Luckily I'm marrying into an manual '08 Fit sport. Pretty darn fun car to drive. I know my fiancee has done regular oil changes and changed/rotated tires. I just replaced the air filter. It has about 60,000 miles on it. Do I need to do any specific services? It drives like a champ without any issues so is there anything major other than rotate tires and oil changes I need to do for preventative reasons?
Thanks a lot!

 

You read the owner's manual? or got it on line?. You're due for your second valve clearance check and adjust if necessary.

 

Valve clearance did not pop up on my maintenance minder until after 100k miles.

 

Thanks a lot. I downloaded the manual. If she's not getting any "maintenance minders" other than oil life %, then should we wait until the respective numbers pop up? For instance, minder #4 is spark plugs and check valve clearance but that number hasn't popped up yet.

 

Find out if she has ever flushed the brake fluid or changed the coolant and change them if she hasn't or if its more than a couple of years. I also suggest changing the trans fluid.

Those may not be in the manual but you asked for preventive maintenance suggestions.

The brake fluid absorbs is hygroscopic by design and absorbs moisture. Changing it will help,reduce corrosion inside the brake system and help prevent brake fade by restoring the boiling point to specs by getting new and fresh fluid in there.

The coolant slowly breaks down over time and refreshing it help to protect thee system from corrosion.

The trans will benefit by a change by getting any dirt that has accumulated in the oil out of the unit and getting clean and fresh fluid back in there.

Now, would your Fit keep running without doing those fluid changes? Yes, but refreshing fluids certainly wont hurt will cost a few bucks, but its worth the cheap insurance for the benefit of the new fluids every now and then.

 

Honda used to require this every 30K. They've stopped.

 

Will pop up after 100K miles.

 

If you had checked valve clearances and reset them as often as we you'd know that valves not being checked fr 100k miles isn't anything more that marketing at work.

 

Who to listen to, Honda or some ? on a forum, hum?

 

Could be marketing (100K valve inspection interval by the MM). Or 30K could have been marketing. Or they could have changed valve / seat characteristics. It could be that the cars do benefit from more frequent lash adjustments for peak performance. Honda did recommend this on the '97 Odyssey I had. Surprisingly their service dept (Ed Voyles Honda) discouraged having this done in later years when I asked for it, "It doesn't need doing every 30K." Talk about conflicted.

I haven't noticed any performance degradation (starting, power, MPG) and I'm at 67K*. The noise isn't any worse than when it was new. I'll adjust valve clearance at MM4 along with spark-plug replacement, unless noise becomes markedly worse before then (as the manual recommends).

There is an argument that the exhaust valve lash becomes tighter as they recess into the head. This will actually reduce noise as lash reduces, but may result in burned valves as they don't seat completely. Reading about this, it seems it's an issue on cars that never have their valves inspected and presents above 150K miles.

Other than people obsessively checking and adjusting, I haven't heard of any issues. I think the majority of Fit owners go by Honda's recommendation (the MM). If you enjoy tinkering and have the tools to do it every 30K, great. This would be about $300 per visit to the dealer (I'm guessing). How much does your shop charge, mahout?

*full disclosure: I think a valve adjustment was performed at 35K with the LMS recall work.

 

I wouldn't worry about the valves unless she is a chronic over-revver. I just checked mine at 88K miles and threw in some new plugs (the S2k spec NGK Iridiums), and my stock plugs still looked decent, and the valves were dead on spec.

I would recommend changing out the cabin filter, they get musty quickly. You can get them cheap on Amazon. Other than that, there is little other than basic fluid checks as they come up on the MM.

 

There are many vehicles that have 30k timing belt inspections too. Does that mean I have expected my customers or informed them they should check their timing belt every 30k? No, I don't.

Instead I suggest they change the belt between 60k and 90k and plan for it as maintenance. I never sold them a belt when they came in for an oil change at 60k. We developed a trusting relationship the whole time they bring their car in and the usually ask for the belt when they have saved up for it and when they feel ready. Its about educating them.

Does a 30k timing belt or valve clearance inspection make sense? Hmmm, maybe in some tiny way it could. You might find early signs of a problem or may be able to adjust the tension on a timing belt or set valve clearance. That might actually avoid a costly service if a failure were to happen early.

