Hmmmm, those look a lot like 6 ga aluminum fence ties, which I may have some of. If I have them, I may add them in like you did. Thanks.

 

I don't know why everyone talks about doing modification to your car to fix this design flaw. If more people are having this problem obviously Honda need to come up with a solution and fix the problem. We shouldn't be the one that had to spend additional money on making the car reliable. My car's AC went out yesterday (bought it new only had it for 9 months), it better not be this same problem or Honda better cover it under warranty and give me a solution so it won't happen again. I've never had a car with this problem before and I've had a lot of cars (at least 9 cars in the past 15 years).

 

Let us know what the dealer diagnoses the problem as, and if it is a punctured condensor, what they agree to do about it.

If you read the whole thread, it seems that the only people who've gotten it covered under warranty have owned their cars for a month or less, and that Honda doesn't consider it a design flaw.

The reason people are doing the fix themselves is that they don't want to get hit with a $800 repair that, for the most part, Honda won't cover under warranty.

Good luck, and let us know what happens.

 

This is a problem on a LOT of cars. That doesn't make it OK--the dealer should at least warn you that it's a potential issue.

Also, this is what insurance is for. I have a $50 deductible on uncontrollable stuff like this for a reason. However, since the modifications took 15 minutes and about $12, I went ahead and did them anyway. No reason to waste $50 and a ton of my time getting it fixed.

QUESTION:

Has anyone installed this mesh on a GD?

My friend's condenser on her GD is getting pretty beat and I'd like to see if I can install some mesh for her. I could probably figure it out, but it would be nice to know if there are any issues going in.

-P

 

So Honda Service just called said the AC resistor went bad and they had to order a new one. It'll be in by the end of this week and it'll be cover under warranty.

 

Cool!

At least you don't have to pitch a Fit about the AC condensor!

 

+ rep to justintime, got home from work and the mesh had arrived, install is done, looks great.

The only thing I did a little differently was just cut out the first hole in bottom of the mesh for the lower popclip, popclipped the mesh in place, squared it up, and worked across the front of the grill with the zip ties.

When it was all ziptied on, I could then see exactly where to nip out the mesh for the 2nd lower grill popclip.

I also removed the upper grill, 4 of the popclips and 2 phillips head screws, you'll need a really short skinny screwdriver for those 2 screws. That gave me plenty of room to reach down inside, without tearing my arms up too much .

Already had one pretty good sized rock ding in the grill, and I've only had my Fit for a week.

 

I think we need to watch out for those popclips, if used for mesh attachment... I now think it is at least possible that movement of the mesh may have them pop out? Im going to check this tomorrow.

 

Mine seemed like they went in tight, tried tugging on them to see if they'd pop back out, seemed ok. I used a lot of zipties though, 3 on each vertical bar, and 2 at each end, one on each horizontal. 16 zips total, I think.

Driving up to Michigan for vacation this weekend, probably be about 700 miles round trip, I'll keep an eye on them.

Still appreciate the DIY

 

I've a new Fit-
and am looking at installing JustinTime's solution.

Any updates on how the compressor protector is working?

Thanks much!

 

Oy, I didn't consider that. It seemed quite secure when I installed it. I will check mine as well to see if they have moved.

As for how well it works, I have found two small rocks and a massive bug in my mesh so far. One of those rocks could've done some serious damage had it been allowed to continue on its course.

-P

 

Thanks justintime, did the mod to my car today.

General question -- I cut my mesh a little large vertically, and it's touching the metal bumper reinforcement (like an idiot, I didn't realize this until I was just about done). Is the mesh going to rub the paint off (does it even matter? I just don't want it to rust prematurely...)?

 

Made it up to Michigan, about 350 miles at speeds varying from 45 MPH to 80 MPH.

Several large bugs in the screen, no rocks.

The popclips appear to be holding fine.

If anyone is worried about the popclips coming loose, they could just ziptie it all the way around, and not install it under the lower popclips.

I think it would work just as well.

 

The mesh I had wasn't long enough to make it to the pop clips but after removing a few of them I don't think those popclips will go anywhere. They are a real pain to get out.

 

To be clear to all: when you press the pop clips against the mesh, they cannot go all the way in because the mesh itself sits under the 'ring'... the clip will click in place, just not as tight or as deep as it was designed to...

Still, I checked mine after 1000 miles, and they're still there, so I doubt they are going anywhere

 

This looks super easy, and from the number of people who have done it, must be! But I have a question about Step 5...how do I remove the clips without damaging anything? I tried just pulling up on the panel, but thought something was going to break...is there a better way to harmlessly remove the clips?!

 

Ah that makes sense. Might not engage the clip fully.

You have to pry the center button up. That's the part that spreads the clip after it's installed. Once that's up you can gently twist and pull on the clip. I found that some of mine would seem to get stuck so I pushed the button back in a little but and that seemed to do the trick.

They're not easy to get out without chewing them up a little.

 

I installed that aluminum gutter guard (sold in a five pack at Lowe's) this weekend, on my 4 day old Fit. I like to know she's safe.
I did have help from my boyfriend, though (he operated the wire snips a lot fast than I can, and it looked nicer afterwards).
I have a base fit, so the cable ties are a bit more noticable than on the sport, since the paint color carries down to the lower grill area. You still can't see them unless you are looking right at it from a foot away, while squatting down.

I can't find the thread that had this specific idea in it, though. Was it this thread? It worked great, it took a while because I was having a bit of heat exhaustion and went a bit stupid, but still well under 2 hours.



I actually like the way it looks in real life. More than before, no lie! It looks a bit more finished, and sporty. My bunny car has teeth!

Sorry for the lousy picture, taken with a camera phone in a parking garage. My car is a bit dirty anyway (sprinklers! Argh!), I was going to get it washed... but with this picture quality, you can't really tell!

 

I just did the mesh grille install myself and did a little DIY write-up. I hope it helps someone here. Note the install is done on a 09 base model Fit.

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...sh-grille.html

I used adhesive mounts for the zip-ties. Some FitFreaks are afraid those kind of mounts might not hold. You could always get a stronger adhesive backing, I use some 3M stuff for other things that is super strong and I probably should have retrofitted the mounts with that adhesive. To each their own. Good Luck

 

Thanks to Justintime for the mesh idea. Did it on my Sport AT and my mom's base AT. I didn't try to clip the mesh under the popclips though, because they definitely don't feel very tight with the mesh. Instead used like 16 zipties -- the mesh's not going anywhere!