Don't let the bullies here push you into something you don't feel comfortable doing for whatever reasons. You can check around to a couple other shops, and get some other quotes on what they would charge. Myself I wouldn't even bother doing it because I don't see it as an issue.

 

Thanks.

If I had a house, and tools, and someone knowledgeable to work with like I did years ago before moving into the city, I would enjoy working on the car.

When I get some extra time, I am going to check around to see if this can be done for 100. That's about my limit at this point for this.

Like I wrote earlier, I addressed this with Honda technical customer service, and they said that this is not a required maintenance by their operating manual or the maintenance minder or a TSB situation at this time.

It just bothers me that its there and the service advisor pushed me as if it is something critical that needs immediate attention effecting all newer Honda engines in FIT, HRV and Accord.

 

If you haven't noticed a performance change, then why bother doing anything to it?

 

The Honda dealer service advisor says that it's like a cancer to the car. If you take care of it now, it can be eradicated. If you wait till it gets worse, it will infect the entire engine causing a much more expensive repair.

 

And you trust everything that a dealership service advisor tells you?

 

At any automotive dealership not all the liars are in the sales office at one end of the building. Well OK most of them are, but .....

 

That's up there with the biggest load of garbage I've heard from a dealer.

 

The office got me traveling (by plane) for a while so finally earlier this week I had the opportunity to chat with the Honda Service Manager about the Carbon TB Issue. We talked on the phone for about 25 minutes. She was very familiar with this topic she said. Here is an outline of what she told me:

1. The problem of excessive carbon buildup on the TB and Injectors is primarily seen on the Honda FIT Engines 2015+ due to the change in design from the previous engine.
2. The Dealer recommends a carbon cleaning before the car reaches 40K and then every 30 to 40K miles.
3. This Dealer and others in Southern California have told Honda about this, but just like the Brake Fluid exchange (which Dealers told Honda about for years) which is now a required maintenance in the Owner's manual, Honda is very slow to implement additional maintenance requirements on owners.
4. No one that owns a Honda FIT has to have the Carbon Cleaning that the dealer suggested and failure to do it will not void the warranty because it's not a Honda required or recommended service.
5. The inexpensive TB cleaning with a spray solution that some members here have done and others have recommended is not the service that the Honda Dealer would do charging $300. That cleaning is insufficient. The Honda Dealer would take apart the Throttle body and remove the injectors. They would hand scrub all parts of the fuel delivery system at the engine and force cleaning solution though the injectors to remove the carbon leaving the fuel delivery system as close to new as possible and then re-assemble. The labor for this is why it costs so much.
6. For owners that do not clean the Carbon, then eventually the engine will throw off a code usually from a stuck butterfly on the TB or failure of the injectors. You can wait until this point to deal with the issue and any repair that needs to commence. If the Engine is still under warranty from with the OEM 60K or HondaCare extended, then the Dealer could put in a valid claim since Honda did not require carbon cleaning as a maintenance requirement. But until there is a problem, the Dealer cannot submit a claim for Carbon Cleaning.
7. The Dealer is just recommending the cleaning so that their customers are not stuck somewhere away when the Engine warning light comes on or the car stalls due to failure caused by Carbon buildup.

That was about it for the substance of the conversation.

 

“The problem of excessive carbon buildup on the TB and Injectors is primarily seen on the Honda FIT Engines 2015+ due to the change in design from the previous engine.”

Gonna call bullshit on that and nearly everything else they told you.

 

BDCHEUNG I am praying nothing bad will happen and I am going to bank on what you are saying at this point because my budget just does not have 350 extra right now.

 

Everyone in this thread has said you've nothing to worry about.

Mechanically speaking there is nothing that could cause "excessive carbon build-up" on the throttle body.

You're being lied to.

 

What the dealership is doing could ostensibly be called a wallet biopsy. They're trying to figure out just how much they can fleece you for. The biopsy results reveal an inexorable cancer which can only be excised at the cost of $350. We've tried offering a second, and third, and fourth opinion on this cancer, but the dealership is telling you they are the only ones in the know. Hmmmm.

 

Damm. The Dermatologist just clipped me for over 400 for a double biopsy and a bunch of freezing. Everyone's got a hustle these days I guess?

 

But the fuel injectors were re-designed again in 2016 so how does that fit into this scenario?

The recommendation for top tier fuel means that the fuel going through the fuel injectors contains high levels of detergents to help keep the fuel injectors clean. So why would there be carbon build up on the fuel injectors?

 

You know, the Service Manager did not draw a distinction between 2015 and newer models, and said that even cars with just 3000 miles they are starting the see the carbon buildup. With that, she said even with the Carbon Removal, the buildup will start all over again the minute I start driving the car off the lot after the repair.

I did not write it before because it did not seem important, but since you brought up top tier fuel I will tell you what the Service Manager said about it in our conversation. To her for a Honda Engine, Top Tier is only Chevron, Mobil, Exxon, Shell and 76. Not Costco or BP or Sinclair or Arco or any non-named brand. I use Chevron exclusively but lately 89, not 91 (92 in some states). I took deference to her claim that Top Tier means not only the brand but also the Octane and her suggestion that to keep the injectors in top condition, you need to use 91 or 92 and if you had a Honda with a Turbo, you need to run 100 through the injectors periodically--does not apply to FIT obviously.

I was always under the impression that top tier was Brand, not the Octane number, but she says no. For example, is Chevron 87 Top Tier or is only Chevron 91 top? (In my State Chevron only comes in 87, 89, and 91)

Anyone have knowledge about this?

 

Here's the Top Tier list, in case anyone's interested:

https://toptiergas.com/licensed-brands/

 

Glad to see that WOW gas, Ranger Stallion gas, Breakaway gas, Fastfuel, Harmons Fuel Stop, Superfuels, Tobacco Outlet Plus Grocery Gas, and WinWin gas all made the Top Tier list--looks like everyone is on this list.

 

On the Top Tier web site it is stated:

"TOP TIER™ fuel marketers are required to use TOP TIER™ for all octane grades of gasoline and diesel sold at their stations."

So essentially all of the fuel sold by a company (at all of its stations) is Top Tier or none of it is.

 

Good news! Then I am not going to pay more for 91 to keep the engine clean--sticking with 89. Gas is already a fortune in California I am so angry about that.
I drove the FIT to Arizona a few weeks ago on Interstate 10 and the second I get into Arizona--the first station across the border-Chevron--gas is immediately $1.05 less PER GALLON than in California. How can that be? It's the same gas!

What Octane do you use in your FIT in Canada WOOF?

 

I know you didn’t ask me, but since the Fit is a naturally aspirated engine with low compression ratio, 87 octane is perfectly fine.