More on my post #34 above......

I called a local Honda dealer and talked to the Service Manager. I told him that I had gotten a notice in the mail and wanted to know if they had parts and tools and were ready to do the work. He was very confident...oh yes they had everything.

I said I was a little confused because the notice said something about inspecting and then "if necessary" replacing some springs in the valve gear. Unfortunately he made up a story that they would inspect the springs to look for wear and cracks. If the springs were worn or cracked, they would be replaced....otherwise they would not. Yes indeed, he said they would look for wear or cracks on the springs!!!!!!

That told me he had never read the Service Bulletin....see page 3, step 7, which is very clear.....never mind any common sense. Bit my tongue and just asked him if they had done any yet. Oh yes, we've done 2 or 3. Did they need the springs replaced? No...none yet.

So that dealer is off my list....Simmons Honda, Parkersburg, WV....at least until they get a clue. I'm not in any particular hurry and can take the time to be sure that whoever does the work will follow both the service bulletin and the service manual exactly.

Related question....anybody searched for the springs???? This is a job I'd do myself if possible.

Well, having looked at the TSB and the relevant sections in the service manual, I really wonder how it can be done in 1.6 hours that Honda allows for this job. Seems that the techs are either rushing it, or are REALLY fast. And I wonder if they even bother using a torque wrench. Anyone thought about doing the disassembly and re-assembly themselves and only bringing them the rocker arm assembly so that they can replace the springs, since that job requires some specialized tools?

Got mine done yesterday. Done in one day, ready when they said it would be. Engine sounds different.

Before - idle was smooth and quiet - but I could hear a distinct "rattle" from the engine under light load or deceleration (kind of reminded me of my old diesel rabbit - although not nearly as loud).

After - idle may be smooth, but noisier. There is a distinct tap, like one cylinder per cycle. The rattle under light load and deceleration is gone.

It looks to ne that there are five clips total for the cowel - and three of the five are broken. However, the upper and lower sections of the cowel, meet without any gap. It can be separated in the middle without much effort. Of course, I just figured this cowel thing out after reading this thread and looking at the OP pictures....

Had mine done last week at Fladaboe Honda, in Irvine. Not where I bought it, that place did not seem too interested in doing the work. Funny considering at time of purchase (a bit more that a year ago) they were much more accommodating. Times change I guess.

But as for the results of the repair, the parts were replaced, there are no broken clips or parts, the wiper blades are strait, there are no scratches, and it would seem that it runs as well as it did before surgery. Even my clicking seat issue seems to have been fixed, although the service tech said they could not reproduce the problem. ( I mentioned it as a side issue) Perhaps someone there was familiar with the fix and threw a wrench on it and forgot to mention it to the service lead.

In all the engine bay looks the same as when it went in. If they somehow did not do anything and just punched the vin plate, well when the engine lets go I have recourse.

Charles....I'm glad someone else has spotted that 1.6 hours and has the same concern. It does seem very fast.....although the kit that Honda provides the dealers is intended to help make it faster. That rocker arm spacer (step 10 page 2) keeps everything together and in order and would save time, although my read of the manual is that it could be done without it.

Last year I taught a course for some assembly line techs (Toyota trucks) and noticed that they are both fast and accurate. They use preset torque wrenches for everything. Torque wrenches are calibration-checked daily, to +/- 3%. It takes many months of training and demonstrations of speed and manual dexterity to become qualified. They tolerate NO variations from procedure.

This assembly line work is under direct observation and control of a flock of Japanese. This Fit recall, on the other hand, is left to the more-distant relationship that Honda has with its dealers. So...is the average dealer tech going to be as good as the original Honda factory tech that put these engines together to begin with???

I doubt it. I think that some of them might be "good enough". The question in my mind is how to be sure ahead of time without being a total prick about it??

geo

Dropped mine off this morning at Concord Honda. Told Renaldo (the service rep) of the issues with the cowling. He assured me they would not let that happen. He did admit that after doing the first few of the recalls, they had a couple of people back with check engine lights because the valves were not adjusted correctly. Sounds like they have learned from their mistakes! Promised to be ready by 3 today. Will report back with the results....

hmmm....I can't think of any way that misadjusted valves would trigger the check engine light. ????????

This thread really needs to be sticky'd, at least for a month or two. This is affecting basically everyone with a GE.

