This may be the last straw...radiator

[VRDrvr]

Well last week I dropped a hundred bucks on my ignition coil and this week as I am driving home from work I notice a sweet burning smell and SOME steam coming from the engine bay . So as I am driving home I keep a strong eye on the temp gauge (which didn't move) and when I got home I popped the hood.

Now I replaced the top radiator hose about 2 months ago but that one was still intact. Then I look at the bottom hose (directly under the passenger side fan. I then heard a hissing sound and noticed steam/spray coming from around this hose. I squeezed that hose and it made the hissing louder with each squeeze.

I am thinking the lower radiator hose is cracked/torn. Question is this: what is the easiest way to replace this hose? (assuming its broken and not the radiator). I was planning on installing my jdm foglights so the bumper may be coming off.

If it is the radiator what is a decently priced not-a-piece-of-shit radiator as replacement?

I am thinking this may be the last straw with repairs for this girl, I am currently looking at a gsr or civic hatchback; I can't take these repairs all the time .

Thanks again guys .

[alb_accord]

hahahahah lol man. u gona have the same problems with the sivic and the gsr. lol
make sure its ur hoze. then replace it. u got to move some stuf around to get the the lower clamp etc.

if its the radiator then buy another one. there is no piece of shit radiators. lol only cheap ones. a good decent one would be around
$80 at the store to $150.
or u can buy a kono or kojo(whatever theat shits name is) on e bay.. i hear that they are preaty good.

if its the radiator and u don't see any leaks, it means that u have a small hole in it. and it gets air into the preasure system. this allows the water to boil in in ur radiator and burn. this will give u the sweet radiator cooland burn. lol i got the same shit. i smell it but i can't see any leaks.

get a preasure tool with the gauge from auto zone and presurize the system. that will show u where the leak is(if any) good luck

[VRDrvr]

When you say I have to move some stuff to get to the lower radiator hose...what do you mean?

When I looked at the radiator I cannot see where the lower hose connects to the radiator.

Do I have to pull my radiator to get at it? I looked in my chiltons and it makes no reference on how to take the lower hose off.

[PHENOM]

can you afford to replace both? (assuming radiator is suspect). I found that when replacing my lower hose and radiator, it was easier to leave the radiator side of the hose on and disconnect the other side, snake it out and be done with it.
When installing the new parts, i connected the hose to the radiator before putting them in. It's a pain in the ass to get the lower hose connected to the radiator when it's already mounted in.

[laz]

You need to take the cooling fans off first before getting to the hose. I got my Koyo OEM radiator from radiator.com through ebay for $90 shipped since they run auctions fairly often. They have an ebay store http://stores.ebay.com/FREE-RADIATOR...enameZl2QQtZkm

Anyway, the shipping was very fast since they have distributors everywhere. I got it the next day! So it was a little work getting the old one out and putting the new one in, but thankfully I had someone helping me and it took us a couple of hours.

Don't give up on the CB7! I remember when I first got mine it kicked my ass with the Main Relay being bad! I changed all ignition stuff minus the distributor until I found out that the main relay may be the culprit. Lo and behold that is what it was.

I figured with the parts I have changed on it already it should run pretty smooth for a little bit. **knock on wood**

[Bluejayde]

Dude, the lower radiator hose or even the radiator is not enough reason to quit on the CB7. The hose can be fixed with $20 and half an hour. The radiator can be had for around $100 and fixed in an hour. Easy shit, and good to change/upgrade anyway.

[VRDrvr]

Well I got the radiator pulled and there are no cracks on the lower hose so my next guess is the radiator has small cracks and needs to be replaced. Removal only took like an hour and a half, not too hard but still something I didn't want to do .

The reason I am saying this may be the last straw with this car is because of repair after repair, I mean the car has been great to me but I am thinking I want a newer car. This one I have had for 7 years and currently has 187K on her. I will fix it and more than likely sell it .

If anyone wants to buy a very mechanically sound cb7 with new radiator for 2K it is yours. Doesn't leak oil or burn oil, it has a small leak of PS fluid at the boot. Gets 26-28mpg and has springs, front and rear strut tower braces, 5th gen 7 spokes, brembo blanks up front and SS brake lines, intake and cat back exhaust (magnaflow muffler with 2.5" mandrel bent tubing) and passed emissions with flying colors.