Pyts any idea if the intake manifold can be taken off without unbolting and removing the whole throttle assembly? I assume it absolutely must get taken out, otherwise why would everyone remove it (and the airbox, and the battery...) but at least worth asking.

Terrible design from a maintenance perspective Good for packaging only!!

 

The intake manifold actually doesn't need removing! It's just bolted to the cover. The air box needs to come out in order to get the throttle body unbolted and pushed out of the way. You don't wanna take the TB off cuz coolant lines.

A little backstory on my feelings for the GE: I spent two years at an apartment before moving to this house, and spent much of my time helping neighbors (or trying to) with their fords, hyundais and nissans. Nothing too big. But I haven't worked on too many cars, wound up scratching my head and digging through youtube a lot.
Then I'd go back to my car, the Fit. I'd get on the laptop, boot up my manual, print out the procedures for what I wanted to do, and hit the garage. With the exception of finding the coolant drain plug and all the hidden bolts holding the tranny on, the manual spoon-fed everything to me.
I always knew what to do and how to do it (though I didn't always have the right tools, or my head on straight ), so it didn't matter too much if it was a bit of a pain. I knew I could finish each job. I can't say that about any other car I've worked on, regardless of my forking out 100+ for a shop service manual. GO TO HELL TOYOTA, TIS IS FLAMING TRASH!

Oh, and the spark plug torque. They (Honda/Bishko) screwed up bad there, and it shows wrong in the manual.

I'm unaffiliated, just FYI.

Just remembered doing a simple break job.. Disks all around, think it was a small ford sedan? The pistons in the rear calipers had to be screwed in with an oversized flathead! Took me at least half an hour to figure that out!. But it wouldn't have been a problem at all if I knew that going in.

 

Interesting - all I have to do is remove airbox and unbolt the mounts for throttle body? Geez, I may just do it then. I assumed everything above the valve cover comes off, from the videos I've seen. I should have paid more attention.

BTW, I finally took the Fit to an indie mechanic to see if they could figure out why my RPMs drop (and timing is pulled) if you go from 10->20% throttle at low RPM, or after each upshift. He started simple and reset the transmission control module so it can relearn. My wife thinks this has helped but I do not. He was seemingly uninterested to check valve clearances because mileage is low, instead suggesting sticking with fuel system cleaning to wash ethanol residue off the front sides of the valves. So I think if I want valves done, I'll either have to insist the dealer do it or do it myself; there's no point arguing with a crusty old guy about maintenance he considers pointless. He, and the younger technician, both drove the car like a bat out of hell and said "if you accelerate normally like this ..." so I suspect one "fix" for the problem is to simply drive faster.

At the very least it was good to successfully test out an independent and I would go back; they seemed very honest. Only cost $53 for his time and refused a tip; and he found a loose lug nut on both rear wheels so that's worth it right there :P

 

The ol' Italian tune-up. Works every time.

Do the valves yourself. It's not as difficult as it seems and you'll be glad you learned how.

 

I submitted my vote for what happened to me (plugs never replaced, ejected). I'm pretty sure my plug vibrated most of the way out because the threads looked great (except one specific 180 degrees length of thread).

For all those that see this who didn't see my forum thread: my OEM plug in cylinder#2 ejected, the shop I visited wanted $3.8k-$4.8k to remove the head and possibly take it to a machinist, so I tapped the threads with a spark plug with a few cut notches (shout-out Pyts!) and some grease to catch any shavings, and then I installed a new plug. I've put at least a hundred miles on the car since and it's ran beautifully.

Here's my post and all the help I received from great forum members (Pyts included): https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...g-ejected.html

Edit: oh and I did of course have to replace that one single coil pack on cylinder 2, since the plug ejecting and the fumes melted the boot.

 

Just wanted to share my experience with the ticking noise from my engine. Noticed the ticking noise one morning, and thought it was related to a belt issue, and my mechanic said it sounded like a normal Honda tick. About 4,000 miles later my engine light and VSC light went on, the car continued to drive without issue. Drove it directly to my mechanic, was due for an oil change anyway.
In the end, the ticking noise was related to spark plugs being loose and could be heard. Spark plug 2, 3, and 4 were loose and 1 was good. 1-4 spark plugs replaced, 2,3,4 coil packs were burnt, replaced all coil packs including 1 and a valve adjustment, valves were out of minor adjustment.

Purchased the fit used and I'm the 3rd owner, carfax showed spark plugs being replaced at 85,000, so I knew it would be time soon.
Fit Mileage is 152,700
Fit running smooth and the tick is no longer present.
Wanted to share it since I didn't see this experience posted in this forum.

