Repair trans/mount trouble in a senior Fit?
 

Hello all - I’m the 15-year owner of a 2007 Fit Sport (original engine & auto trans, 338,000 miles). I’m starting to sometimes hear a clunk when I’m parked (on level ground) and shift into reverse; also (less often) when shifting into drive, and occasionally during up/downshifts between 1st & 2nd. The noise is less frequent/loud when first driving, more noticeable after the car is hot. Last winter (Northeast U.S.), the trouble practically stopped altogether.

With the car’s age & high miles, I’m hoping to delay/avoid gambling on major repair work. Seeing some posts suggesting motor mounts might be the cause, I checked the engine while shifting. Going into reverse from park, the engine does pivot toward the front of the car (as if rotating around the axle line) - shifting back into park, it adjusts to its original position. The opposite happens shifting into drive; the engine pivots toward the rear of the car; righting itself when back in park. Regarding the trans, my service records show fluid drain/fill changes, but I don’t think any were machine “power flushes”. I changed the fluid at 331K, hoping this would help, with no change. Though noisier these days, the engine’s showing no performance trouble or burning oil; the car’s in good shape otherwise.

I’d like to keep the car as a backup/in-town driver as long as possible, but realize the engine & trans have well outlived typical service lives. I’m leery of making a costly trans repair, only to have the engine fail after that. I’d appreciate your advice; regarding what a shop should check/try before recommending a trans rebuild/replace, and how much you’d invest to repair an old (but still zippy) Fit like mine.

Thanks for reading,
Greg

From your description it sounds like your motor and/or trans mounts are worn, which is to be expected given your mileage. Nothing you described suggests a transmission problem to me. A mechanic should be able to confirm the bad mounts and proper functioning of the transmission for you.

If you've owned the car for 15 years you know how it's been driven and if all maintenance has been done in a timely fashion. If you've treated the Fit right (sounds like it if it doesn't use any oil) then I wouldn't say that the motor and trans have outlived their usefulness.

When you say the engine is noisy, what do you mean? Have you adjusted the valves clearances recently? If not, that might fix the noise. Get some new mounts if they're confirmed to be bad and you could be (nearly) as good as new.

Drew, thanks for your feedback! Yes, knowing my car's history & maintenance is a plus for continued investment. The engine isn't making any particularly unusual noise, just a bit louder/rougher. I think. Funny you mention the valves... I had them adjusted once, many miles ago. When I switched to my last mechanic in the Northeast U.S., I gave them a marked up list of things from the Honda manual - asking which would be prudent preventive maintenance. They said none of them were needed at that time; they came highly recommended and provided great service for several years, so that was that. Before moving out of the region, I asked again about the valves - an adjust was the one item that "my gut" said might make sense. The mechanic said that at this age/mileage, digging into things might lead to other trouble; best to leave as is. When I check with a new mechanic about the mounts, I'll ask about the valve adjust too. Thanks again!

The mount near the drive belt tends to break apart; you need to remove mount safety bracket to see the damage . This mount is obsolete now and hard to find.

Hey Greg! I’ve got a quarter million mile auto fit, and I had this same issue right before I began my search for a new transmission lol. What happened in my case is that I had bad motor mounts, and the rocking of my engine in turn caused my drivers side CV axle to grind at the housing where it connected to the transmission. I noticed this from some clunky sounds beginning and a leak of my transmission fluid. I drove on it for maybe two more days after hearing the noises because I didn’t have much of a choice, and now my transmission is all eaten up where the CV mounts. So, my advice, get motor mounts asap as well as check to see if there is any slop in your CV

Thanks for the tip, doctor J!

Aiken, thanks for your advice!

I saw one on PYP yard with motor mount replaced but definitely not recent replacement (I could say 3 years ago at least)