At your next oil change bring a camera with you and take a picture of the axles when it's on the pit.
Most will let you do that.

 

Took my 2010 Fit Sport Automatic 140,900 miles Tidewater Blue Metallic in today for the drive axle recall. Causeway Honda in Manahawkin, New Jersey.

First time my car has been back to the dealer since I bought it new in October 2009. Like some others on this forum, I don't like taking me car to the dealer, because you never know what kind of service you will get. Been following this thread and seeing that people have had the axle snap on them while driving. I know axles don't last forever anyway (usually the joints get worn), so I figured I'd take it in, as I would have to do it sooner or later anyway. I looked up the prices for the axle assembly on Benardi Honda's site: about $800 for each axle!!! I figured that would be about two grand at the dealer for parts and labor.

Yesterday I photos of both axles, here they are. I compared my axles to the photos in Honda's TSB, and figured that both would be eligible for replacement. I also took photos of my dashboard to show that there were no warning lights or CEL's on. Then I ran my OBD scanner and photoed that to show there were no codes. I just wanted a record of how the car was running before I took it in.

My appointment was for 1 pm; got there a little early and checked in, no problem. Went out to the showroom (basically no new cars on the lot because of the chip shortage), and a few minutes later the woman came out and told me I had three other recalls on the Fit (driver air bag, passenger air bag, and motion spring). I knew that beforehand, but was hoping they wouldn't bring it up, especially the air bags. I had read somewhere that a guy brought his Fit in for the axles and they said the dealer wouldn't release the car without doing the airbags, so I was kind of ready for that. I really didn't want to do the airbags due to some of the stuff I read about the dealers messing up the dashboard. I tried saying I'll schedule the airbags for next week, but they didn't go along with that. I sort of see their point: if the airbags went off after I left the dealer, I could probably sue them or something for letting me have an unsafe car back. So I gave it up and said to replace the bags.

About 15 minutes later, the tech that was going to do the work came out and I talked to him a bit. Asked if he would mind if I stood outside the bay and watched him work. Not that I was trying to see if he was screwing up, but because I just wanted to see the work. He said that was fine, so that was a good sign.

He did the driver's side airbag while the car was on the ground. Took about 15 minutes. They didn't have the passenger side in stock, so that side wasn't done. Fit went up on the lift (wish I had one), and he took the driver's side axle off first, then the passenger side. He brought over the axles so I could take a look at them; pretty interesting to look at when you can just hold them in your hand. The boots were in good shape, and the joints still turned nice and smoothly. Took a close look at the splines on each end; they looked in good shape also. Took pics of the old ones, will post another time. He then took the new ones out of the box; very nice!!!!!! I then walked away to wash the grease and dirt off my hands from the old axles, and when I got back about 10 minutes later, the car was back off the lift and ready. I told him "Man, that was fast!" He said he had done a lot of them in the last few months, and a white Fit an hour or two earlier that was in the bay next to my Fit. He took it for a spin. I asked him about the airbag and he showed me the old part. Crazy how a relatively small part like that could drive Takata into bankruptcy. He said that the passenger side airbag would be in tomorrow, but I'll do it next week instead. Bit surprised that they let my take the car without both bags being done, after what the woman told me earlier. It's fine by me though. He told me more about the motion spring replacement, but I'm not having that one done. He said it's a lot longer job with the engine work needed. Oh, I asked if I could take the old axles with me (I was going to saw them in half at the dampener to see if there was corrosion inside the shaft), but they said because it was a recall, Honda doesn't allow it. If I was having a non recall part replaced, the old one is mine if I want it.

The car wasn't realigned, but driving home it felt just like it always does. Maybe a bit smoother, maybe a bit quieter, maybe a bit tighter with the steering. Maybe my imagination after seeing those new beautiful axles. I'm going to check the ATF tomorrow (I forgot to ask if he had to add any), and I'll try and get some photos of the new axles.

In short, I was more than happy with the work Causeway Honda and the Tech guy did.

Sorry for the long post, but maybe it will be of use to someone. And thanks to everyone before me that made posts and pictures; they were a big help to me.


Driver's side, looking towards front of car.

Passenger side, looking towards rear of car.

 

Thanks for the descriptive post Bowbridge.
There are so many on this forum that don't like their Honda dealers. Nice to see someone that trusts them to make the right decisions.

My Honda dealership has always treated me the best I could hope for. Would highly recommend them.

 

Regarding whether or not the mechanic added ATF: on bill/receipt/printout they included that it was added.

 

@Bowbridge Good post. Glad it worked out.

@steve37 The way I read it, he didn't trust his Honda dealer one bit.

 

Prob true!
Here's an example of why I have a great Honda Dealership that I totally trust......
Last summer, I made an appointment for the timing belt replacement on my 98 Prelude. I was real hesitant because the car has never been to the dealership, but I just didn't feel comfortable trying to do the work myself.
Calling to set up the appointment, the service manager quoted me $980 for the job, which included a secondary belt and the water pump replacement.(while they were in there)
He also said I would get a loaner, because of the hours it took for the job. They sent me out with a brand new HRV.
When I picked up the Prelude...the price for the job was $880...$100 less than quoted.
The service rep said there were three seals/gaskets on other points of the engine that should be replaced sometime. (they steam-cleaned the engine also) I called the next month and set up a time.
When I got there with the Prelude...I was told it would cost $270 and it would take about an hour and a half.
The service rep asked if I would like a loaner!

I said "No..thanks anyway, I can easily wait an hour or so"
Less than an hour later, it was done and I no longer have any stray drips on the garage floor.

Their service department is top-notch!

 

That Prelude looks great. In for more of that.

 

^^^ Thanks! I am the original owner and it has 114K miles on it.
I'll add a couple more pics...don't want to hijack the thread.

 

Thats niceee
i had a 91 ...still miss it

 

Steve, you are making me want to move to Michigan.

 

Front wheel drive. So that's the drive shaft and axle.
​​​​​​

 

My Honda dealer is a very small one. The service dept is great, but they don't get the new cars in like a bigger dealership.
Last week...they had one new Civic on the lot. No hatchbacks at all. I saw only three HR-V's.
The salesman said that it has been very slow getting new cars in....chip shortage.

 

That's finally what I did thanks !!

 

^^^ Great! Keep us posted on how it works out.

 

Took mine in, 2010 Manual Transmission Sport. It took over 5 hours for the dealer to replace only the passenger side axle, was told the recall only covered the passenger side for manual transmissions. Is this true? I checked my VIN on Honda's website, it says they should check both left and right sides for manual transmissions. Can anyone clarify?

Also, people scheduling their appointments should aim for as late in the day as possible. I suspect my car just sat there all those hours until the last before they closed....

 

Took less than an hour for my 2010 m/t Fit. Passenger side only. They prob had other cars to work on before yours.

 

Not sure how I missed "passenger side only" before... lessons learned for me, I sat there for over 5 hours.... scheduling it for 2-3 hours before they close would be the right move in the future...

 

The next time that your car needs service....tell them that you will wait there for the completion.
They seldom go over the time allotment. My dealership has never been over for my service.

 

Update: A couple years ago my left one broke (driver's side!) broke. I had it towed & repaired by a local shop. After a few emails & calls, Honda sent me a check for both the repair & the tow: $369.95. LF FRT AXLE (on the repair receipt) total $291.95 (what I believe is a good deal). I need to get my daughter, who is currently driving the car, to get it into the dealer to inspect & likely replace the passenger side.

Regards,
Joe S.

 

Hell is other people.

Not you FitFreak guys, but other other people.