Constant speed "stutter"

[Texas Coyote]

Thank you sir. I feel honored to have a post recognized by a man as knowledgeable as yourself. Thank you

[B.Terry]

I found your thread today and we have been having the same problems with our fit for about 6 months. In May we had 2 coil packs replaced and over Father's day a 3rd pack blew. We got our car back from the dealer 8 days ago and we are having the same stuttering problems again. We have replaced the spark plugs twice in 4 months as well. I called American Honda asked if others were reporting problems and they said "no". I registered my issue but that was the best they could do for me. Does anyone have any suggestions? Our fit has 82,000 miles and is a daily commuter. Typically, we put 62 miles a day on it. The last time it was in the shop it took them 4 days to repair due to having to order the coil pack. I guess we could replace the 4th coil pack but I really think it is something else.

[macbuddy]

Originally Posted by B.Terry

I found your thread today and we have been having the same problems with our fit for about 6 months. In May we had 2 coil packs replaced and over Father's day a 3rd pack blew. We got our car back from the dealer 8 days ago and we are having the same stuttering problems again. We have replaced the spark plugs twice in 4 months as well. I called American Honda asked if others were reporting problems and they said "no". I registered my issue but that was the best they could do for me. Does anyone have any suggestions? Our fit has 82,000 miles and is a daily commuter. Typically, we put 62 miles a day on it. The last time it was in the shop it took them 4 days to repair due to having to order the coil pack. I guess we could replace the 4th coil pack but I really think it is something else.

B. Terry,
I had a similar symptoms as described in this thread. I too tried changing spark plugs, with no lasting cure. After a lot of persistence, I was able to finally get my car running back to normal.
Here are two ideas you might want to try. The first idea is free. Try gapping your plugs at less than OEM spec. I re-gapped mine at .035" and my car has been running great since.
Secondly, have you ever run the oil level passed minimum? If so, maybe your vtec solenoid is acting up or damaged. I replaced mine (~$150) and regained the performance that I had lost.
Anyway, try the spark plug re-gap first, and let me know if that helps. I am curious because I performed the vtec replacement prior to the spark plug re-gap. I am wondering if I really needed to replace the vtec solenoid.
-macbuddy-

[mahout]

Originally Posted by B.Terry

I found your thread today and we have been having the same problems with our fit for about 6 months. In May we had 2 coil packs replaced and over Father's day a 3rd pack blew. We got our car back from the dealer 8 days ago and we are having the same stuttering problems again. We have replaced the spark plugs twice in 4 months as well. I called American Honda asked if others were reporting problems and they said "no". I registered my issue but that was the best they could do for me. Does anyone have any suggestions? Our fit has 82,000 miles and is a daily commuter. Typically, we put 62 miles a day on it. The last time it was in the shop it took them 4 days to repair due to having to order the coil pack. I guess we could replace the 4th coil pack but I really think it is something else.

Do you know if the dealer 'restrung' the ECU? There are residual error codes that could cause further 'stuttering. And yes it very well could be that all 4 coil packs have gone bad and you're finding them one at a time.

[lugies]

Turns out that it was not just one coil pack, but several. I bought one to start with and noticed an improvement by replacing the second coil pack. So I ordered all new coils from Bernardiparts.com. It saved me at least $100 to buy them online. Once I replaced the coil packs, all my problems were gone. I also took my Fit today to autozone so they could read the codes and it turns out that I had random misfires on all four cylinders Why the dealership could not have checked the computer is beyond me. Anyways, anybody with the same shuttering problem I described earlier in the forum should definitly get their coil packs replaced. My fit has about 80,000 miles by the way.

[dsmwookie]

It has been mentioned several times, why are their no specifications on the coil resistance?

Why replace any parts if they are not the right one? Just because you put a new coil doesn't mean it fixed the problem just possibly masked it. Your coils can be tested one at a time and if they are within range they are not the problem. More often than not they are going bad from mileage and weather changes have a large affect on resistance.

So who has a shop manual with the specs so we can accurately test this problem rather than speculate?

Koolkev please no more advice your just swapping parts and guessing.

