OK, looking for advice. I noticed the smell of coolant while I was driving into work this morning. In my rush to get in on time, I didn't have time to check it out.

Well I just checked it while the motor was cold and it appears that the lower radiator hose is leaking because there was a puddle of coolant on top of the tranny just below the hose. My radiator resevoir was empty so I know its leaking.

Also when I looked at the motor cold, both the upper and lower radiator hoses were collapsed. When the motor warmed up, they expanded. Also the car DOES NOT overheat... the temperatures are normal.

My question is this... Does this sound like a simple leak? Should I just replace the hose and see what happens?

i.e... Are the hoses collapsing as a result of another cooling system failure... did the collapsed hoses cause it to eventually leak?

Or... is it just a simple leak which is causing the hoses to collapse?

 

OK I got it home and really inspected it and it is actually just the heater hose which is leaking. I'm replacing it as soon as it stops raining.

I guess everything will be ok afterwards, I was just concerned about how both my radiator hoses were completely collapsed.

 

Check your radiator cap. It's supposed to open & let coolant suck back in from the reservoir. Apparently its not, so you get a vacuum in your cooling system. That's kinda separate from the leaking heater hose problem.

If the cap is OK I suppose it could be a plugged hose leading from the cap over to the reservoir.

 

I was thinking along the same lines but the radiator cap is a brand new oem Honda cap?!?!

Any other possible causes of a collapsed hose?

 

Did you check the little hose running from the cap to the reservoir? If that's plugged or kinked, it'll do it even with a good cap.

Even on a new cap, what needs to open up, is the smallest disk in the middle opens up by dropping a little. That's kinda like a vacuum breaker.

Then of course, it could be bad hoses...

 

Everything looks fine now that I changed the heater hose, I guess the leak there was causing the vacuum effect. Thanks for your suggestions and advice though.:thumbup: