Summary:



2 videos (video 1 and video 2) are included. 2017 Honda fit manual transmission LX purchased Certified pre-owned with HondaCare Extended Warranty in 2019 at 18,000 miles is now at 28,500 miles. A few months after purchase, rattling and shaking occurred when pressing clutch down while in first gear and in reverse and has been worsening. Sometimes I can’t put it in first gear (shift gets stuck) and I gotta move it to 2nd, then back to first a few times. The Honda Dealership did $2500 in warranty repairs for motor mount, transmission mount and wheel bearing that failed to resolve chief complaint of rattling and shaking. Honda reps reproduced the problem after extensive prompting, say the transmission is the problem, and refuse to cover diagnosis and repairs (charging $1300 out of pocket in transmission teardown for diagnosis and more money out of pocket if the clutch is broken) as the warranty doesn’t cover wear and tear items such as the clutch. Honda Mechanic said clutches shouldn’t wear out at 30,000 miles. Salesman, dealership, HondaCare Warranty, and Honda Motor Co. all told me I’m on my own. Never had this problem on my parents’ old 2004 Honda Civic manual. What can I do?



Detailed version:



I dreamed of having a Honda that would last for a long time. My parents had advised me to purchase a Honda for my first car because they had driven Hondas for more than 20 years and loved the brand. My 2017 Honda Fit Manual transmission is breaking down. Can Honda fix this car?



I purchased the car Certified Pre-Owned with an extended HondaCare Warranty in 2019 from a California Honda dealership at 18,000 miles. In a few months it shook on gear changes. The chief complaint was a rattle and a palpable shake when declutching from first and reverse gear (pressing the clutch down). It’s been getting worse. While I am familiar with rev matching to avoid shaking, this is abnormal. I’ve never had these shakes and rattles coming from the engine bay in my parents’ old 2004 Honda Civic manual transmission – and I started driving that car in 2010 when it was six years old! I’m a med student and am extremely busy. Taking time off negatively impacts patient care. Now that COVID restrictions have eased in Florida, where my school is located, and school was resuming soon, I decided to make a warranty claim. The car was at 28,500 miles at that point.



Three weeks have passed with Honda reps who have delivered obfuscations, evasions, stone walls, repairs that failed to solve the chief complaint, claims of “wear and tear items are not covered under this warranty” and screened phone calls. The car received a new engine mount, new transmission mount and new wheel bearing totaling $2500 from a Florida Honda Dealership. The mechanics said the engine was shaking a lot and it needed these repairs.



The mechanics failed to do a test drive before and after these repairs. I started the car in front of the shop, did not drive off the lot, and noted the chief complaint was completely unresolved (rattling and shaking coming from the engine on declutching from first and reverse). The head mechanic later reproduced the problem on a test drive with me and informed it is a transmission problem, possibly the clutch. The mechanic said clutches shouldn’t wear out at 30,000 miles. The repair rep informed me it was a “interior transmission problem”, it would cost me $1300 to have a transmission tear-down only for diagnosis, and I would be responsible for everything if the clutch was faulty. He refused to give me the HondaCare Warranty’s number – after prodding he produced a number that oddly led back to the same dealership.



That dealership’s HondaCare warranty could not find my information despite it having just covered $2500 in repairs. I had to google the national hotline for the HondaCare Warranty, who informed me they never received a call about my claims. I would be liable for the $1300 diagnosis regardless of the issue, and repairs as well if the clutch was found to be the issue.



Honda Motor Company (separate from HondaCare warranty) took a week to assign me a case number after I called them for assistance, and then the representative refused to answer my phone calls (and return the voice messages I left) for a week. After begging the operator to connect me to my case manager I was greeted by a curt man saying he was busy, my situation was unchanged and Honda Motor Co would refuse to cover the costs. I was liable for repairs if the clutch was the problem, and the clutch was a wear and tear item which Honda would refuse to replace.



Why does it take so much effort? One week of time waiting for the Florida Honda Dealership to get parts, one fruitless day 8 am – 6 pm of studying in the loud Honda Dealership because they refused to give me a loaner while the car received repairs that did not end up solving the chief complaint, and then about two more weeks lost in pleading for help from Honda Motor Co.



