All of you people saying the concern is overblown would not be saying that if you needed a new condenser due to rock damage. Is it a common occurance, no, probably not. But the one time it does happen and you're out $1,000 (parts plus labor) you will wish you bought some sort of protection for the front.

The $100 I just spent is piece of mind for me. I like being proactive, not reactive. I will post picks when I get my grill and get it installed.

 

I have to agree 100%.

Yes it is a small chance that your condenser will get f*cked by a rock but I personally drive my car on the highway alot (the main purpose of getting a fuel efficient car) and that's where most of the bigger/faster rocks are thrown. So having added protection on the front of my car (thus my 3M clear bra as well) the more in likely my car will look pristine in 10 years (with the original condenser ) Now if you drive just city more in likely you will never have an issue with this.

My CL-S front end looked like a tiny machine gun got shot at it (Color being black (Night Hawk Black Pearl)) and I even had birds hit my radiator it it but luckily it didn't get damaged.

Yes Honda may want to redesign their lower opening but you do not want to restrict the air flow to this part of the car thus the open design. Perhaps they should have some sort of mesh grill stock but I have had 4 honda/acura's that mostly have the same lower grille opening and never had a problem (95 Integra, 01 CL-S, 07 TSX, 09 Fit) The only reason I don't take a chance with the fit once again is because it is my highway cruiser.

The key to this is keep distance from people in front of you but as soon as I seen people having this issue (plus the fact I'm lower which raises my risk) I sucked it up and spent $30 for some added protection and piece of mind.

99% chance most of you will never have an issue....But just like dgs said just your luck you will be that 1% ;-)

 

You can believe whatever you like. I have my Fit for less than 6 months. The driver side fog light was cracked by a rock. It could easily went through the opening and hit the condenser. Now I have mesh guard for both the air dam and fog lights.

 

I do think there is real potential for damage to the condenser but the issue is probably overblown in the forum. If your windshield gets damaged with a rock at least your insurance will cover most of the cost. If it's your condenser you're on your own to pay for the repair. I just cut a strip of galvanized welded wire fabric (1/4" square openings), spray painted it black, and attached it behind the black lower grill of my Fit Sport with about a dozen really skinny zip ties. It almost doesn't show at all and I don't have to worry about a rock in the condenser.

 

I agree - install a mesh type guard on the grill to protect the condenser.
I never said it would never or could never happen.
I just checked for replacement for a condensor - parts, tax (9.25%), and labor is approx $750.00 total(replace condenser, evac and recharge AC system).

However, I disagree that it is Honda's responsibility or any other manufacture's responsibilty.
Remember, look at every other vehicle out there, in any public parking lot, and check out the variety of manufactures and production years - most, if not all, have a large opening. That's all I'm saying.
That is reality, NOT what I believe.

I do have a 3M clear bra and have installed a mesh grill.

 

i work at an acura dealer, and we had quite a few covered by insurance companies

 

Having just got the car, we decided to be proactive and keep the thing as protected as we could. Some black window screen was laying around, so that's what was used with some zip ties. Lots of bugs getting caught in the screen rather than the condenser.

In the winter, if the mesh ices over, fantastic! A zero-work grille block for faster engine warmup.

 

Topic overblown? Maybe...but I had to head back to the dealer for a new condenser before I even had plates on the car. One look from the front tells me that the condeser won't survive a rock. Honda needs to recall this one. (Dealership did replace with no charge)

 

You got lucky. Most dealer service departments would have told you it's out of their hands. Sometimes, if the damage is subtle enough to pass for a defect, the dealer might help.

I like my Mr. Grille black anodized grille more and more every day.

 

i hit a pretty hefty tumble weed in texas at about 115mph, scared the heck outta me, but the condenser is still fine 3 months 6000 miles later
but about a month or so ago, my passenger side fog light lense cracked mysteriously...

 

This was the first thing I did when I got back from the dealer. I had a roll of black plastic gutter guard, so there's no worry about metal to plastic wear. I used about 20 small zip ties (the plastic gutter guard is very flexible) -- they are very unobtrusive, and I used them on every vertical and horizontal bar in the plastic lower grill. $1.99 for the zip ties. I used the same stuff for a protective screen in front of the oil cooler on my BMW boxer -- looks even better there, and required no zip ties or removal of body work; I just slipped an oversize piece of gutter guard between the fairing and oil cooler.

 

When I get back from vacation (beginning of third week of August) I'll be able to concentrate on a lower grill/condensor grill, etc...I have a few different designs drawn up, just haven't had time to push them to fruition with current work load.

