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2015 Honda fit VTC actuator removal

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Old Today | 10:59 AM
  #21  
Revo39564's Avatar
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Originally Posted by SilverEX15
But it was cheaper for Honda to have them assembled in Mexico, and that's all that really matters.
yup and a mistake like that would be caught quickly in Japanese plant……. Mexico and maybe US probably not.
 
Old Today | 11:23 AM
  #22  
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Originally Posted by Revo39564
yup and a mistake like that would be caught quickly in Japanese plant……. Mexico and maybe US probably not.
yeah, it’s sad though. It’s not just cause it’s cheaper to build to Mexico. Japan is losing its population due to a low birth rate. They’re having to bring in tons of foreigners to work in Japan. My wife is from the Philippines and has two cousins that work in Japan.
 
Old Today | 11:32 AM
  #23  
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Originally Posted by Revo39564
I suspect the Mexican plant was installing them and torquing them in locked which damaged the weak spring
To damage the locking pin or its spring during removal or installation you would have to be holding the actuator housing (part with the timing chain teeth on it) still while torquing the bolt (housing clamped in a vise), or using an impact wrench (hammering action + part momentum possibly causing damage).
When engaged, the locking pin mechanically connects the actuator's housing to the hub (part that bolts to the cam shaft). When the lock is disengaged, the hub has a range of movement within the housing. In normal operation, that movement is controlled by oil filling the chambers of the actuator, acting as a hydraulic fluid. The coil spring constantly tries to push the locking pin into the locked position, but the pin can only drop in when 1) the actuator is in its "zero advance" home position, and 2) there's no oil pressure in the back plate's pin bore (the VTC solenoid valve has connected the "timing advance" half of the actuator + pin bore to the drain passage).

Originally Posted by Revo39564
VTC actuators are torqued unlocked
Not according to Honda.
 
Old Today | 11:38 AM
  #24  
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Your car's previous owner must have let it go for over 60k miles because mine started rattling close to 100k miles. The consequence of that is pretty severe as you can see, but you probably got that car cheap.

I changed out the spring last summer and changed out the chain tensioner last month.
 
Old Today | 11:57 AM
  #25  
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Originally Posted by t-rd
mine started rattling close to 100k miles.
Ours started rattling at about 55k. I tried changing the oil to 5w-30 (with about 60% oil life left) - it cold-start rattled a few more times, then hasn't rattled since. That makes me suspect it was additional cleaning action from the half-interval oil change, rather than the change in oil viscosity. Spring kit and gaskets are on hand, waiting for it to start rattling again. I'll go back to 0w when the maintenance minder runs down the rest of the way, do another half-interval change, then back to regular intervals if the rattling doesn't come back. I'll try 5w again if it starts rattling on 0w. I'm trying to do A-B-A testing to nail it down, but the oil change intervals and low mileage make that slow.
 
Old Today | 12:52 PM
  #26  
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Originally Posted by bobski
To damage the locking pin or its spring during removal or installation you would have to be holding the actuator housing (part with the timing chain teeth on it) still while torquing the bolt (housing clamped in a vise), or using an impact wrench (hammering action + part momentum possibly causing damage).
When engaged, the locking pin mechanically connects the actuator's housing to the hub (part that bolts to the cam shaft). When the lock is disengaged, the hub has a range of movement within the housing. In normal operation, that movement is controlled by oil filling the chambers of the actuator, acting as a hydraulic fluid. The coil spring constantly tries to push the locking pin into the locked position, but the pin can only drop in when 1) the actuator is in its "zero advance" home position, and 2) there's no oil pressure in the back plate's pin bore (the VTC solenoid valve has connected the "timing advance" half of the actuator + pin bore to the drain passage).


Not according to Honda.
Yeah, true that one service bulletin by Honda doesn’t mention it. But yet the other one does I sent (that is more thorough) even though it’s a different engine same technology. Every other maintenance manual mentions it too, so I think that was a bad technical service bulletin. It would be foolish to torque down a locked Actuator from all I’ve read. It would also be foolish to take out a camshaft on a high mileage engine.
 
Old Today | 12:58 PM
  #27  
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[


yeah, real cheap. Yeah at least he changed the oil regularly. His problem was the mechanic he used….. new battery, ignition coil, new starter, new fuel pump. Still wouldnt run. I cleaned the oil control solenoid and got it to run. But it wasn’t running quite right due to that jump of one tooth on the timing ….I like working on cars as a hobby so I figured what the heck. Let’s see if I can get it to run. If not, I’ll go get a cheap engine switch out… or just do a partial rebuild….

yeah, jump that timing after the tensioner couldn’t expand anymore


QUOTE=t-rd;1495335]Your car's previous owner must have let it go for over 60k miles because mine started rattling close to 100k miles. The consequence of that is pretty severe as you can see, but you probably got that car cheap.

I changed out the spring last summer and changed out the chain tensioner last month.[/QUOTE]
 
Old Today | 01:05 PM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by Revo39564
It would be foolish to torque down a locked Actuator from all I’ve read. It would also be foolish to take out a camshaft on a high mileage engine.
[Citation Needed]

The bolt holds the hub of the actuator against the camshaft. The only reason you would unlock it is to discourage the monkey with the wrench (who hasn't read and/or isn't following the instructions) from clamping the actuator housing in the vise or using the timing chain to hold the housing still while torquing the bolt.
 

Last edited by bobski; Today at 01:13 PM.
Old Today | 01:11 PM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by Revo39564
It would also be foolish to take out a camshaft on a high mileage engine.
Remember the good old days when you could buy a cam from Iskenderian or one of the others and just go with it? Emission inspections killed that.
 
Old Today | 01:28 PM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by SilverEX15
Remember the good old days when you could buy a cam
You can still do that. If anything, VTEC makes that easier, as the "hot cam" only kicks in at higher RPM. Revo's pic above actually shows the off most of the mechanism nicely:

 
Old Today | 01:37 PM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by SilverEX15
Remember the good old days when you could buy a cam from Iskenderian or one of the others and just go with it? Emission inspections killed that.
now it’s cheaper to get an engine at the junkyard, then buy a cam lol
 
Old Today | 01:45 PM
  #32  
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[QUOTE=bobski;1495340][[i]Citation Needed]

The bolt holds the hub of the actuator against the camshaft. The only reason you would unlock it is to discourage the monkey with the wrench (who hasn't read and/or isn't following the instructions) from clamping the actuator housing in the vise or using the timing chain to hold the housing still while torquing the bolt.[/QUOT

I think it is a good practice to install it unlocked then lock. Every other technical service bulletin by Honda with other engines vtc repair and Haynes states install them in the unlocked position..

. my chain was stretched about a link so I had to change it ,,,,which made removing the camshaft unnecessary…. And Honda makes the timing process easy with the marks….. with the exception of the devils crankshaft bolt it was not too bad of a process….
 
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