400k+ '09 Fit "build" thread
Took this thing to Houston again. New engine did very well and managed to get over 400 miles on every tank. Thoroughly impressed. Also hit 20k on the new engine.
Starting mileage:
Of course, a mandatory stop.
Went to Catalina Cars and Coffee in Houston. A buddy snapped a photo of the Fit.
Took the dog, of course.
Then went to MSR Houston and met up with FF member Hootie. We hung out for half the day watching cars on the track and talking about our Fits.
Hit 580k miles.
Convinced my mom to buy a steam cleaner last year. She got one and I used it on both of our cars. Did my front seats and headliner, and both front and rear seats in her Fit. Here's how nasty my headliner was:
Took home my parents' old lawnmower, a Honda HR214. They've bought it used a little over twenty years ago and recently bought a new one. I have a HR215 at home as well.
Ending mileage:
Starting mileage:
Of course, a mandatory stop.
Went to Catalina Cars and Coffee in Houston. A buddy snapped a photo of the Fit.
Took the dog, of course.
Then went to MSR Houston and met up with FF member Hootie. We hung out for half the day watching cars on the track and talking about our Fits.
Hit 580k miles.
Convinced my mom to buy a steam cleaner last year. She got one and I used it on both of our cars. Did my front seats and headliner, and both front and rear seats in her Fit. Here's how nasty my headliner was:
Took home my parents' old lawnmower, a Honda HR214. They've bought it used a little over twenty years ago and recently bought a new one. I have a HR215 at home as well.
Ending mileage:
Last edited by julianachos; Dec 19, 2021 at 10:29 AM.
New Member
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 2
From: Bellevue, KY
Thank you for all of the amazing posts julianachos!! I have been following this thread for nearly 4 years and this is hands down the best on all of Fitfreak. Everything from your magazine quality photos to your maintenance logs are top notch. I have a 13 Silver Fit Base with 102,000 miles that I bought new and you have inspired me to go the distance and keep it INDEFINITELY.... or at least till they ban gas powered cars all together LOL.
If I were you I would Go ALL Out for 1 million miles..... Sell all the other cars and completely restore the 09 base. Get a new bumper, replace the rusted metal quarter panels in the back... Drive to California better yet Alaska.... Your dog
clearly loves the fit better. How many other cars do you know with over 500k miles new engine or not? Regardless what you end up doing... thank you for taking us all on the journey with you.
If I were you I would Go ALL Out for 1 million miles..... Sell all the other cars and completely restore the 09 base. Get a new bumper, replace the rusted metal quarter panels in the back... Drive to California better yet Alaska.... Your dog
clearly loves the fit better. How many other cars do you know with over 500k miles new engine or not? Regardless what you end up doing... thank you for taking us all on the journey with you.
Glad you like it! I don't plan on getting rid of it anytime soon.
Recently did some service to it. Currently in the 582k range.
Installed Hawk HP+ pads up front. TSX application since I'm using the bigger ITR calipers with 280mm Mini rotors.
Tried to adjust my rear shoes. Turned into a nightmare.
Rebuilt the entire assembly on both sides. Even replaced the original drums since they were too scoured to be reused. The cylinders were left alone, despite a piston popping out on the messed up side. Cleaned it up and slapped it back in place. No issues after bleeding.
Recently did some service to it. Currently in the 582k range.
Installed Hawk HP+ pads up front. TSX application since I'm using the bigger ITR calipers with 280mm Mini rotors.
Tried to adjust my rear shoes. Turned into a nightmare.
Rebuilt the entire assembly on both sides. Even replaced the original drums since they were too scoured to be reused. The cylinders were left alone, despite a piston popping out on the messed up side. Cleaned it up and slapped it back in place. No issues after bleeding.
Last edited by julianachos; Jan 15, 2022 at 02:10 PM.
It has 585k miles now. No updates really as its not my daily anymore and at this point I'm not upgrading anything unless the part needs replacing.
I did drive it all week two weeks ago. Did pickup truck stuff.
Insight hood, front and rear bumpers:
Miata transmission:
1974 CB360:
Bonus photo from January, a K24:
I did drive it all week two weeks ago. Did pickup truck stuff.
Insight hood, front and rear bumpers:
Miata transmission:
1974 CB360:
Bonus photo from January, a K24:
Not a chance. The Fit will be K-swapped before the Insight. I'll probably grab a second one if I go K-Sight. This K24 is for the Miata.
