Bought mine new. I had Honda garage change plugs at about 70k in my Fit to NGK part 12290-RB1-003 (IZFR6K13). The #3 plug ejected @ 100k after ticking like a stuck lifter but with slight chuffing noise. Garage suggested replacing motor possibly. I had them replace #3 with another NGK to match others and retorque others if needed. They warranted work for 12k so I changed them again about 110k with factory spec Denso part 12290-RB1-004 (SKJ20DR-M13 IRIDIUM) plugs. The NGK's all had quite a bit more carbon deposits than the original Densos had, plus staining on porcelain most likely from pre failure gasses getting by. Never got the old ejected plug back as mechanic threw out but I'd bet it was really stained. Now at 140k no issues but planning a torque check soon. All washers looked crushed well on all plugs I checked. Guess I'll never know about the #3 that got away. I'd like to try to check them myself but all videos of taking apart cowl look daunting! Does everyone know the Fit and some other Hondas have 2 prop rod holes in hood? Neato!

 

I sounds as if the shop didn't get the memo, if the new plugs they put in failed after 30K miles. Yet they have the confidence to put in a new engine? And what was the reason for recommending a new engine? Anyway, the cowl wasn't too tough. A 14mm socket for the two wiper nuts, the plastic piece pops right out (connected with a singe wiper fluid hose) the the metal tray and wiper assembly come out with a 10mm socket, some with extension, and a fixed 10mm wrench for one of them. So, 10 minutes to gain access to the plugs, coils, O2 sensor, transmission filter, etc.

 

My dude, that torque wrench.. if my math is right (VERY QUESTIONABLE) it only torques from like 18 in.lbs to 50.. which is like, 4 ftlbs. Thats so specific.. Maybe you meant to link a 10-50ft.lbs one.
Regardless, I feel you. I was going to post a reply in some thread recently saying: as much as I love torque wrenches, if you can't get one that operates effectively at 20ftlbs. (which most don't, since they start at 20 and the first 20% of their range is useless) then you're better off going by turns and feel.
The bee about recommending that method is that feel has to be learned the hard way 🥲 If I now have a light touch, it's because my wrists are weakened from making a pile of broken and stretched fasteners.
I feel like that's the only talent I've acquired for all my years of effort.

Thanks for the praise, by the way. You're a good friend! If you're ever in ATL drop in!
I gotta read more posts so I can respond accordingly.


Oh EDIT: If you have a vice and a scale, you can calibrate your torque wrench. Run to the orange box store and get a bucked and a bag of sand. Clamp the wrench's drive in the vice, weigh out sand in bucket on a scale. set the wrench to match the weight of your bucket, and hang said bucked from the wrench's handle. Adjust wrench til it clicks :}

 

Mechanic couldn't be certain parts of plug weren't inside cylinder? They made it seem like the porcelain was broken and couldn't or wouldn't vouch for cylinder integrity? I might of just called their bluff. Engine still has great power from my memory since new but I change the Mobil1 0w20 entirely too often. Does the mt have a trans filter? I changed mine per a haynes manual but was unaware of filter?

 

No, this was an AT fluid filter. It was attached with spring clamps, kind of a chore but not too bad.

 

That link may not be the exact Snap-on that I had. It was a while ago. All I remember was that is was 1/4-in. drive, it was in inch-pounds, and I think I bought it specifically for valve adjustments.

Thanks for the invite. I intend to take you up in it. I have been to Atlanta a few times. Lovely town, lovely people. The first time I was there, I said to someone, "I've never been in Georgia before." They replied, "You still haven't been in Georgia. If you want Georgia, you have to go forty miles outside of Atlanta."

 

Very interesting. Thank you for posting this.

 

So today I removed my factory-original plugs and replaced them with new. This car is new to me, but I didn't want the surprise of one day having a plug eject itself from the head. Sure, I felt silly replacing the plugs on a car with just 24,000 miles on it, but at least now I know they're tight.

Not surprisingly, the old plugs looked great (I saved them as possible spares). None were monstrously tight, but I would say No. 2 was the least tight.... Not loose enough to remove it without a ratchet, but just barely. Loose enough that I noticed.

Here's an old plug:



Not wanting to re-crush the old crush washers, I decided to get new plugs instead. I installed new NGK plugs with just a dab of anti-seize, torqued to 20 ft/lbs. I highly recommend trying to find a torque wrench with a range of something like 10-50 ft/lbs or so. It seems most of them either start or end their range at 20 (such as 20-150, etc) and that is not where the instrument is going to be most accurate. Sort of like using an oven thermometer that reads 100-500 degrees to measure the temperature outside in your yard; sure, it does the job but it isn't going to be as accurate as one meant for such a purpose.

I am much more used to GM cars which don't use a crush washer; there is just a concave seat where the plug bottoms out. So with those it is obvious when you've reached the bottom.... The plug gets tight quick. Just give it one more little twist and you're surely tight enough. With this Honda though there is a crush washer and I suspect there is a quite a lot of difference between 13 and 20 ft/lbs. I would not try to do this job without a torque wrench, not without a lot of prior experience.

Just for fun, I used my boroscope to look into the cylinders. Not much to see here; the car only has 24k miles on it. The cross-hatching is still visible on the cylinder walls. I kept trying to turn the scope to see more of the piston but then I remembered the plugs probably are mounted at an angle, so I couldn't see much more in there unless I could bend the tip of it. This is as opposed to a DOHC engine where the plug is pointed straight down at the center.

 

Sounds good. I wouldn't feel silly about replacing the plugs a little early for reasons already discussed.

It's been so long since I owned a non-Japanese car or motorcycle, I cannot remember spark plugs without a crush washer.

