I will keep this short and dry, pics upon request.


2013 Fit Sport 5 Speed, Bought in March 2014 brand new with 18 miles.

Driven 2500 miles, No issue. Bought 35W 6000k HID, installed myself.

Drove 500 more miles, all fine. Get out of work (cold start), attempt to start fit. Turns on, turn headlights on right away, car dies. VSA and Check engine light turn on and stay. Re-attempt to start Fit, immobilizer green key on dash flashing, starter cranking no start. Take key out, wait for immobilizer to stop flashing. Re-attempt to start car (third start attempt if you are following) and it fires up and idles fine. Turn headlights on, nothing bad happens, headlights fine.

Drive home 30 miles, no issues nothing to report. Park car for the night, plan to take to dealer in the morning.

Come out to Fit in the morning, attempt to start notice no more check engine light or VSA light on dash, turn on headlights, Fit dies. Retry to start and she fires up fine, no issues. Now Check Engine and VSA back on.

Drive to dealer leave for inspection, Enjoy 2014 Impala V6 rental (305hp OH SO FUN)

Talk to service department, "looks like you installed HID that could be the issue.. (im 99% sure its not, plug and play kit, 35w uses LESS power than OEM, my buddy with 2013 Fit has 0 issues and I bought and installed both kits at the same time) " I tell him its VERY unlikely, he says they reflashed computer (ecu i'd imagine) and that its not throwing any check engine codes or doing anything funny. They also waited for it to cold over night and no issues on startup.

I am now about to pickup my Fit and give it all the testing im sure they rushed. Anyways if it happens again I guess I will ask for the Camaro SS rental next time <JK

Wish me luck! 3000 miles and already something stupid going on...

 

So are you looking for advice? Or were you just wanting to rant?

Go back to stock headlights and see if the problem is still there.

 

Were those direct plug in? Or did it have an additional relay to run power directly from the battery?

Even though they are supposed to use less power once on, they draw a HUGE amount of power to ignite the bulbs initially. And that can fry (inadequate) wiring or at least create a voltage drop on OE wiring, for direct plug in.

 

This isn't going to seem as if I'm being a jerk but I had the same issues and it was bc I left my lights on for just a few minutes and drained my batter. I have to be careful about having a beer in my garage, listening to radio, before I go in to see the family after work.
I charged my battery, drove around, and the lights reset themselves. You can't reset them by unplugging the battery, it's automated.

Did your batter die or get low on charge?

 

Guy modifies car.

Car breaks.

Cool story.

 

I made my post with out reading other replies. I apologize. I'm certain you're now realizing what the problem is. Upgrade your battery. I've ran across a few threads that explain how to do so it's worth a try. I highly doubt you have any problems w your fit.
Good luck!

 

why does he need a battery upgrade?

issue doesnt seem to stem from battery or HIDs/headlights

 

I got the Fit back from the dealership with the diagnostic report. It basically reads.

"Customer complains of VSA and check engine light on."
"After inspecting the car our technicians notice aftermarket his have been installed. This could be an issue."
"We tried to replicate the issue after flashing the ecu"
"The car is working properly now VSA and check engine light off"
Note: Customer might have disconnected the battery when installing HID and that might have thrown a check engine light code."

I've was driving it all day and night yesterday, headlights on and off and no issues. Maybe it was just a glitch.

When installing the HID I did take the headlights off the car because it seemed to be the easiest for me when setting them in and getting the retainer clip to seat properly. I did not unplug the battery when I did this I simply took out the three bulb connections and went to work.

Mind you it threw the check engine codes 400-500 miles later. Meaning the install was unrelated to this issue. My VSA never could turn on or off prior to this either. It was stuck on at all times. Now it works fine.

To the people who reply.

"Works on car. Something breaks. Blame car" trust me I've been modding cars forever and yes a lot of time that is the game you play, but when installing a plug and play HID I'd like to think not. Moreover I have a lifetime warranty so I'm gonna use that shit in times like this!

 

BTW I guess this was more of a rant although I intended this to be a thread for advice thinking that maybe one of you had this issue.

 

Usually there's some decent advice. Today, not so much.

I'm glad it was a one time issue and you've got it fixed up.

 

Haha yeah thanks. If I had an OBD2 scanner on hand I would have just cleared the codes myself and if it reappeared taken the Fit to the dealer.

It wasn't such a waste of time though, I had a fully loaded 2014 Impala to drive around on my day off, it only cost me $30 in gas for 1 day LOL. I wasn't by any means taking it easy though, at least now I know just how fast it is compared to a 2001 BMW 540i (v8)

 

sounds like your dealership was trying to use the HIDs as an excuse to cover an issue that obviously needed solving

Id call back and ask them why they did not simply unplug HIDs and use regular bulbs to test. After all, the techs are supposed to troubleshoot problems, not assume like JiffyLube workers

 

They might have been doing that.