Now, how many vehicles would ever show a problem at 30k? Almost none. Think about the cost of the inspections added to the cost of the final service. Doesn't make sense to check on either of those services every 30k. Makes sense to just plan on the service somewhere every 60k to 90k and avoid any potential problems.

That is how preventive maintenance avoids problems and extends vehicle life. It doesn't always benefit each vehicle equally, but, wouldn't you like to be the vehicle owner that saved a costly repair by catching a problem early by paying for a small amount of labor instead of a large amount of labor when you arent prepared because you never checked it?

 

We don't share your comment that almost no vehicles show a problem at 30,000 miles. Without checking I venture to say probably 25% do. Valves, brakes tirea, and drive belts are the majority for Hondas (valves because they don't have hydraulically adjusted valves. My discussions with Honda people suggest their maintenance standards are for gentle service (like most manufacturing marketing standards) and owners are better off considering their service conditions listed under severe service conditions. Further all our service manuals state that valves should be checked for sercie A, B, 1, 2, 3 and 4. "if they are noisy". Just what is noisy? If you want proof of the need for regular checking at short inytervals find out how often the devices that manufacture Hndas, and others, are checked at least.
We include belts, tires and brakes in that service caveat as well.
we do emphatically agree with your last paragraph which is why we recommend valve inspections at no more than 30,000 miles, belts at 60,000 and brake pads at 2mm pad thickness. Rarely do we find a valve clearance of 3 or 4 valves need resetting at 30,000 miles. In many cases had they waited til 100,000 miles I can virtually guarantee w'll get and upper enbgine rebuild. Its like thatold oil add, you an pay a little regularly or a heck of a lot more later. As an old automotive engineer I know whikle statistical quality control is wonderful, it ain't perfect.
For those of us who like Hopndas that often checked is a measure of our approval more than necessity. reading between the lines I think you agree. Hondas aren't perfect, but they are much less imperfect than other cars. And even near perfect requires constant minitoring.
cheers.

 

We can check valves in less than 30 minutes but thats not adjustments That gets from one to two hours, not including cool down though we have done them hot. And yes, we have some specialized valve bent feelers that are quickly inserted to check. Pads, tires, and belts visual. Likewise OBD instection.
That inspection generally adds $75, not $300. Your estimate of $300 would involve having to adjust in addition to inspection. And someimes $300 won't begin to cover the cost. And yes, more often than not the clearances are Ok; now we know, before we didn't on a critical item.
Its like that old oil ad: you can pay us a little now or a whiole lot more later.
Hondas aren't perfect, but they are a darn sight less imperfect than other vehicles. Its printed on the wall. And we get a grin from our Honda people no matter how many times they've seen it.
As for valve clearance checks, note the service manuals say to check at all services, A, B, 1, 2, 3, or 4 if valves are noisy. Want to spec out "noisy" ?
If the devices that build Hondas requre checking often, even once a shift, what makes you think your Honda doesn't deserve that same consideration? If you don't check, how do you know? Yeah, I know I'm an old fart with only 40 years experience with Hondas and I'm indoctrinated with the past but just aren't convinced we've improved that much in just 25 years. Or maybe I just don't like having to rebuild hionda engines with less than 250,000 miles.

 

Perhaps you haven't read the service manuals that states valves should be checked at services A, B, !, 2, 3, and 4 if they are noisy. Do you know what "noisy" is?
Hondas aren't perfect, but they are less imperfect than other cars. That doesn't mean you can ignore them.

 

I appreciate your concern, mahout, for keeping customers' cars in tip-top running condition, but 30K valve clearance checks aren't marketable these days.

If letting them go 100K exceeded tolerances for damaging the top end, I think we'd be aware of it by now (TSBs, anecdotal reports of valves burning, etc.)

I'm sure Honda keeps their manufacturing equipment within much stricter tolerances than customers' and checks it daily so their cars aren't failing after 30K, instead of needing inspection at 100K.

As far as noisy, if the thing had an obvious tick in one or more valves at operating temperature, that would be reason to schedule an adjustment. The general cacophony of Fits' valve trains doesn't mean we should all be adjusting them every couple years or months.

$75 for inspection? That's a great deal. After removal of the wipers, cowling, intake manifold chamber, valve cover, gasket, and putting it all back together (new valve gaskets are $11, the intake chamber port gaskets are $32 ($8 each)), I think your hourly rate is rather low. How many customers do you let out of your shop without adjustment?