[Texas Coyote]

The problem with detecting a bad coil that only acts up at times is that there is only a small break in the winding that only separates under certain conditions.... There is only going to be a change in resistance under the same conditions.

[Fitguy07]

I have an 07 and having similar issues although I'm not 100% sure I'm experiencing the same thing. There will be days where it's hardly noticeable and other days it come and goes the whole way home. Mine is more of a vibration in the steering wheel. Like, it will be super smooth for a minute then vibrate for a couple seconds. I've had it since I've owned the car in April. They tried rebalancing the wheels and that didn't help. I've ran injector cleaner though that didn't help. I use regular and premium with no difference. Only at constant speed above 50MPH I'd say though. It's fine below that and when stopped, I notice nothing at all. Maybe I have the same thing, maybe I don't. I'm covered until 100K. Whatever it is, I hope it shows it's face.

[dsmwookie]

Texas you can still test it to see if the resistanbce levels are close to the service limits. For reference I still replaced my plugs today since they were at 70,000 miles and was a more likely suspect. The plugs upon examination looked to have fair carbon build up. All in all before we start buying parts to fix random problems try solving it the right way and grab a service manual.

[Texas Coyote]

Process of elimination saves money and time.... Platinum and iridium plugs last a long time and 70,000 miles is a lot of miles. I had a set of IK20 Denso plugs foul in about a minute when a vacuum line gave me some problems after a rat ate it.... If something is wrong they play out quickly.

[lugies]

Originally Posted by dsmwookie

It has been mentioned several times, why are their no specifications on the coil resistance?

Why replace any parts if they are not the right one? Just because you put a new coil doesn't mean it fixed the problem just possibly masked it. Your coils can be tested one at a time and if they are within range they are not the problem. More often than not they are going bad from mileage and weather changes have a large affect on resistance.

So who has a shop manual with the specs so we can accurately test this problem rather than speculate?

Koolkev please no more advice your just swapping parts and guessing.

If I knew how to do that and had any idea how then I would have. Nevertheless, the changing the coil packs stoped the shuttering. I just took it on a trip from Arkansas to New York and back and didn't have a single problem. I even got good gas mileage again, up to 40 mpg at times

[docjim2]

Originally Posted by B.Terry

I found your thread today and we have been having the same problems with our fit for about 6 months. In May we had 2 coil packs replaced and over Father's day a 3rd pack blew. We got our car back from the dealer 8 days ago and we are having the same stuttering problems again. We have replaced the spark plugs twice in 4 months as well. I called American Honda asked if others were reporting problems and they said "no". I registered my issue but that was the best they could do for me. Does anyone have any suggestions? Our fit has 82,000 miles and is a daily commuter. Typically, we put 62 miles a day on it. The last time it was in the shop it took them 4 days to repair due to having to order the coil pack. I guess we could replace the 4th coil pack but I really think it is something else.

They are stonewalling on this problem. Last year I spent some time on the phone with America Honda and they took down all information. Yes, they have been hearing a lot of complaints but why they don't admit to them is anyone's guess.
Keep the heat up all!

[Texas Coyote]

Originally Posted by dsmwookie

Texas you can still test it to see if the resistanbce levels are close to the service limits. For reference I still replaced my plugs today since they were at 70,000 miles and was a more likely suspect. The plugs upon examination looked to have fair carbon build up. All in all before we start buying parts to fix random problems try solving it the right way and grab a service manual.

There will not be a difference in resistance if the coil only acts up at a certain vibration frequency, intensity and or temperature.... If a coil stops working altogether you can easily detect the problem with an ohm meter.... A code reader can detect which cylinders are misfiring.

[Jisch]

Since I started this thread, I thought it only right to publish my "fix". I have had my Fit into the dealership 5 or 6 times for this problem. The service managers have felt the problem a couple of times, but its so intermittent its really hard to determine if the fixes (valve timing adjustments, injector cleaning, loose connectors) really did anything.

We have three drivers and two cars in my family, so it was really difficult to give them the car for more than a day each time - though my son just went to college which gave us a bit more flexibility. EVERY time I brought the car down there I mentioned this site and the reported fixes by replacing coil packs. The service managers never took it seriously. They supposedly checked with Honda and couldn't find any references to bad coil packs, they rolled their eyes and reminded me how unreliable information on the internet is. I tried to reason with them and at least get them to consider it might be a coil pack at issue.