 

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone that has contributed and in particular the OP - I've owned my 2013 Sport since new (82K Km/51K Mi) and reading this thread prompted me to check them - sure enough #2 was loose (and coil was damaged), you all saved me a potentially much more expensive repair. 2nd gen. Canadian Fit owners beware, we're not immune to this issue - best to check your plugs asap.

 

Question for anyone here -- I recently bought a 2009 with 138k on the odo. Got it from a friend who had it for a year and a half/18k miles, and he didn't do anything but oil changes and a new battery. Since I've gotten it I got the driveshaft recall done, a new wheel bearing, and new tires. It's running beautifully now. Before my friend had it it had one owner who for the first 75k miles/6 years brought it to the dealer religiously, and for the last 4-5 years/~40k miles nothing shows up on the Carfax but I'd assume it was being taken just as good care of somewhere else (all that shows up is registration between 2016 and 2020). So as best as I can deduce, it's possible that the plugs were done at 90k, probable they were done around 60 or 75, but I really don't know. How worried should I be about these? My hope is that they were done to the 20ft/lbs at some point, maybe 2016? Either way, I want to get them done within the next week or so.

tl;dr - how high are the odds I could badly damage the cylinder head between now and then? I'd *probably* start smelling gas beforehand, right? Or hear the pop? But it's just possible that it won't happen?

 

@SheldonWS12 Positively ecstatic to hear that this endeavor was helpful!! Thank you for all the kind words, advisement, and for the additional data point that will help future owners. If you ever need anything, you know where to find us!


@danielj982 It's a bit cynical to say, but I myself don't feel comfortable leaving this particular issue to chance. If you could only check or get someone to check that the plugs are tight by, well, attempting to tighten them vs. loosening them, I'd be relieved. If your car has made it to 100k without a problem, there's a good chance that you're fine ~ but the lifespan is 100k and I'd be surprised if someone changed them before hitting that mark. It's laborious for those that haven't done it before.

I'd certainly be understanding of holding off if you had to pay somebody to handle this for you. The service is rather expensive.
There are indications, as you've mentioned, when the plugs have loosened. So if need be, just keep an eye and ear out for them. This is a tougher thing to note, but if you can manage to sense power loss - like the car feels a little less fun than you remember; you're stepping on the gas a little harder to pass a car, or lagging a touch more when leaving a stop, that could also indicate an issue even if the other symptoms aren't present.

Albeit, a lot of things could cause the above mentioned, but because of the cost and butt-pain of dealing with plug ejection, it's good to keep plugs in the "somethin's not right" box in the back of your mind.

TL/DR: You should be good til you get the service done in a week. you may already be good for another 100k. Just be sure to request an 18-20lb torque on the plugs with no anti-seize. sounds like haircut directions.

 

@Pyts thanks for your comment and thoughts here -- I've been reading through your old threads/conversations on this topic and it's been super helpful. I think I will plan on getting them done this week, either at a friend's garage ~1hr away with his help, or bring it in to the guys who did the wheel bearing. I think you're right that it's probably not worth leaving it to chance - spend a little time and hassle or money on it now and not have to deal with the ejection later. I'm just going to try and not be anxious about it while I'm driving around this weekend! (Shop isn't open until Monday morning). I am hoping that, like you said, I would smell or hear it before anything else. I'll keep an eye on the peppiness, it's harder to gauge as it's a newer car to me - I thought it was so loud on the highway normally, for instance, and then I got the wheel bearing and new tires and.... all of a sudden it was 10x quieter lol. So.... spark plugs on the list for this week. Got it!

 

You should also probably do a valve adjustment while at it.

 

If you *can*, I 100% agree with @Frenzal on the valve adjustment. pair plugs with a valve adjustment and you should get a good idea of how the car should run.
If you wind up being in the ~60-70% here that doesn't have to worry about plugs, I think 100% will still advocate for valves - not that it would necessarily throw a code, but dude, it runs smooth with those two paired. You know, so long as nothin' abnormal is going on/your alignment isn't smacked to oblivion. It would help you establish a feel for the car; cars aught to be assessed at their very best!

Should you do the above and your relationship with your mechanic is indeed friendly, I'd recommend getting an OEM valve cover gasket and maybe a tube of hondabond silicone. The OEM gasket is reusable at least once per Honda's manual, something that can't be said about aftermarket ones.

Hondabond is a bad@$$ silicone.. I've used it on every engine since I learned about it from the fit. It's the only one I've seen recover from exposure to gasoline - it just firms right back up and keeps a seal unless it *stays* soaked in gas. The valve covers, ect. that I've worked on, I still haven't seen them leak!.. then again we of course try not to let stuff overheat, which would likely be the leading cause of leaking besides like, doing a bad job, overfilling oil, maybe having a gunked up PCV system. I'd still trust hondabond first, but there's no obligation as the valve cover shouldn't see any more fuel than what results via blow-by.

Note: The OEM valve cover gasket costs $60 vs. like $10-30 for aftermarket from rockauto. I'd also understand if you didn't go with it, because to reuse one the silicone would likely have to be cleaned off of it (I've had to each time.) I can't imagine another mech taking the time to do that, and it's certainly not worth an argument with someone you rely upon for services.

 

Valve Cover Gasket costs $11.03. And the 3 cents is important.

 

I've been had!!!!!
I didnt know any of those sites actually had a good price on real parts! I thought it was just like, door sill stick-ons that say "fit" on them.. I've wasted so much...

 

Figured I would post this here. Nice how-to of the way South Main Auto does it.

 

interesting info

 

Great thread, lots of information. Thanks