Hello,

I was wondering if anyone knew specific details in removing the under panel for my Fit. The manual is very vague on what is needed to remove the panel to access the oil filter and drain plug.

 

What year is your Fit, Nina?


On our GD you don't need to remove any panel.



That said, I know that the filter is covered by a plastic access cover on newer CR-Vs so if you have a newer Fit it too might be covered up.

If it has screws, make SURE you apply anti seize.

 

2015 LX, I'll browse through a CRV forum if I can't get an answer here. I wasn't aware the CRV had the under panel as well.

 

Haven't found the answer to this question. Do your cover screws look like this?
Splash Shield bolts (Gen 4)

Honda is doing all it can to improve aero under the cars.

 

I sooner say they don't want you working on your own car, so they try to make everything as difficult to access as possible.

 

This video kind of shows you how, but I'm not sure if the voice-over or the writing is accurate about the 2 plastic fasteners. It says the shroud has 6 metal screws and 2 plastic screws. It looks like the metal screws screw into friction clips that are attached to other panels. Not sure what this common type of clip is called. I'm not sure at all what is going on with the plastic screws, or if they are really screws - they may be friction-retained push pins. They do seem to have phillips heads. Does anyone know how to remove them and install them properly? Plastic retaining pins are typically rather "delicate," but once you know how to remove and install them properly (and remember how from oil change to oil change) you should be able to remove them and install them without damaging them. Good luck if you bring the car to a fast-lube place. They will probably just break the things, and then put them back in with crazy glue (so that it looks like they are there, but so that they aren't actually functioning as fasteners), or just throw them away. Probably you can get new ones from a Honda Dealership at about 5 times the cost of an ordinary self-tapping screw. You can see imagery of the screws from around 2:10 to 4:00. The "plastic screws" are 2-part or 3-part contraptions. You can see the outer, female parts, retained in the oil-change shroud, at around 3:33. Does one of the outer, female parts expand when the screw is turned? If it does, is there an unthreaded hole in the piece of shroud that the oil-change shroud attaches to that the outer, female part fits into, and does the outer, female part expand inside this unthreaded hole, thus attaching the fastener to the piece with the hole?

 

Screw-in push pins are typically used in situations where repeated removal and installation is required. (So, that explains why Honda used them on that lower engine shroud.) They allow for expansion and contraction of the plastic shroud.



The proper way to release them is to unscrew them 1/4 to 1/2 inch, then pull the entire clip out of the receptacle hole. No need to take the screw entirely out.

To reinstall, push the 'body' of the clip in, then tighten the screw UNTIL YOU JUST START TO FEEL INCREASED RESISTANCE.




That said, an owner would be well-advised to have replacements on hand before doing the oil change. (Murphy's Law... if you don't have a replacement, you will break one!) You can get 'em on Fleabay or an autoparts store for cheap, just measure the size and depth.

 

Thanks Carbuff2.

Am I correct in thinking that the piece of shroud the oil-change shroud attaches to, has unthreaded holes in it, and that the outer part of the pushpin goes into the hole, and then when you tighten the screw this outer piece expands, thus holding the fastener in the hole, so that it won't (easily) pull out of the hole?

The difficulty with unfamiliar types of fasteners is that you can't see how they work until after you remove them, and you can't figure out how to remove them until after you see how they work.

Also, there is a confusing contracdiction of terms going on here. A pushpin pushes in and fastens things together by being pushed in. A screw-in fastener screws in and fastens things together by being screwed in. You may push it in slightly to start it, but it is screwing it in that holds everything together. The device in question should not be called a pushpin because it is does not hold things together by being pushed in, it holds things together when you turn the screw. I would call it a screw with a captive expansion anchor. It is a bit like an expanding wall-anchor for gypsum wallboard, is it not? No threaded nut is used. The expanding part anchors it in an unthreaded hole. Have I described it correctly. I can't really be sure until I see it in operation. Just looking at a still photograph of it, I can't be sure how it works.

Can you reach behind the shroud and hold a nut in place while you thread a machine screw into the nut? Or even simpler, could you use some kind of adhesive to attach a nut to the shroud, and screw a machine screw into the nut. However don't know what kind of adhesive would stick a metal nut to the shroud.