Fit has about 589k miles now - that's 200k miles of ownership!! Currently driving it as the Insight's transmission is being rebuilt at the moment.
A/C also stopped working for whatever reason. Part of me thinks its the switch I got from the junkyard. My original switch was stuck on the 'on' position. Relays are fine and connectors are connected.
Finally ordered the left side Euro-market Jazz Hybrid LHD tail light from Honda to match my RHD right tail light so I can run dual rear fogs. Had the RHD one for quite some time... Now I need to make a harness for the rear fogs and then I'll throw them on.
Always make sure the person in front of you commits to merging in traffic before you go forward. This happened two weeks ago.
Some damage to the apron. Nothing major.
Top appears to be fine. No weird door/fender gap either.
The piece that connects the apron to the fender and headlight was useless. Ripped it off.
Appropriately used a flat Texas license plate I had lying around to make a new bracket.
One fender and headlight later:
Need to order a new washer fluid pump and that's that.
Fit has about 589k miles now - that's 200k miles of ownership!! Currently driving it as the Insight's transmission is being rebuilt at the moment.
A/C also stopped working for whatever reason. Part of me thinks its the switch I got from the junkyard. My original switch was stuck on the 'on' position. Relays are fine and connectors are connected.
Finally ordered the left side Euro-market Jazz Hybrid LHD tail light from Honda to match my RHD right tail light so I can run dual rear fogs. Had the RHD one for quite some time... Now I need to make a harness for the rear fogs and then I'll throw them on.
Always make sure the person in front of you commits to merging in traffic before you go forward. This happened two weeks ago.
Some damage to the apron. Nothing major.
Top appears to be fine. No weird door/fender gap either.
The piece that connects the apron to the fender and headlight was useless. Ripped it off.
Appropriately used a flat Texas license plate I had lying around to make a new bracket.
One fender and headlight later:
Need to order a new washer fluid pump and that's that.
Last edited by julianachos; Jun 18, 2022 at 09:24 PM.
The L-swapped Insight is pretty impressive! Unrelated, but I think the turbo L15 found in the 10th generation Civics would be perfect in the Fit IMO.
Back to the Insight: I'm waiting for the lithium BCM project to be completed so I can gather the pieces to build a lithium pack. That'll wake the thing up.
Back to the Insight: I'm waiting for the lithium BCM project to be completed so I can gather the pieces to build a lithium pack. That'll wake the thing up.
Member
Joined: Aug 2022
Posts: 37
From: CT
Just went through this entire thread. What an inspiration. I just picked up my GD3 last weekend with 213k miles on it, looking to drive from New Haven, CT to Cincinnati, OH in a week and a half to my in-laws. I was starting to worry a bit on what I'll need to go through prior to the trip since I have limited time, but this made me more confident if anything since the maintenance history is a mystery other than the vague reports on the carfax. Looking forward to more updates.
Also who do you know at FCP Euro? I have a couple of friends who work there, they're also 12 minutes away from my office. I used them religiously when I had my E36 M3, still go through them to get my oil for my Lexus because lifetime replacement
.
Also who do you know at FCP Euro? I have a couple of friends who work there, they're also 12 minutes away from my office. I used them religiously when I had my E36 M3, still go through them to get my oil for my Lexus because lifetime replacement
.
If anything, bring oil and get a AAA membership. Glad you enjoyed the thread! When you get the time, just do a once-over on any wear and tear items so you have a baseline to work with, then periodically check on other things as time passes by.
When I bought my Insight, people thought I was nuts for buying a car and driving it home from Seattle. I had to remind people I took the Fit on its original engine to Newfoundland on a long weekend (Canadian holiday weekend) when everything was closed. Make note that Newfoundland is one seven-ish-hour ferry ride from Nova Scotia, while my house is an 18-hour, 1120-mile drive from said ferry port. If I needed something as simple as a spark plug from the Honda dealer there, I'd be screwed. It's not like where I was had plenty of Canadian Tire or Princess Auto locations handy either. With the Insight on the other hand, I was mostly driving on commonly-traveled interstate highways with plenty of open stores. I did stop at a Walmart to buy an FM transmitter because the radio gave me issues while my phone was connected.
My friend does some work with FCP Euro, however, there are two people there from I assume the social media team that I know and follow each other on Instagram. These are photos from the time I drove the Fit there:
I was there last month picking up some oil for the Insight.
