Hi, I was recently given a 2007 Fit Sport automatic with 225,000 miles. It was given to me by a friend who said they just didn't drive it enough to keep it and had mechanically maintained it well with everything done their mechanic recommended including recent new plugs, coil packs, and brakes, but they never saved receipts, so no service record. Interior is mint. Battery was dead. They didn't want to deal with it. I jump-started it and took it to Honda and got a new battery. Honda dealer tested charging system and said fine. Everything works on car except some lines of the radio display. Ran fine after that on short trips in town. Took it on a longer trip and then next day it became hard to start when cold. It would turn over and start very weakly but just die if I tried to put it in gear, until after a few tries, then it would run normally. So, I took it to a different local mechanic who has a good reputation, and I thought would be good with older Hondas, and maybe would find something the previous mechanic had missed or done incorrectly. When I started it to drive it to his shop, during this multiple cold start process, the check engine light came on. He scanned it and said the check engine light was related to the coolant temp sensor so he replaced that. Then he said the car wouldn't start at all and asked me to bring the second key since he thought the security system on the first key might be failing. He had the car for a week. Finally, he said that he initially thought a relay was bad, but when he replaced the relay, it still didn't start. So he determined something in the fuse box itself was bad and "rewired the fuse box" including some fusible links for protection in whatever his re-wiring job was, and tested the alternator and charging system.

This solution initially did not sit well with me, since it seemed kind of mysterious and I like things fixed OEM. But, I have to admit, the car ran fine last night after I picked it up, and started up perfectly and ran perfectly today. I thought maybe there was a more pronounced whining sound than I remembered, that seemed to follow the transmission shifting, but went away after a while, but I haven't really driven the car long enough to be confident I know its sounds.

I'm posting here in case anyone else has had this experience relating to the fuse box, and if people think I should look into it more or get a second opinion ? Thanks.

 

Which fuse box? under hood or inside?

My wild guess would be he bypassed immobilizer (making gas pump running all the time the ignition is on) ?

 

The under-hood fuse box looks normal; it's the under-dash one. The car ran well for about a week (although starting idle seemed higher than before) but then wouldn't start and (newish) battery seemed dead. At first I couldn't get my smart charger to even recognize the battery but after putting a higher current on it for a few minutes, the charger did recognize it and is charging it. I assume there is a drain somewhere. The mechanic is out of work with a bad back but they told me to bring it in Monday and another mechanic will look at it.

 

Sorry for late response
Thank you for posting photos!
Your mechanic had disabled immobilizer by bypassing EFI and Fuel pump relays.
I had very heated "discussion" with former Honda tech, saying that Honda immobilizer is a joke!
Your mechanic had proven that I was right.
In order to prevent your car from being stolen with master key, you need to add some extra protection as hidden switch somewhere.
Also your gas pump will be on all the time ignition is on

 

Hi, so my mechanic said there was a significant drain and he changed his wiring job. Now it looks like this. Car has been running well except for some hesitation at idle which I am guessing is more related to ignition coils than this re-wiring issue. I would appreciate any feedback on other effects this may have on car that I am unaware of. I noticed he doesn't have a fusible link in his new wiring any more.

 

He put T-tap on fuse #11 and connected the power to the output terminals of fuel pump (at the bottom) and ignition coil relay (top)
Fuse #11 (15 amp) is for immobilizer, ECU, Fuel pump
You still have gas pump on all the time ignition is on, so if you are listening to the radio with key in ON, not ACC, you will drain the battery
most likely, there is no communication between immobilizer unit and engine ECU