 

Yes, and you can see that in the video.

HeeHee, that's the way I learned!

Again, you can see in that video that as the screw threads in, the inner part of the fastener expands, thus holding the pieces together. (The number of 'layers' varies with application, and that is why there are different depths of fastener.)

Your terms are more accurate. I just call them the "Stupid Clip Thingies", LOL.

As I don't have a 2015, I can't answer that question. The possibility of corrosion needs to be taken into account. Also, the expansion and contraction of whatever those clips are holding is important. I'm sure Honda also took assembly time into account (yes, it can virtually slapped into place!).

So, a nut & bolt is probably not the best solution. Just buy a few replacement "screws with captive expansion anchors" and rest easy.

 

Carbuff2, no, I couldn't see anything in the video about how the outer piece expands. The author does not show the oil-area shroud being replaced, beyond hooking in the front portion. I can see the holes in the oil-area shroud, but the portion of the fastener that is still inside the holes is obscuring my view of the inner surface of the holes. By the way I'm viewing at 1080p. In regard to the shroud piece that is still on the car, that the fasteners attach the oil-area shroud to (if that is indeed what the oil-area shroud is attached to, it could possibly be attached to some part of the engine, transaxle, or frame) - that is not shown at all as far as I can see. And again, I have not seen the fasteners expanding as the screw is turned; the process of turning the screw is not shown. I just guessed, by looking at them, that the might expand. I haven't actually seen them expand.

It is possible to get ordinary machine screws and nuts made out of plastic resin but I wouldn't worry about corrosion of metal fasteners. I'd be more worried about freezing together of nylon or polypropylene fasteners than corrosion of metal fasteners. A drop of Locktite on the metal screw threads would prevent corrosion where the screw is inside the nut. For the portion of the screw that extends beyond the nut - let's assume that oil won't be dripping on it and protecting it, and that the shroud is being removed so infrequently that corrosion has time to develop severely enough to make removal of the fasteners difficult. Not likely, but to prevent corrosion on that portion of the screw that extends past the nut, one could use a cap nut instead of a nut that is open at both ends.

Should the plastic resin shrouding expand due to heat, more than a metal screw expands, the unthreaded hole in the shroud will get a bit bigger, I think. I think it is unlikely but theoreticall a metal screw might then fall out of the hole if the head of the screw or the nut is not a lot bigger than the threaded shank. That problem can easily be solved by using a screw-head with a large diameter, a nut with a large outside diameter, or a flat washer with a large outside diameter, on each side of the holes in the 2 pieces of shrouding being held together.

 

At 3:52 in the vid the creator points right at the base portion of the connector base. The four little fingers could be pulled out easily because the screw has been removed.

The base does not expand that much, it is not like a moly-bolt for drywall.

BTW if you can't sleep at night, using a rawlnut anchor with a stainless shoulder screw (to prevent the hardware from totally tightening and binding the shroud) might be a good answer for you.



Here's a webpage showing rawlnuts and NEW screw anchors (they call them Scrivets)

Fasteners : Elise Shop, Performance parts for your Lotus Elise




Hope this helps.

 

Yes I had seen the image at 3:52 of the fastener pieces in the holes in the oil change shroud. With 6 little fingers or 6 little somethings. But I wasn't able to see the holes well enough to see if they were threaded or not. And I wasn't able to see the fingers in action. They were just sitting there. I had no way of telling how they expand, or even if they expand, from just looking at them sitting there.

I can't tell how the rawlnuts or the scrivits work from looking at still photographs of them. Or what the one has to do with the other. Also, I don't understand why you emphasised the word NEW.

I have still not seen what the fasteners fasten the oil change shroud to. All I have seen is still pictures of the oil change shroud, with the 2 holes in them, and the fasteners in the holes. It is hard to tell how a fastener works unless you have seen each of the 2 or more things that need to be fastened together.

 

With the screw 'out' 1/2 to 1/4 inch, the fingers (or split piece in the pic I posted) can move inward, allowing the anchor to be inserted into the hole.

When the screw is tightened, though, material on the inside is held outward, preventing the anchor from coming out.

That's the function of the 'fingers' on the video. They can't squeeze inward when the screw is tight.