I took mine in yesterday, and it returned without any plastic push fasteners:
https://img219.imageshack.us/img219/4338/fastener.jpg
image from OP.


HUGE reps to ultra wolf, I never would have checked this out, I would have assumed they could do such a basic maint. This is really pretty scary folks, not because this cowl is a big deal, but if this is indicative to the tech's attention to detail, imagine how shitty a job he did on your valve-train.

Seriously? You're going to let someone who can't bolt a hunk of plastic trim on, play with the life fluids of your engine? Good luck with that.

Per the service rep, caused a mis-fire, which tripped a CEL.

i was talking to a service writer at my local honda dealer and he said, "we've already done over 100 recalls on the fit. only one was brought back, from someone who had the recall done at a different dealer... he had a check engine light... it was because the valve adjustment wasn't done right."

who knows if the "other dealer" part is true.

of course he also told me, "we found a way to do the recall without removing the cowl." i nearly choked on my own spit on that one.

This is curiouser and curiouser to me........these are mechanically adjusted clearances, done by sticking a feeler gauge between the rocker arm and the cam lobe while loosening the locknut and screwing the adjusting screw in or out. The service manual has a good pic of it.

Why on earth would a clearance that's a few thou too loose or too tight cause a misfire??? If they just forgot and left them totally loose, the clatter would be deafening and instantly obvious.

I certainly agree that a misfire would cause a CEL....but I'd bet something else rather than valve clearance would be the cause.

Just got back from the dealer with mine. They only took 3 hrs. Invoice shows they replaced the springs & adjusted the valves. Running great, seems smoother! No issues with the cowl or wiper arms.

Thanks for the pics, Ultrawolf. My wife's Fit went under the knife last Friday, and due to your post I had a good idea what to look for. All looks, and sounds, well. There is no gap between the cowling pieces, all the clips and tabs are intact, and the wipers look fine.

Just had mine done today at Freeway Honda in Santa Ana, CA. Fasteners were still there after the work, a few scratches on the cowl, but nothing too bad. The invoice says the work was done in 1.6 hours and it says quantity 1. I wonder if that means only one spring was replaced. I re-read the recall notice and it says one or more of the four springs might be affected. So are they supposed to replace all four springs?

There is an exact date of manufacture, and a production number on the date of assembly stamped on the rocker arm assembly. If your rocker arm assembly is dated before November 20, 2009, production number 216, you should have had all four of the springs replaced. There is no option in the recall to do anything other than a total replacement.

I took my car in last thursday and thought all was well untill I saw the pictures with the gap amd broken clips!!!! Thank goodness I have no broken clips but still had a gap so yesterday I returned to the dealer and showed them the gap on the drivers side. The service writer came back 20 minutes later and tried to give me a story about the gap was that way from the factory possibly bent sheet metal...blah blah blah.... and that was as good as they could do. I left the dealership to cool down a bit rather then tell the dealership they where full of crap! Well today, I took five minutes to look at the cowl and I simply loosened the cowl and re seated it in the clips and wouldn't you know it, it fit perfectly with no gaps! go figure!!!!! Part of me wants to tell the service writer what I did to correct there installation but frankly I am upset that they blew me off so I think I will just be happy knowing I was able to adjust the piece myself and everything is good now.

welp, I just double checked, and my tabs are in fact broken as well. Missed it on the first exam. Sucky.

Thanks for posting up your experience with the recall. I'll make sure to check if they mess up any of my plastic pieces when I take it in

Reading up on the procedure is now making me worried that we all might have future problems. The instructions on re-installing the cylinder head cover has this little note:
"Do not run the engine for at least 3 hours after installing the head cover."

The head cover requires a small amount of liquid gasket, so I am assuming that this allows the gasket to cure. So to those that had the recall done in less than a day: were you allowed to drive the car immediately after everything was finished, or did you wait until the end of the day before picking up the car. Also, I don't think they are going to just let the car sit in the service bay for 3 hours before driving the car out.

My concern is that if the engine is started before the 3 hours, are we going to have an eventual seal breakdown and oil leak from the cylinder cover? And what if it occurs after the warranty is up? We will then have to pay to fix it ourselved, unless we can prove that it was due to faulty assembly from the recall procedure. This seems like a greater concern than the broken tabs, since those are visually identifiable.

nice find.

where did you read that? can you offer a link? or image?

that's definitely something i'd want to be armed with before going in.