My local dealer is telling me that I need to do a "hump" maintenance at 100,000 miles on my 2013 Fit. I asked them for a written list of what they were going to be doing. One of the expenses is replacing the spark plugs which is listed as $195 which seems a bit steep for replacing spark plugs. Are the Fits set up so it would be impossible for me to access them and do this myself? Thanks.

 

Without knowing the complete maintenance history, it's hard for me to say what all is needed. Here's some info to help with your decision...

- The plugs are accessible, but it requires removal of the cowl. This is not the least bit difficult, but it is time consuming. $195 from a Honda dealer is not unreasonable. Especially if that includes OEM plugs. They are $10/ea or so.

Some other things to consider at your mileage...

- valve adjustment. calls for inspection every 60k miles. A true inspection is using a feeler gauge to check clearance. That is the same as just saying a valve adjustment since you are one turn of a screw away from making an adjustment.

- brake fluid - due every two years

- drive belt - will probably last longer, but you may want to change for peace of mind.

- transmission fluid - whether auto or manual, it's due if not done before.

This may have been more info that you were looking for, but thought you'd want to know. Good luck!

 

Thank you, all good information for me to know. I have done all oil changes when my Fit told me to at 15%. I did the 30,000 and 60,000 maintenance close to those mileages. Nothing has changed with how Fit run's for now. I think I may ask dealer to do belt change as you suggested for my piece of mind. I will do spark plugs myself with help. They also want to do coolant flush. Any thoughts on that? I drive paved roads and do not live in desert dirty places.

 

Coolant flush at 100k is a good idea. Coolant also acts somewhat as a lubricant for the water pump. Changing it could prolong it's life.

 

OK, I appreciate your help with this. I love me Fit and want to do right by him but like everyone else I need to not spend money to keep someone else in business

 

GAFIT, are you sure these cars have a drive belt? I was under the impression they use a chain. The chain shouldn't need a replacing until at least 250 to 300k miles.

 

Timing chain. No maintenance needed.

Belt is still used to drive accessories such as alternator, water pump, etc. It should be replaced per the maintenance schedule. Not sure what it calls for, but I'd say 100k is the longest I'd want to risk it.

 

GAFIT's advice is good. Sparks yourself is easy. Valve job is due by 100k, if you're doing sparks yourself you can do valves yourself. I did. DIY on this site is fantastic. A real sense of accomplishment from doing valves. First time doing it schedule 6 -8 hours. Also coils, replace coils at 100k, I think that wouldn't hurt. At RockAuto OEM coils are about $150 I believe. Piece of cake to replace along with valves and sparks. Serpentine belt I'd let them do it; pita apparently. Let 'em do coolant flush as well, as well as transmission and brakes.

 

Coolant FLUSH? Or just drain and fill? From what I remember Honda says only drain and fill, don't flush.

 

yes, he's right. IIRC the amount of coolant left in the bottom of the system is so minimal there's no need to flush, and flushing wastes coolant and/0r introduces water into the system.

 

In theory, flushing could dislodge something like sludge from the radiator as well. Not sure it would really happen or not?

I've always just gone with the drain and refill approach. If you start early on, it's easy to just drain and refill every so often. I just do it as part of my 50k valve adjustment, spark plug, oil change, etc ritual. The whole services costs little and doesn't take much time.