okay.....so i was on my way to work this morning, and seemed to be an average day. I get into my 08' Fit and there isn't any service engine soon light. Just the maintenance light which i haven't turned off yet. i drove down the road, about 3/4 of a mile and POW. Scared the hell outta me. At first i thought it was a flat, but as i pulled over, the car is rolling just fine. I notice that my car got significantly louder. i look behind the engine, and see that the coil pack has blown off the cylinder, breaking the plastic that was mounting it to the head. Since it got significantly louder, im assuming that the spark plug shot out with it. Has this happened to anyone before? Does anyone have any knowledge as to what caused this? Oh btw i was just at the delaership yesterdat to get my recalls fixed. (headlight switch, airbag, and window switch)

Thanks!

 

First...if you have a USDM '08 Fit, it is a GD, so we are in the wrong sub-forum.

Second, yes this is very common for any Fit's that have not had regular spark plug checks/replacements. Ours loosens about every 30k miles. If it get loose, and isn't caught in time, it could blow out through the coil and often takes the threads of the cylinder head with it.

Some have been lucky and been able to thread a new plug into the head, but most end up later having to fix the head.

On my friends GE Fit, we pulled the head and had all 4 spark plug holes drilled and inserts installed at a machine shop. Was a bit of work, but that gets it fixed right the first time. Others have had success with using a heli-coil insert and not removing the cylinder head. Some go as far as to just get a whole used motor and swap in.

Keep us updated!

 

And now there goes my fear level with buying a used fit (with 99k miles) and not knowing if my spark plugs are loose.
Yes I plan on changing the spark plugs and coils, but please don't launch on me

 

Again, why change the coil packs? Are you getting a Check Engine Light codes for misfiring? The local dealer wants $160 / coil pack (~$650), so unless it's a problem, why change them? Never heard of one only working 50% of the time or only producing 50% strength of a spark, for example. They work 100% and then they stop working 0% and that could happen on a brand new "electronic" anything.

At 100K, the OEM spark plugs are worn and should be changed but pay attention to see if any were loose / leaking exhaust gases. If real loose for a long time, the extra heat could have harmed the coil pack's body and the rubber spark plug grommet on the end. If there is physical damage / melting, then I'd be more inclined to replace the coil pack. Absent codes and/or physical damage, keep using them.

 

I'm putting them in myself, so $40 a pop.

Why change them? Because I've been lurking this site for a long time and the coils and the plugs have about the same lifespan of 100k miles. Actually usually the plugs last longer than the coils.

 

You do know that people only post about their problems. I would think far more people "don't" have coil pack problems and "don't" change them at 100K. If you're throwing these good ones away, I'll take them

 

@237k on my fit... I have no record of the could packs ever being changed. Also the plugs we're just changed.

 

Original owner of a GE '09 Fit Sport 5MT in Milano Red. The only unscheduled maintenance had been the valve spring recall, replacing the HVAC fan speed switch, the Takata airbag recall, and a broken rear outboard seat belt button. I also did a professional re-spray in early 2018. The roof, hood, and top half of the body panels were all fading badly, a disappointing paint quality issue, but it had spent its entire life un-garaged.

In November 2017, the coil pack and spark plug for the #4 cylinder blew out of the cylinder head. It had around 110,000 miles on it. The precursor was a strong fuel smell when driving it in the hours before the “launch.” It smelled like un-combusted fuel, so I drove it to the garage at my business to check out. I found nothing, because I didn’t even think to check if my plugs were tight. They’re located against the firewall, and you have to remove the wiper motor and a cowl just to get to them--kind of a pain. Fortunately, the drive home is short, because the plug departed from the head less than a mile from my destination, driving around 25 mph. I was able to limp home with minimal compression.

The most curious (if not downright bizarre) thing is that I located both the plug and coil pack bolt in the engine compartment. All the threads were completely fine! By all appearances, both parts (coil pack bolt and plug) had independently wriggled themselves loose. Weird! It was due for new plugs anyway, so I took the opportunity to replace everything with OEM spec parts: NGK Laser Iridium IZFR6K13 plugs and Hitachi IGC0073 ignition coils. I contemplated using threadlock, but I couldn’t find anything online about luck with that. It’s an aluminum head, and I didn’t want to screw anything up (like, oh, ruin the cylinder head, for example). I torqued all the new parts to specs and chalked it up to a freak occurrence.

