Hi all,

Favor please. I use to have a husband who handled the car stuff and now I don't and no one(mechanic)I know or trust to go to. I'm hoping you can help me suggestion wise so I'm not a target at the mechanics.

Here it goes..I have an 07 sport with about 55k. I'm lowered with Meagan springs(previous Skunks2's)on KYB struts and shocks(previous OEM)/205/45ZR-16 BF GOODRICH G-FORCE COMP-2 A/S XL tires(tires for past 2yrs now). I also have front and rear strut bars.

Issues I need your help with please:
*Car is eating gas lately. Use to get better than the 200miles per tank.
*Tires were rotated not long ago and now I have a deafening echoing in the car that's driving me mad
*Sluggish. P/up is for the birds.
*Tapping/ticking noise from engine area
*Headlights flicker(supposedly, Honda says this is normal). Very distracting.
*Car feels as if I'm tilting when making turns. Doesn't feel level or stable.

My car use to feel stiff and tight. Now, not so much. Are there inexpensive solutions to my problems? I don't have money for high ticket items(divorce killed me financially).

Thanks for any help, I really appreciate it.

-Cat

 

Hi Cat!

First, I have to say that your best bet is to hit up whichever forum is local for you and see if you can meet up with another FitFreak. Maybe find a female or a couple for safety reasons.

As you know, there are a lot of knowledgeable people around here that are passionate about cars. Maybe someone local can help better than I can through a keyboard.

Here's my $.02 to try to help though...

I believe your fuel mileage, sluggish pick up, and tapping/ticking noise could all be due to one thing...loose spark plug. It's a very common and known problem with the L15 motor. Plugs loosen over time and then you hear the combustion. Get it checked very, very soon or it could blow the plug out of the head and cause much more serious problems.

Deafening sound and instability are also likely related. We are also on performance 205/45-16's. Fit's from the factory chew the inside of the rear tires. It's a factory alignment issue due to the rear beam being bent. The wider the tire and less offset you run (guessing your wheels are less offset than factory), the worse the tires will be chewed on the inside. A tire rotation that rotates the chewed rear tires to the front results in unbelievably loud noise. This noise and unevenly worn tires in the front can combine to give the car an unstable feeling. Buy new tires and find a local shop that will use shims in the rear to permanently fix the factory alignment issue.

Flickering headlights are somewhat normal for these cars. If it's really bad, you may be buying a new battery shortly. They seem to get worse when the battery gets closer to the end. If you have a cheap aftermarket battery, that also makes the flickering worse.

In short, get the spark plugs checked immediately, buy new tires/get an alignment, and prepare for a new battery.

Good luck!!!

 

Check engine light on? Got codes? Misfires? (coil packs)
Check air filter?



Sounds like Choppy tread, usually hapens to the inboard edges on the rear tires first (except you don't have stock suspension, that might make a difference).....Typically the tires wear choppy on the rear, then they get moved to the front where the issue is much more noticeable and generates complaints.

I'd ask them to undo the tire rotation, but criss cross them in the X pattern instead of moving them straight front to rear like usual.

That way the noisy tires go back to the rear, and hopefully the X pattern will help slow the chopping.

Assuming it's choppy tread: The only way to really get rid of it entirely is to replace the tires and try to pick a brand and tread pattern that might be less prone to the problem.
On the next set of tires, have them rotated religiously and more frequently than you did with this set of tires.

Related to the choppy tire issue?
Low tire pressures?

Loose or worn suspension parts? Swaybar/link problems? Does it clunk?
Whomever had the car in the air last should have given it a "shakedown" of the suspension

Put the stock suspension parts back on?

Check the oil level!
Got video of the noises? Injector noise is normal.

Slight changes in brightness while driving can be typical depending on other power consumers turning on and off (like the AC system and defrost) and driving conditions.....but it should not have a rapid pulsation like once every second




Professional evaluation might be needed for some of these issues if you can't DIY all of them.

 

Sorry, I can't help too much...

"Here it goes..I have an 07 sport with about 55k. I'm lowered with Meagan springs(previous Skunks2's)on KYB struts and shocks(previous OEM)/205/45ZR-16 BF GOODRICH G-FORCE COMP-2 A/S XL tires(tires for past 2yrs now). I also have front and rear strut bars. "

The fact that you know this about your own car, and can throw that information out, knowing what it all means, reveals you know more about your car than I could speculate.
Sudden drop in gas mileage, and your feeling of instability, I think where I would start would be having the suspension/tires checked.
Good Luck.

 

^^^ For sure...

BTW, WELCOME. BEST color!

Inquire in one of the Local Group areas of the Forum, or pick out a local Honda repair specialist..one who has a lot of Hondas in their lot.

 

Make sure they are aware of the idiosyncrasies of the Fit. Even dealers have been known to replace coil after coil when the real problem just requires tightening a spark plug.

 

Or a valve adjustment......

 

Not likely at 55k miles, but you never know.

Hope the OP chimes back in to let us know something. I'm always amazed at how many of these kinds of posts we get with zero follow up.

 

Smell of gas at startup is an indicator for a loose spark plug. If you have that, it might explain both the drop in MPG and the sluggish acceleration. It could also be due for a valve adjustment, we like every 60K on the Fit. The typical scenario is tight exhaust valves, which decrease power but don't necessarily rob you of too much MPG, so that's just a maybe.

Tilting during turns makes me suspect suspension issues, particularly the front. Since you've gone aftermarket, it's hard to pin down a specific component. I agree with ezone's suggestion to put the stock suspension back on, because it won't cost you anything beyond labor if you have someone else do it. Then you'll have a baseline to compare with and can proceed from there.