. As long as you got the engine stopped pretty soon after the overheating began the head gasket is going to be okay, too - it is not a good suspect for the symptoms you have so far. The easiest way to see where the leak is when there is that much loss is to refill the radiator with purified water - never put tap water in the cooling system except in an emergency - and let the engine idle until you see it dripping on the ground (remove the splash guard under the nose) or spraying under the hood.
