Hello Fitters.

My sister and brother in law were on their way out to Montreal to celebrate their 10th year anniversary, when suddenly their 2009 Honda Fit quit on the highway. It was raining, and the car entirely shut down (dash did light up briefly, but that could have just been the alternator winding down). The car will now crank, but not start.

They had it towed to the nearest Canadian Tire, and they suggested spark plugs (dummies), and then said it was the coil packs. All of them? They are so useless. And were quoting $700 to swap them.

They got a rental car, and drove on to Montreal, but now they're stressed because A: Canadian Tire is useless, B: they're suddenly looking for a new car, C: they don't know what's really wrong with their Fit.

I've told them not to worry, enjoy their weekend, and they're not capable of diagnosing or fixing the Fit (neither is CT apparently). Worst case scenario, they drive the rental back to Toronto, pay a fee for dropping it off at a different location, and hunt for a new car next week.

ANYHOW - any guesses on what it could be? I'll be calling the mechanics tomorrow morning to ask about codes, and any (or lack) of fuel pump humming. Does this sound familiar?

 

Did they check the alternator and battery?

 

If it cranks not likely the battery or alternator. Geez Crappy Tire is terrible. Really need a Honda dealer. I checked Google map and not too far from Crappy in Kingston ... same street.

Stupid question but since driving from Hamilton and got to Kingston any chance ran out of gas.

Good luck. Lets us know what the problem is once fixed up.

 

Thanks guys. They drove from Newmarket where they live. It threw 5 codes, one for each cylinder misfire, and one general misfire. This is why CT was thinking coil packs... but all of them? very doubtful.

I'm going to drive out there tomorrow to have a look, and worst case, have it towed to a newmarket Honda dealership.

Has this happened before where all 5 misfire codes have gone off, and the car quits?

If it was an old Volvo I would think it was a distributor or its single coil pack. But clearly these cars don't have those.

 

I've had all five misfire codes back in December.. they went away on there own though and car drove fine.. thought it was bad gas maybe. These cars have had issues on the forums of spark plugs blowing out.. any updates?

 

Strange I have a 09 lx manual, and do the montreal - toronto trip often without any issues

I'm the original owner and have been following the services to the T - currently at 190kms

 

Did they happen to hit a large puddle? Maybe the electronics got wet and cause it to die.


I can help you with the step by step instructions for suggested repairs if you provide the codes! I'm guessing it was P0300, P0301, P0302, P0303 and to cap it off P0304.

Keep us in the loop

Like vickenp said "Any updates"

 

Alright, just to close this one off, and for people who may find this thread in the future, the car is back up and running again.

CT swapped the plugs, and they reported it would then "run very rough" which is why they began to hypothesize about the coils. When they swapped the plugs, they did an engine compression test (checked out fine), and then cleaned everything up, and hit it all with dielectric grease. Before they had a chance to swap coils, the next morning it was running smooth. I drove out to Kingston, fetched the car, and drove it around for a few hours before my sister and brother in law showed up. Ran fine all the way back to Newmarket.

Clearly water got where it shouldn't have. Not sure what was the miracle item that fixed it. But clearly drying it out got it back to operating condition.

Thanks everyone,
Sim

 

 

Thanks for posting Sim. Last year I lost my Accord Horn to water. I was on Hwy 2 near Cardinal and hit deep water covering hwy. Surprisingly I did not feel any hydroplaning but a huge amount of water went into the horn. Had to replace it.