In addition there is an oscillating noise coming when driving around 30 miles an hour from the tires that is not road noise. Honda mechanic said this is from worn tires. This didn’t happen when I first bought the car and tires look pretty much the same, although I did replace one of them with a non-identical tire due to a flat.



What is happening with this car? The car isn’t diagnosed and I’m not a mechanic. In this Honda Fit, multiple critical mounts broke and caused extensive vibrations and extensive movement within the engine bay. Did this cause transmission problems? Can Honda fix this car? How much money will it take to keep the car running? How many more problems will pop up? Why does it take me so much effort to connect the dots? Why do Honda reps evade my questions, give me wrong numbers, and not follow up?

 

Can you mount a camera in the car and take a video of what's happening? I don't exactly understand what's happening.

Is the vibration felt in the clutch pedal? In the shifter? In your seat? In the engine bay itself? Some combination?

Does it only vibrate in gear when stopped and the clutch is in? Does vibrate when you take off from a stop? Does it vibrate as you shift into first when stopped? Does it vibrate when you shift into first when travelling at speed? Does it vibrate in every gear?

I can't tell if it's the clutch linkage, the throwout bearing, the pressure plate, the friction disk, or any shift linkages or bushings. Any one o those could be the culprit, and if you figure out which component(s) must be faulty, then you'll get a better response from the dealership.

 

How about having an independent manual trans mechanic give you his opinion? He could tell you whether it is a wear and tear problem. You should also google your problem to get an idea what could go wrong with manual trans,.

 

Thats weird....i dont really understand the problem

 

Hi there,

unfortunately i don’t know the solution to your problem.
the only thing i know is that i too have the problem of the shift stuck when going to 1st gear and not fully engaging, so i have to backtrack to 2nd gear before trying the 1st gear again.

Other than that, i hope you find a solution fam

 

It's fairly obvious that Honda hasn't fixed the problem, and is throwing stuff against a wall to see if anything sticks (wheel bearing replacement?). Problem is, nothing did.

Tranny problems were documented before the warranty expired, I hope. In such a case, lemon laws in your state may apply. That's where I'd start.

Keep in mind, Honda will not want the vehicle back (esp given the tranny problems), and will fight you tooth and nail. This is to be expected.

In most states, the manufacturer has three attempts to fix the problem. If they don't, they are mandated to buy back the vehicle from you for the original purchase price.

Good luck, and let us know how it plays out.

 

I put up a video in the post, thanks.

 

thats still a mystery its hard to tell EXACTLY what you are describing in the video .....sometimes mine wont go into gear and i have to move the shifter or put it in neutral and try again...it usually wont go into third gear...its REALLY hard to diagnose without seeing the car..its not something loose in the car rolling back and forth in the trunk ?

 

Once in a blue moon, mine will balk at going into first, I just....hmmmm, let me think...I think I let the clutch out slightly and it snicks into gear... have had many manuals over the years exhibit this behavior, have never needed clutch/trans work, just considered it a quirk that’s easy enough to deal with, really...it’s manual, ya gotsta work it

 

I agree, look at lemon laws. Maybe get an outside shops opinion. That sound in the video is very weird. I’ve got the hasport torque mount and I’ve got vibration but it sounds different from what you’re getting. Hard to say, but I know having too soft a torque mount can make shifting into gears difficult. Too hard a torque mount and the engine NVH gets transmitted into the cabin.

If the rubbers good in all your mounts, and there’s nothing catastrophic wrong with your engine (which would also probably felt at highway speeds not just under 30), i think the transmission guesses are close. I’m almost wondering if the damper spring packs on the clutch disk are shot to sh**. I wish you luck with solving this :s....

 

When thinking about a manual transmission, you're basically talking about things spinning at different speeds. We can start at the back of the engine - at the flywheel. The flywheel is bolted to the end of the crankshaft and spins at whatever speed the engine is spinning at. The clutch pressure plate is bolted to the flywheel and uses springs to "pinch or sandwich" the clutch disc between the flywheel and the pressure plate. The clutch disc is splines to the input shaft of the transmission. The end of the input shaft rides in a bushing or bearing in the flywheel called the pilot bearing/bushing.




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