So this time I printed out the success stories from this thread and sent my wife down to "reason" with them. She scheduled a test drive with a service manager, they didn't even get the car out of park before the first hiccup. They took the car in hooked it up to a diagnostic computer and saw misfires on two cylinders (this has been seen several times before). They moved coil packs and the misfires moved with the packs. They replaced two of the four coil packs. I've only had one short ride home from the dealership, but the car is running smoother (or maybe I'm imagining that). Time will tell if its resolved.

The good news is that they replaced them for free despite the fact that my car is at 70,000 miles - well beyond the warranty. Personally I think that's only fair considering they have been chasing this problem since before the warranty expired.

John

[mahout]

Originally Posted by Jisch

Since I started this thread, I thought it only right to publish my "fix". I have had my Fit into the dealership 5 or 6 times for this problem. The service managers have felt the problem a couple of times, but its so intermittent its really hard to determine if the fixes (valve timing adjustments, injector cleaning, loose connectors) really did anything.

We have three drivers and two cars in my family, so it was really difficult to give them the car for more than a day each time - though my son just went to college which gave us a bit more flexibility. EVERY time I brought the car down there I mentioned this site and the reported fixes by replacing coil packs. The service managers never took it seriously. They supposedly checked with Honda and couldn't find any references to bad coil packs, they rolled their eyes and reminded me how unreliable information on the internet is. I tried to reason with them and at least get them to consider it might be a coil pack at issue.

So this time I printed out the success stories from this thread and sent my wife down to "reason" with them. She scheduled a test drive with a service manager, they didn't even get the car out of park before the first hiccup. They took the car in hooked it up to a diagnostic computer and saw misfires on two cylinders (this has been seen several times before). They moved coil packs and the misfires moved with the packs. They replaced two of the four coil packs. I've only had one short ride home from the dealership, but the car is running smoother (or maybe I'm imagining that). Time will tell if its resolved.

The good news is that they replaced them for free despite the fact that my car is at 70,000 miles - well beyond the warranty. Personally I think that's only fair considering they have been chasing this problem since before the warranty expired.

John

Good story and solution by the dealer. Everyone with a Fit over 50k ought to be aware. And those under, too.
Its in our reference file.

[docjim2]

I finally changed my battery:> 50k. So I also put the old OEM intake with the replacement K&N filter back on. I also let the car idle for a while; no push this, put the key in on and do such and such. Just let it idle for a while...
It has been 3 weeks before our 'stutter' reappeared. And it is more pronounced with the A/C on. I wonder why. It will be a month or two before I can take any time off to go in to the dealer. Remember that any 'warranty work' is a Monday thru Friday deal with Monday and Friday not recommended.

[docjim2]

Originally Posted by B.Terry

I found your thread today and we have been having the same problems with our fit for about 6 months. In May we had 2 coil packs replaced and over Father's day a 3rd pack blew. We got our car back from the dealer 8 days ago and we are having the same stuttering problems again. We have replaced the spark plugs twice in 4 months as well. I called American Honda asked if others were reporting problems and they said "no". I registered my issue but that was the best they could do for me. Does anyone have any suggestions? Our fit has 82,000 miles and is a daily commuter. Typically, we put 62 miles a day on it. The last time it was in the shop it took them 4 days to repair due to having to order the coil pack. I guess we could replace the 4th coil pack but I really think it is something else.

Does it get a bit expensive replacing plugs and coil packs again and again?! In my case I did a kind of a idle re-learn and it worked for about 3 weeks. Maybe we may have something as simple as an ECU or other kind of chip bad in the computer?

[Jisch]

Its been 2 weeks since they replaced the two coil packs and I am still stutter free. It could be a temporary fix, but this is the longest I've been without the stutter in probably 2 years.

John

[Rob22315]

Originally Posted by B.Terry

I guess we could replace the 4th coil pack but I really think it is something else.

Replace the 4th pack so we can be sure before we start digging into other components without any additional clues.

[Jisch]

Driving down the highway tonight, cruise control set to 65mph and felt three bumps. Bummer.

John