Hope this helps someone else.

 

I clicked Plugs Never Replaced, No Faults

but I just picked up my 2013 yesterday (and she only has 5,700 miles)



how long should I wait to check the torque?

 

A 2013 with 5,700 miles.. Wow! Well friend, if your car looks like this (as the model year would lead me to believe)


Then you're in the clear for the spark plug loosening issues (unless otherwise noted in the 3rd gen sub-forum.)

 

2013 has the issue, I think that is a photo of a 2015

 

@JDFit I posted a 2015 apparently!
I'm still unclear on whether the 2013 was sold in the U.S. after some googling, but it should still be a second generation, and based on my findings I now believe it has the same L15A7 engine as the 09-12 models. Good catch!!

@KrautBurner The concern with the spark plugs has roots in two places that I'm aware of:

• A Technical Service Bulletin stating that some second generation fits had under-torqued spark plugs which could lead to loosening/ejection
• The Shop Service Manual made by Bishko lists the spark plug torque value as being rather low. I think it was around 13ft.lbs. A dealership (my former back on the west coast) offered a print-out of a revised specification calling for 20ft.lbs. This would lead one to assume that the original specification was insufficient.

Based upon those two pieces of information, I'd recommend addressing the spark plugs at your nearest convenience (thus avoiding the issue altogether.) With that said, I can't estimate when or if your plugs will loosen; but I think most, if not all reports of ejection, were at much higher mileage than that of your vehicle.

 

Since I own a 2013, I'm very confident that it was sold in US. I don't think there was a 2014. 2015 started the 3rd gen

 

I wonder if this could be the reason my car seems to hesitate while accelerating either when giving it some throttle after coasting or from a standing start. I have always wished that the throttle itself was more responsive so I can rev-match downshift a lot more smoothly since sometimes it takes a massive blip of the throttle to get the revs up to road speed. I'm going to have to check out my plugs since I need to learn how to disassemble the cowl anyway now that my car is approaching the 90k mile mark. Never knew this was an issue with these engines. I'll probably just replace the plugs with Denso's and put some thread lock on them when I get them in.

Any thoughts?

 

What you're describing sounds more like standard throttle lag that's built in. The car's clutch master cylinder also has a clutch delay valve (just a little integrated reservoir to *smooth out* engagement/reduce drivetrain shock,) not sure if that's playing a part too.

A throttle controller could modify response of the throttle body's fancy servo. They're kind of pricey, think $200-300 range new. Might be worth a look! there's some threads talking about them and some dudes endorsing their favorites.

 

Thanks for the info! I've heard of such devices, but never thought that was what was wrong with my car. I'm gonna give this a serious look and start searching for the best price even if my fuel consumption may increase a little. I'm not too concerned about the price, I just spent $360 on a pair of cycling shoes so if this product makes my wonderful, faithful Fit even more fun to drive, I'm all for it.

 

nope mine is a 2013 (2nd Gen)
last year of the 5sp auto

 

I’ll be taking it in at about 10K to talk to the dealer about recalls and TSB’s

 

I need to lock that into memory. 2013 can be a USDM second generation.

It looks awesome!! Congrats!

 

US Fits:
2006-8 GD
2009-13 GE
2015- GK

 

Right on!

Plugs: Denso IK22Time in Service: ~1 YearTorque Value: 18-20 ftlbs.
Anti-seize: None
Did plugs again today because the car was droning at idle. Sounds better with fresh ones in it! I did notice something that may be of value: Torque required to compress the crush washers. It took between 10 and 11 ft.lbs to compress said washers according to my beam-type CDI 0-50ftlbs. torque wrench. I did have an impact wobble adapter and a 6" extension on (no anti-seize). I'd be curious to hear from anyone who had plugs loosen, did said plugs have fully smashed crush washers?

You can see here that the crush washer was quite thoroughly compressed on the old plug.


All of my plugs were still tight, though #2 was the least so. I didn't recognize any internal failure. Plug #4 showed a lack of carbon on the ring around the electrode.



Side by side with a new plug for reference





Do they look like they're overheating?
Those old plugs ran since about last August, so a little over a year today, with one re-tightening and removal of anti-seize at the end of November, ~3 months in.

Also worth noting that I didn't see any discoloration of the porcelain this time around! The wear is pretty minimal :}

 

So, your only tightening to 10-11 ft-lbs? In 1st or 2nd gen, I thought 20 ft-lbs was closer to recommended torque vs the original factory of 13 (which loosen).