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Did my first oil change today. Put the Fit up on DIY wooden ramps, carefully removed the splash shield, did the oil change (the easy part, no mess), then replaced the splash shield and added zip ties. Here are my zip tie locations, with pics. These pics are a bit confusing, so bear with me. If you are confused with orientation, cut a paper card and label front, rear, driver, passenger on the side facing the ground. This will help with orientation.
From the first pic you need to turn the splash shield upside down, reversing left and right, or the shiny side is pointing to the road, when installed. Both zip tie locations in the splash shield go through a smaller hole, the one with a "+" in the middle.
I used 3 x 7.5" standard zipties.
The driver's side uses a single zip tie that wraps around a piece of metal. The passenger side uses two zip ties daisy chained together and goes through a hole on a metal part. I did not want to zip tie to another plastic piece.
Overall I believe this splash shield design is flawed. The 6 metal screws look pretty weak, and the 2 plastic expansion fasteners are just badly designed. This is not news for forum members. With the front lip tightly tucked into the front and 2 zip ties on the sides, even if all the fasteners fall out the splash shield should still stay in place.
2015-2017 Honda Fit splash shield. Top side faces the ground when installed. 2015-2017 Honda Fit splash shield, underside, zip tie locations.
2015-2017 Honda Fit, driver's side, single zip tie, goes around a metal part.
2015-2017 Honda Fit, passenger side, double zip tie, goes through a hole in a metal part
As usual, ask questions for anything unclear.
Last edited by TorontoBoy; 06-20-2017 at 07:51 AM.
I bought my usedFit(2015) two months ago, the shield is gone and all the fastener hole for the other(side) sheild are pulled out. Once I get a replacement, this looks to be my only option, unless I buy the side shields as well.
why do you need the zip ties if all the screws are in place? Are they? I plan to leave mine off after the first oil change. 2017 LX CVT.
The 6 screws look really low quality and weak. They seem easily stripped. Drywall screws look stronger and are thicker. The plastic expansion screws are, well, plastic, low quality and really weak. I would not even hang an 8x11 picture frame on these plastic expansion screws. If something on the road happens to catch on the splash shield, like a cardboard box or tree branch, it might rip off a screw or two. I can see why the dealership could easily damage all of them.
I can also see why many posters have dislodged or lost their splash shield.
The 6 screws look really low quality and weak. They seem easily stripped. Drywall screws look stronger and are thicker. The plastic expansion screws are, well, plastic, low quality and really weak. I would not even hang an 8x11 picture frame on these plastic expansion screws. If something on the road happens to catch on the splash shield, like a cardboard box or tree branch, it might rip off a screw or two. I can see why the dealership could easily damage all of them.
I can also see why many posters have dislodged or lost their splash shield.
I tell my kids never follow a car with a roof rack load, or a car pulling a loaded trailer for that matter. Now, I have to warn them not to follow a Fit as well.
The 6 screws look really low quality and weak. They seem easily stripped. Drywall screws look stronger and are thicker. The plastic expansion screws are, well, plastic, low quality and really weak. I would not even hang an 8x11 picture frame on these plastic expansion screws. If something on the road happens to catch on the splash shield, like a cardboard box or tree branch, it might rip off a screw or two. I can see why the dealership could easily damage all of them.
I can also see why many posters have dislodged or lost their splash shield.
I've done two oil changes and the metal hardware is fine, it's the plastic screws in the rear that are weak. The only time I lost metal hardware was after letting the dealership do the first oil change since it was free, didn't make that mistake twice.
What mileage on your odometer? I had 11.5k kms at my 1st change. Waited until 0% on the minder. My minder is coming on between 9 to 10k kms as of the last few instances, all until 0%. I don't know how others report the minder coming on at 10k miles. Maybe because they have the cvt. Or maybe it has to do to adjustments to the minder schedule due to the Canadian factor.
Last edited by CommanderSlug; 01-24-2017 at 04:37 PM.
What mileage on your odometer? I had 11.5k kms at my 1st change. Waited until 0% on the minder. My minder is coming on between 9 to 10k kms as of the last few instances, all until 0%. I don't know how others report the minder coming on at 10k miles. Maybe because they have the cvt.
