You make an excellent point. So what about the 15L and over heating? Not seeing much in a search. Has to be a warranty issue. They are following the book on this.

Irregardless of what is actually wrong they are fixing the whole caboodle. So it's most likely not that it 'couldn't survive' so much that they aren't taking that chance with the extended warranty in existence.

 

Shora: Maybe the Tercel was a fluke? Then again, maybe Sandblasted's situation was occurring for longer than he thought because he hadn't noticed anything. I'm not willing to test my car with those circumstances, but maybe someone else would be willing.

 

Remember, he said "it wouldn't even turn over". It killed his engine plain and simple.

I believe that had the engine only needed new engine coolant and a new fan, that's all that he was going to get.

He got a new short block and is getting the heads repaired, not because Honda is so sweet that they don't want to take any chances with him but because they have no choice. His engine is toast.

I don't know about the Toyota being a fluke. I do know that I wouldn't do it to any car unless I tried to kill it (which was the plan for the Toyota but she refused to give up). Any other car has always been over maintained.

I agree about the possibility of it overheating longer without it being noticed. That's why I keep a careful eye on my Scan GaugeII. I would hope to notice even before the factory gauge (or light in our case) indicates so.

Still sucks that 5 minutes or less of overheating light and the engine died.

 

My last ride was a 96Sedan Deville. I kept constant watch on the coolant temp. That vintage NorthStar was known for loosing head gaskets.

I'm on the verge of a Scan Gauge just to monitor engine temps, if nothing else.

Not sure though if sandblasted had any way of knowing this was about to happen.

The fan let go and Honda is going to fix it.

The whole thing sucks - I would sure like to know the engine damage, but I'm still thinking it's a simple warranty decision.

Something else killed the engine, couldn't have been as simple as over-heating...

 

I'm wondering if the fan failed to cool for a while.. my mom had an 87 Accord that popped when the radiator clogged, after looking at it, we suspected it had been a "problem" for a while and only reared it's head after a hot day.

I really don't think you're engine overheated that quickly, my guess is is the fan had been failing for a while and had not been optimally cooling. No idea at what temp the idiot light comes on, but depending circumstances the time frame from idiot light to failure could be rather short.

Idiot lights annoy me.. why they didn't include an actual temp gauge is beyond me.

 

Without question, GET A SCAN GAUGE II.

The indicator lights are not helpful for people like you and I who actually pay attention to our gauges.

You might have noticed that I just got back from a 2,500 mile road trip with one of my Fits. With proper gauges, you learn what's normal for the car during different conditions.

For example, the Blue Cold Coolant Indicator Light turns off once the coolant temps reach 125 degrees or above. Also, no matter if I drove 12 hours straight on the highway (just stopped for gas) or 2 hours plus in bumper to bumper the coolant temps never climbed above 184 degrees while usually staying between 179-182 degrees.

With this information, if the temps ever reach higher than that, I will be monitoring the situation like a hawk. Heck, even if I notice while the temps are only at 190 degrees, its still 20-30 degrees before the Orange/ Red High Heat Coolant Indicator Light comes on and will give a much greater chance to deal with the situation before it kills the motor.

I don't like that the Scan GaugeII doesn't read transmission temps in Hondas. It is a super important thing to know since heat kills transmissions big time.

It used to read the transmission temp in my Mercury Marauder (Ford Product) perfectly and is actaully the reason I bought it in the first place many years ago.

With it, I was always able to know what conditions really heated up the transmission fluid and would allow me to let it cool down a bit before going WOT and also to make sure that I don't start my "frisky" driving before BOTH the engine and transmission temps were in there optimal range.

Maybe if we complain enough to the nice folks at Scan Guage, they will get this done for us.

 

It's possible it is not scan guage and could be Honda doesn't have a temp probe within the tranny to monitor.

 

As I understand consumer scan gauges they handle generic codes plus GM and Ford in the good ones. Some where I recently saw one that would spit out manufactures code but not define them. All quite confusing and we're off topic.

Will be getting one - not sure which. That's for another thread.

 

A built-in temp guage is still going to be a dummy guage. They're not linear, so they spend most of their time in the perfect middle range. This keeps the idiot drivers from thinking there's something wrong when the guage moves up and down. The sweet spot on the guage may have a 40° delta. I'm sure you'd find an aftermarket guage more accurate for your purposes.

 

for some reason or another, unlike earlier honda models, on the fit, they didnt leave much slack in the ABS sesnor wire, so when you unbolt the the strut, the knuckle drops and yanks the ABS wire out of the sensor, you have to make sure you un do the clips holding the wire, and still pay extra attention to the tension on it

 

Yea. I seen mine get ripped out first hand when a shop lowered my car. They replaced it, free of charge. I was very impressed.
Now, back to the carnage. Honda sent out a "critical" search today, and apparently honda is scouring all nooks of the universe to get me a head gasket. I asked them today, if you are having such a hard time getting one, just get me a crate motor. Drop it in. Apparently this is how they do motors now. They send it in 2 pieces. Top and bottom. So a head gasket is required regardless.
I was told yesterday that I was getting a new bottom end, rad and such, and a rebuilt ttop end. When I called today, and inquired about a crate motor, they told me I was getting a new top end as well. So as of right now, I have no clue as to what I'm really getting.
I'm frustrated beyond belief, I'm stressed and I just want my car back. I lowered all vut 3 weeks ago, and its the middle of summer. I'm totally beside myself. I must sound like a total retard, but I don't care. Lol. My car is an extension of me, and this jetta is NOT doing it for me AT ALL.

 

heres some pics of the car. i got it back, about 3 weeks ago, 2 days after having it back, a seal went and pissed oil everywhere. back to honda it went for another 2 days. i've had the car back now for about 2 weeks, and its running great......for now. lol. so yea, heres some pics. enjoy, and i'll keep you posted on what happens to the car....hopefully nothing.
https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...nally-lol.html