Rocks getting stuck in brake rotor shield?
 

Well I've had my Fit two weeks and I'm super stoked on it except for one thing. After getting a rock stuck in the brake rotor shield it sounds like I have another one. I work for a construction company and a lot of the times there is only parking in gravel or dirt. No big deal, I'm talking you exit the paved road and just pull into a graveled parking spot. Kind of weird a rock can get stuck in there so easily. The first time I heard the sound I took the car to where I bought it thinking defective wheel bearing and the service adviser just took care of it really fast and told me what it was.

Well I have the same sound going now after visiting a job site over the weekend. I did a search on here and Google and did not find much. Can someone explain or point me to a topic on this. First, how can I remove the rock myself, and second is there a way to prevent this other then not parking on these gravel lots?

Sadly this isn't an uncommon thing. It's the FIRST thing I check when I get this kind of noise.

To check it out, just jack up the car, place it on a jack stand, remove the wheel and pull back on the brake dust rotor shield/rotate the hub.

After a recent heavy rain my friends GE had the exact same thing happen from black top gravel being pulled up.

pretty common in alot of cars. This just happened in my moms Civic.

Happened to me the first year I had my '09 Sport. Honda dealership charged me $50 to remove the tiny stone. In retrospect I should have insisted on its removal at no charge, but I was caught off guard and relieved that I didn't need a brake job at only 10k. Hasn't happened since, and I've driven over 90k miles. Sorry, no advice about how to remove the stones, as my days of working on cars are long in the past.

Drive slow (less than 10mph)

Thanks for the responses. Been driving several cars for 13 years and this has never been an issue.

How fast are you driving on these gravel roads?

They're not roads they are parking spaces and I'd say maybe 5 mph for about 7 feet. Then again maybe I got the rocks from somewhere else, but I never go off the pavement other then the construction sites.

I think the Fit is a rock magnet. They seem to be attracted to my windshield... :(

God yes they are.... my heart stops and I can just see the rock coming toward my windshield in slow motion.:ohnoes:

I would check the brake shield and make sure its not excessively far away from the rotor.

Try backing up a few feet. Works for us most of the time.

Well I jacked the car up removed the wheels and took a look and didn't see anything however the sound is gone so I must of wiggled it loose. Hopefully this isn't a reoccurring problem...

How far away from the rotor is your shield? It should be quite close. I can't even get a finger in between the shield and rotor on mine.

Pebble in rotor ripoff
 

My '16 Fit has less than 2,000 miles. I'm house sitting for a friend who lives about 200 miles from home and the dealership where I bought the car. Upon hearing this noise, I decided it wasn't the smartest thing in the world to drive home without getting it checked out. To make a long story short, Wham, Bam, thank you Ma'am, that'll be $49. What? Literally less than 5 minutes, no parts needing replacement or fixing, just, "Yeah, that was a pebble stuck in your rotor, it should have worked itself out, but for some reason didn't." When describing the sound to them, I said that if the car had hub caps, I'd swear there were some rocks rolling around in it. Basically told them exactly what and where to look--since apparently it is a known thing! Is there no honor among thieves (or Honda Dealers)? Since the car hasn't even had its first oil change, shouldn't this have been a courtesy repair? That is, free? This is the reason as soon as my new car warranty is over, I go elsewhere for all repairs. Honda USA will be getting a letter from me! However, I won't hold my breath for their reply.

Here on the "other" coast, our 2016 LX had the exact same issue at the exact same mileage. My trip to the dealership started exactly the same way as I described the noise, but then they offered me coffee, took the car, pulled the wheel to remove the rock, and wished me a nice day at no charge. Sounds like your dealership (or at least the one you used) is one which gives them all a bad name.

Yeah, I drive a lot of gravel roads and have never had this problem. You might be able to bend it farther out or closer in?

Or just remove the shield altogether if it's a persistent problem...

Maybe I'm being too existential here, but, Fits and all cars are built to drive on roads. Roads are made of tar, concrete, sand and GRAVEL. Why would any car, specifically why would any car part like a brake rotor that is so low to the ground, have a problem with gravel? Nope, still not happy about this. Obviously.