The maintenance minder came on at about 8,100 kms, 15% oil life left. Changed he oil on Saturday when the weather was a balmy 4C! I did not want to wait until the minder said 0%. The wife does not like any such messages, or even the low gas light, as she thinks something will explode.
I did not want to wait until the minder said 0%. The wife does not like any such messages, or even the low gas light, as she thinks something will explode.
Wait until the under cover blows out the two rear plastic fasteners due to snow accumulation. Sounded like my transmission blew apart from the engine. And that's right after I changed the tranny fluid. Freaked me out for a good half hour lol.
The maintenance minder came on at about 8,100 kms, 15% oil life left.
My odo is at literally 10 times your mileage. 83k kms now. Still running good! This car never left me stranded. Clutch still strong. No major issues. Am thinking of replacing rear shocks.
or even the low gas light, as she thinks something will explode.
I was a gas gauge watcher when I was a young kid. I was a human "low gas light". To help me calm down my parents told me the "E" on the gauge meant "Enough".
I lost one of those metal screws when I was doing an oil change last week. I replaced it with a general purpose sheet metal screw of about the same size. Replacement worked fine but I was thinking afterwards I should have used a stainless steel screw since a normal one will rust out exposed to water, salt and whatever underneath there. I did find the missing screw a few days later on a chair where I had temporarily placed it, pointy side up of course. I found it when I sat down on it I'll swap it back next time I'm doing work underneath.
I think they are #16 in that diagram. They screw into a #18, it's like a clip with threads.
I've replaced a set with a cage nut and bolt from our datacenter. It's not stainless, but I use grease on it and it's held up for a few years without any rust.
A couple weeks ago, I was driving down the interstate and the splash shield came loose and started dragging. While searching this forum, it seems to be a common problem. Anyhow, my brother managed to secure it back on with a few screws and zip ties. However, all those plastic screws were gone.
Well, I procrastinated getting it to the dealer to get it properly (professionally) secured, and last night on the way home from work, it started raining so hard, I couldn't see the street in front of me. I ended up driving through a large puddle and it literally bent the shield backwards so that the front right side of it was scraping the pavement as I drove.
This morning, I got underneath the car and was able to bend it back enough and secure it with duct tape to stop the dragging. Later, I took it to the dealership, and their shop got flooded last night, so they were unable to lift it up to see if any other damage occurred. However, they gave me an estimate just to replace the part. They want $450 for that big chunk of plastic and $300 in labor! 5 hours of labor...when the oil change guys take it on and off in 5 minutes! The guy doing the estimate said there's a possibility it could be bent back to shape enough that all I would need would be the fasteners. I will have to take it back to them on Monday so they can get a better look at it. I'm wondering if it's even worth it. Should I just take it off? I have a feeling there will always be issues with it. Has anyone bought one somewhere else besides the dealership? I found this one online... https://www.partsgeek.com/gbproducts...ad=47584901292
Remove it. The design is poor and it attaches to other plastic pieces which allows it all to flex.
If if you don’t break it, the oil change places will.
I dont like the idea idea of salt spray getting up there, but I also look back at my previous vehicles that had no splash shields and there were no ill effects.
If we want To be logical let’s think of the worst thing we could come up with. Nasty rock hits oil pan and punctures it? Tow bill and new pan is probably less than what you were quoted. Rust maybe? But the body is under coated. Subframe rusting? Seems unlikely, look at old Honda’s still on the road. Just thinking out loud... sorry to ramble.
one other topic brought up is aero benefit and mpg. I haven’t had my splash shield the past 2 months and haven’t noticed a difference in MPG. To be more specific I’m only missing the center piece that has to be removed for oil change. The little lip/flap on the front is there and the pieces that wrap up around the sides of the motor and create the wheel wells.
I actually just reattached mine today with bumper clips from Amazon and screws I bought from Home Depot. It looks look 2 of the clips that they screw into are missing, but I figured I’d at least see if this holds.
01-22-2017, 12:11 AM
I'll swap it back next time I'm doing work underneath.
