Hey everyone, new to the forum here as I just picked up my 2nd gen Honda fit with the 5speed manual after hitting a raccoon with my 06 Civic Si and wrote it off lol.
Anyways I’ve noticed a few things with my Fit so far:
1. Grinding or screeching noise while driving and having the wheels turned more tightly (usually in parking lots or residential areas). To me it seems like it’s a cv axle issue and I have both front axles already on the way so I can put them in. Is that a difficult task to do on your own?
2. Another Grinding issue… and this is the main issue I want to talk about. When driving the car and shifting between gears there is a grinding noise, very short and also intermittent as it doesn’t always happen, sounds like dragging a metal pipe along the ground or something. Sometimes it also happens while the car is already in gear and is deacceleating or accelerating. But for the most part it happens in between gear shifts, and no i’m not driving the car hard as some people might assume after coming from an si. I have transmission fluid coming for the car and i’m hoping that’s going to solve the issue, but additional insight would be appreciated.
3. Last issue i’ve noticed that might be or is related to the 2nd issue. While trying to explore and diagnose the 2nd issue, I decided to put the car in neutral while I was rolling down the road, I gave it some revs and played with the rpm a bit, and the same or similar sound is made when the car deaccelrates in rpms as it passes 3000rpm or 2900rpm. Valve adjustment issue? Transmission Issue? Same issue as stated in 2.?

Any and all help would be very appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

I will keep this thread updated as I fix the cv axles if people are having trouble with that or the same issue, and I will also give an update on the 2nd and maybe 3rd issue after I do the transmission fluid.

Note: The car is higher mileage at 243k km, or 150k miles. Any other advice on must do maintenance would be appreciated!

 

1. If driveshafts, there is a recall for them. If you live where salt is used on the road in winter, they'll probably change both of them for free;
2. Heat shield loose somewhere on the exhaust pipe. Normally can be heard on a particular RPM range. Good way to find it is to tap the exhaust with a rubber mallet;
3. See 2.

Hope this helps. Could also be something else, but this is quite easy to check.

 

Ok thanks for the info I appreciate that.
I havn’t yet done any work on my Fit yet but I’m hoping to get on with that soon.
So for the cv axle drive shaft recall, I contacted a dealer and Honda about it and the recall has already been completed on this car except they only replaced one instead of both cv axles, so the second one is now suffering from the issue that caused a recall in the first place. Honda is giving me a hard time with re opening the recall so I just bought the axle myself for $100 and I’m planning on replacing that soon.
While i’m under the car I’ll check the heat shields for any rattle.
I also do want to note that the rattle noise or grinding scraping noise almost always happens at 2000rpm when i’m accelerating and at 2800/2900 rpm when i’m de accelerating.
Any suggestions would be great thanks!!

I am also planning on doing a tranny flush soon too in hopes that it might fix the issue.
Updates coming soon.

 

Two points:

- Beware of cheap aftermarket axle. They don't last, and you might have shaking...

- As for the grinding noise at a particular RPM, this is exactly what a heat shield rattle sounds like. Did this on my Accord every time a heat shield was loose (hearing sound only at a particular RPM).

 

This is an update and reply to the thread after working on the car.
I replaced the driver side CV axle, Control arm and flushed the tranny.
It took a while but is definitely doable, make sure you have good jacks and jack stands as I just did the job on my driveway.
The CV axle did fix my major grinding and ticking/clicking noises but there is still some grinding which I’m assuming is coming from the wheel bearing.
Tranny flush didn’t do to much for me as I found it when i Drained it that it wasn’t done to long ago.
The scraping, grinding of metal sound at certain rpms and rattleing when close to stall is in fact the heat shield around the cat, i just left mine as it gave me a piece of mind knowing what the sound was. So don’t over look the heat shield.

Anyways I sold my Honda Fit as it was due for a clutch replacement and wasn’t worth the money for me in the long run.
Fun car while I had it, hope this helps anyone going down the same rabbit hole.