I am having a problem with my Fit not starting. Everything seems fine until I turn the key over. I hear can the starter trying to start the engine but the engine simply won't turn over. There is a little bit over a half a tank of gas in it right now. Pretty sure its not the battery.

It was fine all last week. Yesterday I started it up and backed it out of the garage to spray out all the dirt (from the garage). I started it back up and pulled it back in. Now, I am having this problem today.

I have had it since may and it has about 8,000 miles on it. Anyone have any advice?

 

defective battery covered under warranty. Get it jumped and visit the dealer. Sucks today is Sunday.

 

Does the starter turn the engine?

I ask because you said: "There is a little bit over a half a tank of gas in it right now." which would be irrelevant if the engine doesn't even turn.


Is it a manual transmission? If so, you could check it the engine turns by pushing the car and putting it in gear.

 

yeah, "turn over" is ambiguous. I've heard people use the term when the starter actually turns the engine crank but it doesn't fire.

I took it to mean the starter "clicks" but doesn't turn the engine but re-reading it seems it might be the starter turns the engine but it doesn't fire.

The Honda manual makes mention of holding the accelerator to the floor if the engine fails to start like in the olden days when you've flooded a carbureted car. I suppose if the plugs are fouled from moving it out and back without running it for more than a few seconds "flooding" could describe it.

Try step 6 (assuming the battery and starter are actually turning the engine).

 

Thank you very much. This cleared the problem up and now the car is running fine.

To clear it up the starter was turning but the engine wasn't firing.

Really weird to have to do this on a 2009 car...

 

My 97 Honda manual actually suggested letting the engine run some before shutting it down to avoid fouling the plugs. If the engine isn't hot enough, unburned fuel will condense on the spark plugs making it hard to start. At least there's a fallback procedure (holding the pedal to the floor).

If I'm moving the car (any car) to wash it or whatever I always let it run for a couple minutes before shutting it off.

Don't confuse this with needing to "warm it up" before driving off. Driving the car (not aggressively) is the best way to warm it up.

 

So my suspicions were right. It was turning over but not starting. Running your car for such a short time isn't a good thing as you've found out. It's also not good for the battery. It needs some time to charge.

Now you've got me even more curious... How exactly did you "spray out" the garage? With hose and water? Did you park your car in the wet garage?

 

Yes, I used a hose and water. The garage is slightly slanted towards the door so the water ran outside. Additionally, I used a squeegee to get more of the water outside. It wasn't completely dry when I pulled the Fit back inside, about the same amount of water after snow melts off the car.

Just a side note, its a two car garage and I did the exact same thing with my 08 Civic (the Fit is my wife's) and it had no problems. Although I did drive the Civic last night.

 

Which ride do you prefer? fit or civic? curious...

 

We have a Civic lx and Fit Sport.

I don't know if I can say one is better than the other. The Civic seems to ride a little smoother (probably due to the skinnier Fit tires). They both get about the same mpg. The storage room in the Fit comes in handy. Its more fun to drive the Fit. They both have a fair amount of road noise.

It seems to be a good pairing (except for when it snows).

 

Civic is more refined. I traded mine in because I needed cargo room. Actually, my LX got better milage than the Fit. It averaged over 42+MPG the 5 years I had it.

 

We have the same combo-08 civic lx and a 09 fit sport 5sp-the civic ride is way more quiet then the fit-the 3 kids say they fit better in the back of the fit though

 

This is good to know, so I can avoid the problem. I've done a quick on/off a couple of times this winter so far to move the car for various reasons. I'll keep this in mind and not shut it down really quick.

Thanks for posting, and glad all is well.

Dan

 

Let me just start by saying I thank you for this great post. I was out cleaning my Fit while listening to the CD player. The player stops working and I try to fix it by starting the car. No luck. I'm freaking at this point because I'm going on a little trip with the wife and kids. I google my problem and this pops up. I try it - it works and I come back to check the site where the geniuses are that helped me. As I start scrolling up (iPad) - I realize it's my favorite forum for my car- Fitfreak! I don't know why ,but I feel proud. LoL! Anyway, thanks guys!

TLDR; Fit Freak is freaking great!

 

group hug.

Here's an updated link to the manual page with "step 6."