Broken Left front drive shaft
 

Just wanted to post a heads up for those with older & high mileage Fits. I have an 2007 Honda Fit Sport which I bought new in April 2006. It has 245500 miles on it and until a year ago was my daily driver. This is now my son's car (senior in high school) and he's been driving it for about 6 months.

Just this weekend while backing out to the driveway, the Fit just stops and when put in drive or reverse the car has a loud thumping coming from the front end (but engine starts & revs just fine)but won't move. I first checked the AT fluid- ok there. Then jacked up the car and noticed the left front drive shaft was broken in two! The drive shaft that was inside the boot closest to the transmission had rusted down to a thin strip of metal. My mechanic said that over the years of driving in winter salt must have built up inside the boot to cause the corrosion on the drive shaft and finally failed. Relatively cheap fix-$350 for flat bed ride and repair.

So if you have an older Fit and live where the roads are salted you may want to check this out. We got lucky with this happening in the driveway & not on the highway.

Yowch! Great timing on the failure, glad everything stayed safe.

Yes you did get very lucky.

Glad to see the fix wasn't too expensive.

Thanks...yes we did get lucky. Just wanted to make other Fit owners aware of a possible issue lurking under the boot on the drive shaft.

Other than an alternator replaced last year, a couple of sets of coil packs and four batteries, I can't complain about the Fit...it's a great little car.

Same Scenario for me:
2007 Fit Sport bought new in March 2007, I just hit 180,000 last week. My daughter has her eyes on it for when she gets her driver's license next year.

Yesterday while preparing to turn left on a green arrow on a four lane road there was a big clunking sound then nothing. Luckily for me I only made enough forward progress to block the crosswalk, but not enough to block the intersection.
I was convinced it was a transmission problem because the car wouldn't move and the noises continued as I shifted into park. Just got a call from the dealership that the drive shaft is broken. They are saying about $800 for repair on mine.

I have had a new alternator, three coil packs, and three batteries.

I also had a bad VTEC pressure switch (code P2647) that I replaced myself a little while ago (easy to do.) Just a few days ago it started throwing a P0847 which sounds like another pressure switch, but doesn't look as easy to fix.

This should be a recall (safety issue!!) or at least TSB (to check the axle).
If it will happen to Ford, TSB and recall will follow very fast.
but Honda quality is superior so no recalls:(
I am aware about popping axles on FWD Toyota's after boot replacement because the idiots are not checking snap rings in the axle support bearings on passenger side after installing axle

Salt makes things rust. An 8 year old car has seen a lot of salt. It happens.

P0847 is some kinda auto tranny problem with a pressure switch. Threads about it are strewn across FitFreak, just search. You can replace it yourself I'm sure.

Were the constant velocity joints ever serviced and/or boots checked? Seems strange that the grease would not have prevented corrosion. Was the car washed periodically during the winter months?

I'd sure like to see pictures of where the axle was corroded. :ohnoes: As someone said, there is supposed to be CV joint grease inside the boots. I can't imaging any significant corrosion inside that environment.

Years ago, it was somewhat common to repack CV joints with fresh grease and new rubber boots every few years. Also, a torn boot was a no-no and would cause CV joint failure for sure.

But like radiator hoses, the boots have improved in quality and longevity over time. :thumbups:

My driveshaft didn't actually break under the CV boot, but right in the middle by the (anti-vibration?) rubber sleeve. Small photos uploaded as gallery here, higher resolution to imgur.

fitfreak album
imgur higher resolution photos

Wow, looks like corrosion killed it?

I'll be checking the areas near the anti-vibration sleeve on both our Hondas now. :ohnoes:

I have a 2010 Fit bought new in Canada, with 367000kms . rhs drive shaft snapped last night in an intersection. Sheered in half. Local Honda dealership said it looked like metal fatigue . Hadn't seen one before. he mentioned that the 2013 Fit driveshafts were subject to a TSB. Honda Canada has agreed to contact the dealership. ive asked them to pay for it. An inspection will not detect fatigue. Wondering if the part is sourced in China. $1030 for a new one here in sunny Toronto .

@justdriving: Glad everything worked out not too bad. Thanks for sharing that. :)

Fit driver side drive shaft broken
 

I read with great interest your comments on broken drive shaft, I have 2012 Sport 208,000 miles. I had dropped off my Fit Sport at dealer and they just called to say "we put your car into reverse and the driver side drive shaft broke." Whaaat! Now, my mind was racing because I had backed my car into a spot to why did they out in reverse plus I had been using car for highway
driving for months, pot holes and all - what did they do to brake my baby!!

So, I was glad to hear your experience (in a good way) because if it broke that easily, I could have been driving at speed and who knows what could have happened?

Interesting that it just took a low-torque movement to make it snap? I asked for part back so I can examine under microscope - what was failure.

Safe travels.

Fit Broken Pass side axle
 

Known issue from Honda. Affects the Fit and the Civic with the pass side axle that has damper. Happened to my daughters Fit on Highway @ 70mph. Its ok. I replaced it with aftermarket axle that has no damper. Call Honda of North America and they will open a case 4U. they are saying mid Feb 2021 the campaign will start to replace these POS axles.

It's now 2021. There is now a recall here in Canada. We bought our used 2009 Fit a few months ago and just received a letter in the mail. Parts and labour covered if they find issues. Salt corrosion is the issue.

Any idea if this affects the 2004 Jazz too?

This got me to check my VIN in their online tool, there are two outstanding airbag recalls only (awesome). But of course they could be just refusing to recall it in Europe even though there's a lot of salt used here and everything rusts to shit.

Got my safety recall notice from Honda yesterday for corroded drive shafts. Parts aren't yet available.

Huh. Our 2007's axle broke last winter, and we got it repaired at a local shop. Just got the recall notice. It says we may be eligible for reimbursement of the repair, but I doubt we'll be able to find the paperwork... :(