Nine months and 20,000 miles later, it happened again--a few days before this thread was started! This time, it happened on a freeway while I was going over 70 mph. I had it towed to an independent shop I trust, and they said the threads for the coil pack and plug were stripped--over $3K for a new cylinder head. I researched the problem and found that while it was quite rare, it had happened before.

Long out of warranty, I called American Honda. They didn’t promise anything. In order to determine if they would do anything, though, they said a stealership dealership would need to diagnose it. I paid the independent shop, had it towed to a service department, and the dealership came to the same conclusion. Their bill was north of $4K. The car was in very good shape, but Blue Book was maybe $5K. Nope.

American Honda wouldn’t do anything for me. Nothing. I asked really nice, mentioned my history of Honda ownership (3 Civic hatches, 2 CR-Vs), and even threatened to buy a Mazda. Nothing.

I like wrenching, and I’m halfway decent at it, but I don’t possess the skills or tools to replace a cylinder head. Given the cost of parts and amount of labor involved, I couldn’t find a real mechanic who wanted to take on the project for my target price of around $2K. And if it the head were replaced, there’s no guarantee it would never happen again. I located a company that gave me a salvage price: $750.

My takeaway is that nothing’s perfect, even Hondas. Overall, their cars have been amazing for me. If I was a little smarter, I would’ve become a Toyota/Lexus guy, but I guess I’m not that bright.

I needed a replacement, and I have two major requirements for my daily driver: hatchback + manual transmission. Not easy to find in 2018, new or used. Fortunately, I found a 2017 Civic Hatchback Sport 6MT with 10K miles. The price was good, and it was red. It’s sitting in my driveway now. I loved that Fit a ton, but the Civic blows it away in nearly every respect, particularly the crucial “fun to drive” category. That hatchback chassis, the one manufactured in the UK and shared by the Civic Type R, is phenomenal. And the 1.5 turbo offers a hell of a lot more thrust. I miss my Fit, but not when I'm driving the Civic.

 

It’s happened to me, the plug blew out of cylinder 2. I repaired the cylinder head on the car with a time sert bought the cheapest plugs I could find and a cheap spectra coil pack to replace the broken one. 30,000 ish on her now no issues. I have no intent on checking anything until it breaks again.

 

Okay, I'm getting really scared here. I can't afford to blow my engine over a loose spark plug. (By the way, anyone know what the torque is supposed to be for the plugs on a 2010 Sport?) I feel like I may want to get out there, once a year and make sure the plugs are torqued down! Honda does not and will not address this problem, ever----too costly for them and bad, bad advertisement. Too bad the plugs are not really easily accessible. Otherwise, I could torque them down more often and forget about it. I may get the wrench out soon to do the torque job just for my own peace of mind. My 2010 is MINT outside and inside even though it has 122,000K! Wouldn't like to lose it and can't afford it either. Regular torquing is the next best answer I guess.

 

There are several recent spark plug threads here with lots of info.

 

Thanks, will check them out!
Just found this great video on changing the spark plugs if anyone is interested. And this video recommends 13 foot/pounds of torque when reinstalling the plugs.

 

It's a good idea to check now and then. But don't get crazy about this. Be careful of any signs of this, but otherwise just enjoy the car. as an example, last year, I had a misfire code on my Fit, on a very cold day. I then checked the spark plugs, and all was good.

On my 7th gen Accord, lot of people on the forum also had problems with loose spark plugs. Never had a problem with mine, and it is now 15 years old with almost 200k.

So yeah, some people had problem, but on the total number of Hondas on the road, it is not that likely that you will have a problem.

 

I do feel better that the last time these plugs were changed, it was done with the previous owner, at the Honda dealer. So, I'm sure they were knowledgeable about the plug problem and torqued properly but still, yes, I will still take the time to check them and fairly soon. Thanks for your input. Oh, and I know I'll be tempted to give the plugs a little extra "tug" when installing but with the aluminum being so soft, I'll try to stick to the specs. :-) Oh, got to pick up a magnetic attachment to get the plugs out too!