We picked up a 2007 Fit from my father in law down in Texas. We're using it for the winter with some possibility to buy. Our other car gets garaged in the winter. Wasn't sure I had a photo, but I do. It's an interesting one, lol.



So, there it is. Pretty good on the outside. It got new plugs before we got it. It has generic (junk?) coils on it for now. I'll watch for loosening plugs. Number two seems a little funny. There's a few other things for maintenance it needs.

I read a DIY guide from here about valve lash. It seems straightforward, have to take the manifold off. This Fit has about 145k miles on it. Think the valve cover gasket will still be reusable? Bent feelers save the knuckles apparently, so I'll pick up some of those.

Another request was that I change the trans fluid and filter. I could use a link or some pointers on it. I'm also interested to know what the model of the Auto trans is. It's a base. I keep seeing listings for an "SMMS" or similar, is that correct? The reason is that there's a shift improver kit online for it. It comes with drill bits, which seems awful shady. Maybe someone has some experience with the kit? I'm familiar with accumulator modifications, but drilling the valve body seems extremely risky.

It needs tie rods ends. Ordered some MOOG problem solvers. The suspension has more yaw travel than either of us are comfortable with. Are there any upgraded (maybe adjustable like AGX) struts available? How about poly bushings front and back? What's a good quality shock that's not too harsh for our 3 year old in the back? I'd like firm, but our other car feels every pebble. Maybe not that. BC coilovers are just too much money also.

I noticed the Wix oil filter I bought was taller than the one on it (both made in USA), is there an even taller one available? The capacity would be nice.

That's it for now. Thanks!

 

In order of your questions:
1. I very much doubt the valve cover gasket will be reusable. Even if it comes off in one piece, it's going to be hard and not seal as well once disturbed.

2. Obviously you can do what you want, but I wouldn't play around with any shift improver kit - it's a fun reliable economy car, not a dragster.

3. There are most definitely aftermarket struts available. Check out some of the builds on these very forums.

4. Why add oil capacity? I can see if you're burning a ton of oil and want an extra margin of safety, but otherwise I don't understand why you'd want to add oil capacity without any particular reason for doing so.

 

Adjustable ride comfort suspension you say? Tokico HTS *shameless plug*.

 

I agree with Jared above except, the valve cover gasket is reusable. It's not a standard gasket, it's metal with rubber impregnated. I've done our valves 3 times now and reused the gasket every time. Motor is tight as a drum. Not even seepage. You will just need a small dab of gray RTV.

There are actually very few shock/strut upgrades available for the GD now. Sad, but tons of cool stuff is no longer available. KYB's are a decent factory type replacement. Outside of those, you have the HTS mentioned above. They are getting hard to find though from my understanding.

 

Also, I would not worry about adding oil volume or about modifying the transmission valve body.

These cars are pretty darn well engineered from the factory and just need good ole Honda fluids and parts. Use Honda transmission fluid, Honda oil filter, and quality motor oil of your desired flavor and all will work well.

This is coming from a guy who doesn't hesitate to drill holes in valve bodies or mod the heck out of a car. Last valve body job I did, the wife even helped by holding the pan while I got the last bolt out.

 

Ok, cool. Thanks for the input everyone. The shift kit.. I run one on my other car, but it's not race parts or anything. Just firms up the shifts by adding a couple springs and stuff to the accumulator. Thought maybe lower shift times = longer trans life, but it will stay as is upon suggestion. There's nothing wrong with it that I can tell.

The added capacity was probably only like a 1/2 cup over the original filter. A little more clean oil in the system never hurts.

Look forward to hanging around. I'll check out those builds and keep looking for suspension.

Thanks again!

 

This post might be a little scatter brained due to not being fully awake yet.

Have you considered replacing the struts and shocks with say KYBs or Tokico Blues as well as adding a Progress auto rear sway bar? Both are close to that of stock, maybe slight improvement and the Progress bar is a 22mm brace stiffens up the rear beam which also reduces body roll a little.

I've always replaced mine out of habit (not saying that everyone has to, just my habit). Seen too many valve cover gaskets mold/grow into valve covers after YEARS of staying in place and have to dig them out with pick tools.

I'd recommend having a valve cover gasket set on hand the first valve adjustment. Then replace at their discretion afterwards.

As for shocks, there are indeed 2 Tokico options (the Blue and HTS/Red) as well as 1 KYB option the last time I checked. If they're going with HTSs then they almost might as well get coilovers at that point since the set of dampers with the valving adjustment tool is around the 1200 USD range now. -.-

Honda transmissions are pretty finicky. I wouldn't advise trying this shift kit unless you have or are willing to potentially loose that transmission and swap another one in.

From what I've seen the Honda's ATF DW1 tends to have a softer/smoother shifts than the ATF Z1 (which had a higher viscosity at operating temp) that was the factory fill and replacement for these cars until 2009/2010. I've swapped to AmSoil's Signature Series ATF (I believe it was, similar specs to ATF Z1) and noticed firmer shifts.

Maybe give this a try first?

 

That is good advice. The thing that I am forgetting is that the valve cover may have not been off in 10+ years. With ours coming apart every couple years, it's still in good shape. The rubber still springs back and it just lifts right off the head with no force. Could be very different with one that has spent 10 years being compressed.

The gasket looks to be under $10 from hondapartsnow.com

 

Alright, I'll pick up a gasket set before I do that job. A couple things changed. We do own it now. I trust OEM on my other car. I'll keep with that in the Fit.

I had a chance to talk to someone that's had a few Honda's, and they concur. The transmission doesn't like to be touched. 2-3 and above feel a bit soft to me, so perhaps the fluid viscosity change will help.

There's a 22mm rear bar for this thing?! Could you pass me a part number for it? I'm probably going to stick with OEM shocks and stuts just because I hope they last longer.

Thanks

 

https://www.progressauto.com/product.../productID/445

Not sure if still in production but here is the link. Progress used to also make lowering springs for this generation Fit as well... Not sure if they still do or not BUT they ARE softer than stock and actually make me car sick because of it. haha

I kind of doubt that you would want to lower it BUT if you do, Swift springs are usually the go to due to being designed for the stock dampers. Tanabe GF210s are a good alternative to the Swifts, a little softer than the Swifts yet not as soft as stock but comfortable.

 

I did my first ever valve job, on my 08 Fit, this past Summer. And second ever valve job, a month later, cuz I wasn't happy with the first adjust. First time changing plugs, coils too, same time. No problem reusing gasket twice. It's sturdy. But it wouldn't hurt to have a replacement on hand. Yah, the DIY valve adjust on here is very very good.