First and foremost is one that sits behind the stock lower. It's fairly simple in design fabbed out of sheet metal. Another design will be made strictly to cover the actual condensor (it won't be visible from the front of the car at all unless of course you want to get on you hands and knees and look for it ). The last design I'm going to work on will be a complete replacement for the lower. This will cost the most and sell the least so it's the least of my concerns for the moment...not to mention there are already "add on" grills available.

Hopefully the 2010 won't change much in this area regarding how it would mount (other than Honda actually addressing this issue which will leave me SOL and new owners happy with the change). Sounds kind of sh***y on my part I know. They really do need to fix this. I look at lower grills on everything that catches my eye and the lower grill really is wide open on the Fit. Kind of baffling considering all they have to do is add a few more horizontal fins to the existing unit...as it is they might as well leave the damned thing wide open without any grill at all

 

After reading a few horror stories about $700+ condenser fixes, I ordered some mesh from McMaster-Carr and did the justintime mod today - I just picked up my Fit on Tuesday. It took maybe an hour, and that included measuring the mesh, cutting it, and running to the hardware store for more zipties. $10 for peace of mind - a good deal. I'm glad I did it, and I even think the mesh looks pretty sharp.

 

Going with the Justintime method
https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...tml#post679273

Got the mesh from McMasters on order, $2.38 plus whatever UPS charge is from their Cleveland warehouse to Columbus.

It's just cheap insurance.

I'd love to put the Mr Grille black anodized one on, but that will have to wait for other things to get done first.

 

I have an '08 Fit Sport with 29K on it. About a week ago I lost my A/C completely, out of the blue... Took it to local Honda Dealership in Asheville, NC area and was told that road debris/rocks had punctured the condenser and it needed replacing. Just had it done this a.m. Total cost was just over $600. Have a $500 collision/comprehensive deductible with GEICO and decided not to file a claim (although in talking to the GEICO by phone he said he HAD to file an 'incident report' on my policy because of this; furthermore, he stated that GEICO considers such damage -- until/unless confirmed to be otherwise by a claims adjuster -- to be the fault of the driver... amazing.)

Anyway, long story short: I'm going to get some gutter guard (one or two sections, each are 6" by 36") at Home Depot, some wire snips and duct tape... and simply duct tape it over the front of the bottom 'air dam'.

Totally cheap fix; don't even have to monkey with popping off the front grill cover or bumper, which looks like a pain with all those plastic button-clips (or whatever they're called).

Has anyone else tried this simple "duct tape gutter guard over the bottom air dam" fix? I think black duct tape along the margins of the silver gutter guard, carefully installed/taped, should not be that noticeable. And may even approved the lower front appearance of my fit.

That $600 really hurts, though.

But I agree with others that it's kind of just bad luck, as other car makes/models have pretty open front grill/dam designs.

My three cents.

thanks, folks

 

Ever since I joined this forum/bought my Fit, I've been looking at cars and noticing their exposed air condensors. If all those cars are fine, then I'm sure it's not as widespread as this forum makes it seem.

 

I too did the McMaster-Carr mesh grille fix. Super cheap and wasn't too hard. I did a DIY for the GE8 base model Fit if anyone needed help.

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

I hope it helps someone!

 

I sold my beloved 2003 element to my parents after purchasing my Fit last week and with 180,000 mostly interstate miles on it, the condenser was just fine. I never read anything about the ac condenser being a problem (ahh ignorance was bliss) but I did have 5 windshields installed in that car in 6 years of ownership . Guess I can count myself lucky that it was a windshield my insurance covered and not the condenser which might not have been covered.

I read about the Fit's gap on this forum and was at lowe's getting gutter guard that day. Followed some fantastic instructions posted here and voila, protected. I noticed several dings that I didn't like to the condenser while installing the guard. Necessary? maybe not but for 5 bucks and some zip ties I feel better anyway (well, at least until I figure out how I hosed up something while installing it...)

 

"Yes it is a small chance that your condenser will get f*cked by a rock but I personally drive my car on the highway alot (the main purpose of getting a fuel efficient car) and that's where most of the bigger/faster rocks are thrown."

Pisses the fxxk out of me when I drive down the highway and there is a dump truck full of rocks without the least bit of cover on the bed. And yet they drive right by patrolman and they do nothing.

Guess it is okay to break the law as long as you have a business model.

 

I saw on Ebay mesh grille for 09 Honda Fit Sport. Looks good and according to the write up there is no need to dismantle any parts except the license plate holder. They are asking $29. My friend bought and installed one recently he said looks good and easy to install.