But hey I know there was a recall on 2013 fits for VSA. Mine NEVER WORKED so if they are hiding the fact that it was a VSA recall and they don' want to admit that then whatever. As long as its all working now.

If they want to shortcut fixing the real pproblem so be it. Like I said I get a free rental each time this saving me miles on my Fit. Next time I'm keeping it longer than a day if this happens. They will learn. Lol but yeah you would think they would use some reasoning to test the OEM light bulb

 

It's hard to diagnose an electrical issue that's intermittent.
It's hard to diagnose an electrical issue when there are aftermarket electrical parts involved.
It's even harder for dealer personnel to keep a straight face when you say "I've never had any problems before. I installed these HIDs myself, then one day I turned on the lights and everything went berserk! I know it's not the aftermarket HIDs because they're plug & play."

Dealers don't hide recalls; they get paid to do them by the factory. Some recalls might not be popular with the techs, but parts sold and hours billed are dollars coming into the store. The dealer gets to be the good guy here: "we fixed this for you at no charge to you" is more fun than telling people how much getting it fixed will cost them. Speaking of which, the aftermarket HIDs and the "turn headlights on right away, car dies" are now in their system. Honda might not be paying for a rental the next time you need electrical diag done.

 

nothing in the headlight system will cause the car to shut down.

It is impossible. There is no way a 10 amp fuse can cause such a spike in power that it shuts the car down.

you could wear some rubber gloves, and cut the connector off and directly touch the positives and negative of the headlight harness together, and nothing would happen except the headlight fuse to blow.

He had a different issue. Even a fresh tech out of training would see that as an improper troubleshooting of an issue

 

1. Customer states "Turns on, turn headlights on right away, car dies."
2. Tech takes a look at the headlights, finds aftermarket HIDs.
3. Customer states "but they're plug & play, and I haven't had any problems with them for 500 miles!"
4. Customer also states "I have a lifetime warranty so I'm gonna use that shit in times like this!"

The proper step 5 here is that the tech stops wasting his time. Looks like he's doing it right.

Tracking down an intermittent electrical problem is bad enough without a direct connection to aftermarket electrics- which despite the protests is clearly involved here. The tech can't troubleshoot the problem without eliminating the aftermarket HIDs as a possible effect, and it doesn't look like Mr. "I have a lifetime warranty" wants to pay him to do that. Oddly enough, Honda doesn't want to pay the tech to troubleshoot aftermarket HIDs either. The tech has already wasted enough unpaid time on this, regardless of his knowledge or interest in HIDs.

 

Plug-and-play HID system into stock halogens...

 

they do fine in SOME housings.

Honda has factory HIDs as an option in some europe countries, and thus our halogen housings are designed to SOMEWHAT work with HIDs.

Mine look great. you NEED a HID bulb that has a motorized shield that changes between LOW and HIGH position.

your average ebay bullcrap bulbs do NOT look good in fit housings!! LIGHT SCATTER~!1!

 

I have nothing to prove or hide so I will admit, you COULD be right regarding the HID being the issue.

What I will not agree with at this point is that the HID is the issue here though. If you actually red what I posted I said my VSA NEVER WORKED. Meaning when I bought my car from the dealer with 18 miles the very next day while learning more about the car (because lets face it I knew more than all of salesmen combined about 2013 fits from either my own research or just from actual experience riding in them) I couldnt get the VSA to turn on no matter how I pressed and held the button. When the car would turn off I also stated the VSA light would stay on WITH the check engine light. I do not know if thats standard procedure for the Fits. Anyways the dealer said they reflashed the Fit, it does NOT do anything out of the ordinary now. I still have my headlights HID, nothing has been replaced and everything works as it should. Meaning the HID are not the problem.


Regarding the HID light output, es these things scatter the FUCK out of the light. It is everywhere and I might change them out for a more qualit kit in the future. For now they work and I still have halogen highbeams.

 

Those are the WORST kits to buy. I don't feel like going on a tirade beyond that, so I'm gonna leave that as is.

As for the HID, unfortunately, it doesn't entire prove it wasn't the fault of the HID either. Because you said worked fine and didn't shut down for 500 miles since i stalling the HID. Well, what about all the miles BEFORE installing the HID, when the car didn't shut down?

You said your VSA never worked in the first place... Did you ever take in to get checked out? Or did you just ignore it until now?

While i do recall there being a recall regarding VSA, it was relating to miscalculations of VSA when non-stock tire/wheels were used. Beyond that, reflashes only applied to cars that appear to need it. In other words, case by case basis.