It could have been a problem with the Piston Return Springs, I hear that was a problem on that year... well, the 4-door anyways.

 

Stupid question here. How does overfilling your tank improve fuel economy? I realize that if you do this you can go farther between fill ups, but I don't see how this can affect fuel economy.

 

I recently went to a Honda's New Owner Clinic, and they said that the 09 Fit does not have a fuel filter. It has something else...I believe something in the gas tank... can't remember what it is at the moment. I'm remembering fuel sock, but I don't know if that makes sense. Just thought I'd share

 

See, I didn't say that trying to maintain diplomatic relations with the American members of this board!

 

I always brought my Mazda3 to the Mazda dealership for servicing. Symptom was that I went to refill the nozzle kept on clicking, despite my KNOWING there was no where near a full tank of gas. Took me forever to fill up just a bit so it wasn't something I could ignore....

 

Ditto! I thought "hypermiling" meant eaking out every bit of fuel efficiency out of an engine. I didn't think it meant putting in gas to the very very top to get for km/miles out of 1 tank! That really makes no sense to me and doesn't do anything for "fuel economy". Yes, you'll get further before refilling but the actual mileage you get shouldn't improve. Then you run the chance of clogging the fuel filler neck filter! I see no advantage to this practice at all...

 

Sorry to question it. I had just never heard of it in a car before.

Come to think of it, my portable Honda generator has a little screen insert in the filler.

 

Oh believe me, when the Mazda mechanic told me that I was like "a fuel filler what????" I too had never heard of that part or that it could clog. Glad to let my fellow Fitfreakers know that this is a possibility and that overfilling is a BAD idea!

 

It doesn't affect fuel economy. The hypermilers were engaging in a friendly competition to see how many miles they could go between fillups. Also they were trying to obtain consistent MPG results from one tank to the next, and the "magic" tank on the Fit makes that tough unless you fill it up to where it can be seen in the filler neck each time.

Folks on cleanmpg.com like to super-fill their tanks to minimize the number of times they have to stop for gas, because stopping for gas (fractionally) lowers MPG. Also there are some fuel vapors released into the atmosphere during refueling so there is a wee bit of environmental goodness there too.

 

Stopping for gas lowers MPG? Well, don't you have to stop for gas in every car? You can fill up your tank, drive for 1/4 tank and fill up, it's still going to return the same fuel efficiency as if you drive the whole tank.

 

Perhaps we should check if the 2nd gen Fit actually has a fuel filler filter or not.

 

Hey -- these guys are HYPERmilers. Every tenth counts!

 

I think they are concerned with the stop, and re-accel after filling the tank.

That's why I never stop at red lights and stop signs, bah, that ruins my numbers. Of course I'm only going 15 mph.

I am currently getting 400.151625 miles on a tank. If I drove like all you other idiots and obeyed the laws, I'd get a mere 400.000..



(I hope my joking tone shows here, no offense intended).

 

Oh yes please! I'd really love to know (though I don't plan on topping up anyways)...

 

Joking noted but I have to wonder if those Hyper HYPER milers don't think that way, for real? I guess their ultimate aim is to get the most miles/tank, be it by fuel economy measures (slow acceleration/braking, constant speed, no idling, etc., etc.) or/and by filling their fuel tank to the absolute max. Really, the latter makes no sense since, as many others have noted, that doesn't = better MPG! It just means you'll go further before refueling. Makes no sense to me but hey, if that's what some people choose to do with their cars, so be it. Just hope there really isn't a fuel filler neck filter on the '09 Fits!

 

I've been trying to get a service manual for the 2nd gen Fit. The dealers keep telling me that it's 3 weeks away. They said that a month and a half ago and still said the same friday.

The service manual would be the place to find out the info about the fuel filler.

 

Gasoline weighs between 5.8 and 6.5 pounds a gallon. Wouldn't it be to a hypermilers advantage not to have a full tank to reduce weight in the vehicle?

 

good question...

 

As for the fuel capacity, one time I came dangerously close to running on empty with my Fit. After my empty light came on I drove for another 30 or so miles. Honda says you have 1.64 US gallons remaining after the light comes on. So when I filled the tank up it filled with 10.4 gallons or 0.2 gallons remaining in the tank. But I didn't top off. (never do)[/quote]
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I recently bought an '07 Sport in Phoenix (zero rust, yay) and drove it 2500 miles home to the rust belt here in Rochester, NY. I wanted to carefully check mileage, so I slowly filled up each time I needed gas. I quickly learned you have to trickle it in when it's nearly full or the auto shut off will click. My car averaged about 37mpg on the trip. Don't know if your numbers above relate to city or highway or a mixture, but they may be off. I am saying you almost certainly had quite a bit more gas left in your tank than just 0.2 gallons. Let me explain.

Quoting from my Fit owners manual - the low fuel light comes on at "about 1.7 US gallons remaining before the needle reaches 'E'." Beyond that, they say there is a "small reserve of fuel remaining when the needle does reach E".
They don't tell you exactly what that number is, but let's assume it's 0.3 gallons. That would mean the car has about 2.0 gallons remaining when the low fuel light comes on. For at least two reasons, they don't want you running out of gas. One, it's inconvenient and could be dangerous, and two, you might get some dirt sucked into the injectors.

You drove about 30 miles after your light came on. If your mileage is like mine, that would use about 0.8 gal, meaning at that point you still had about 1.2 gallons remaining. When you filled up with 10.4 gallons, that means you had about 11.6 gallons in your tank. This is entirely believeable - on my 2500 mile trip home, the one time my low fuel light came on, I bought gas about 25 miles after it came on, and I put 11.8 gallons in the tank (slowly at the end, of course). That told me the total tank capacity is well over 12 gallons, not the 10.8 that Honda claims.

Apparently, Honda is being conservative with their published specs on fuel tank capacity. Many companies are that way these days, their legal staff push for conservative claims so nobody can sue their butts if they are able to prove their product doesn't quite come up to their claimed numbers.

This brings another thought to mind: Fit owners (especially hypermilers) wanting to compare gas mileage numbers need to be sure they are filling their tank the same way each time so their mileage calculations will be comparable from one tankful to the next. It really doesn't matter whether you fill to first, second, or umpteenth click as long as you do it the same each time. And yes, different gas pumps can be set to be more or less sensitive as to when they click off. We've all seen pumps that are faster or slower, some painfully so. The faster ones click off sooner. The nozzle is also sensitive to the angle you are holding it, you can get it to click sooner or later depending on that angle. We drivers have no say in pump pressure, so there is a bit of an unknown in the equation. This gives you a reason to become familiar with your gas gauge and how much it takes (remember to do this on level ground) to fill the tank when the gauge shows exactly a quarter, a half, etc. if you really want to be accurate in your mileage calc's, write down the above data and keep it in your car. That way, you'll know that the pump didn't fool you by clicking off considerably earlier than the previous time you filled up.

 

Today I filled up with 9.69 gallons, about 2 miles after the light came on. This would mean only a 1 gallon capacity after the light- not what Honda says.
Assuming the light runs off of the gas gauge, and knowing that gas gauges are notoriously innacurate in general, I wouldn't think of their numbers as a guarantee.