Today was almost a day from hell, and ended with dodging a huge bullet.
As I drove to an appointment, after filling with fuel, steam was coming from under the hood less than 5 miles later. I found a place to pull over in an office parking lot. Water reservoir was empty. Got the radiator cap removed using a section of the LA Times (best use). Radiator seemed low. I kept a container of 50/50 anti-freeze in the trunk, and poured some into the radiator. Steam came out, and also came out of a place under the distributor. Was it my head gasket? Hello tow truck.
My mechanic looked at it, and found a two inch piece of hose located under the distributor which had a bubble. We poured water into the radiator and water flowed out the hose.
Thankfully all I had to do was replace the two inch hose by removing the battery to reach the hose. You cannot get to it unless the battery is out. You might want to remove the distributor you need more room.
If you are replacing hoses, replace this one. It might save you a huge headache.