When I bought my Insight, people thought I was nuts for buying a car and driving it home from Seattle. I had to remind people I took the Fit on its original engine to Newfoundland on a long weekend (Canadian holiday weekend) when everything was closed. Make note that Newfoundland is one seven-ish-hour ferry ride from Nova Scotia, while my house is an 18-hour, 1120-mile drive from said ferry port. If I needed something as simple as a spark plug from the Honda dealer there, I'd be screwed. It's not like where I was had plenty of Canadian Tire or Princess Auto locations handy either. With the Insight on the other hand, I was mostly driving on commonly-traveled interstate highways with plenty of open stores. I did stop at a Walmart to buy an FM transmitter because the radio gave me issues while my phone was connected.
My friend does some work with FCP Euro, however, there are two people there from I assume the social media team that I know and follow each other on Instagram. These are photos from the time I drove the Fit there:
I was there last month picking up some oil for the Insight.
Member
Joined: Aug 2022
Posts: 37
From: CT
That's great, hey if you're ever in the area with the Fit let me know I'd love to see it in person. I told my wife about the "half a million mile" Fit when I bought mine and she commented on the mileage and her mind was blown 
Member
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 1,637
From: California
@julianachos Tell us about Liqui Moly engine oil. Is this the secret sauce that we all should be using?
Member
Joined: Aug 2022
Posts: 37
From: CT
@julianachos Tell us about Liqui Moly engine oil. Is this the secret sauce that we all should be using?
I used to be a big Rotella T6 guy, that was great on a turboed car but didn't see as great of an effect on an N/A car. My cars seem to run pretty well on Liquimoly.
Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 96
From: New Jersey
Hello,
I do the New Jersey - Orlando round trip a few times a year. Never had any problems with my Fit, but I found it's best to carry some spare items along. I figured if I have the parts with me, I can go to just about any garage and get the parts installed, and not have to wait for parts that may be hard to get.
Here is the spares and other stuff I carry:
1. Full size spare tire
2. Portable battery inflator that uses the Fit battery
3. Portable inflator with its own battery
4. Spare (but used) OEM alternator
5. Upper and lower radiator hoses
6. Radiator cap, Oil Filler cap, Gas Tank cap
7. Serpentine Belt
8. Windshield Wiper Blades
9. Tire Plug Kit, Tire Pressure Guage
10. Common Tools
11. Spare headlight bulbs, spare indicator bulbs
12. Spare 51R Battery with jumper cables that can reach the terminals from inside the car
13. Spare fuses
14. Gas can with one gallon of fuel in it
15. 4 quarts of oil, spare oil drain plug
16. 1 quart ATF and funnels
17. Radiator fluid, water, windshield washer fluid
Sounds like a lot of stuff, but it doesn't take up that much space, and if you need any of it, it will save you money and an awful lot of time12.
2010 Fit Sport Tidewater Blue Metallic 156,000 miles
I do the New Jersey - Orlando round trip a few times a year. Never had any problems with my Fit, but I found it's best to carry some spare items along. I figured if I have the parts with me, I can go to just about any garage and get the parts installed, and not have to wait for parts that may be hard to get.
Here is the spares and other stuff I carry:
1. Full size spare tire
2. Portable battery inflator that uses the Fit battery
3. Portable inflator with its own battery
4. Spare (but used) OEM alternator
5. Upper and lower radiator hoses
6. Radiator cap, Oil Filler cap, Gas Tank cap
7. Serpentine Belt
8. Windshield Wiper Blades
9. Tire Plug Kit, Tire Pressure Guage
10. Common Tools
11. Spare headlight bulbs, spare indicator bulbs
12. Spare 51R Battery with jumper cables that can reach the terminals from inside the car
13. Spare fuses
14. Gas can with one gallon of fuel in it
15. 4 quarts of oil, spare oil drain plug
16. 1 quart ATF and funnels
17. Radiator fluid, water, windshield washer fluid
Sounds like a lot of stuff, but it doesn't take up that much space, and if you need any of it, it will save you money and an awful lot of time12.
2010 Fit Sport Tidewater Blue Metallic 156,000 miles
Member
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 1,637
From: California
Member
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 99
From: Texas
I keep a small portable power station (lithium ion) in my Fit. It has DC outputs (12V/24V), USB charging ports as well as AC outlet. Also got bright LED lights. It can be recharged from the car's 12V socket when running so I don't have to take it inside and plug into an AC outlet.