The other item that is odd is that my 86 Civic wagon, 94 Civic VX, 02 CRV and 07 Accord all had a removable, black rubber battery mat on the floor of the battery pad. I wonder why they removed that on the Fit?

 

Honda's 0W20 "reco" is for the US market (and may be as well as for the Canadian market). It's all about the EPA certification process (emissions and fuel economy) and CAFE fuel economy standards. If you study any car model's owners manuals across the globe you'll see one common item - US owners' manuals always specific the lowest high temperature operating oil viscosity weight (the XX in 0WXX). In most other regions for the same temperature conditions they will specific 0W(XX+10 or +20).

I agree - you do what Honda says and you'll be fine. However for longevity my experience has been to go with the heaviest (high temp) weight oil for the environmental conditions that Corporate specific for that engine/car setup. I'm going with 0W30 or 5W30 once the warranty is up. Film thickness - especially on vertical surfaces - is a combination of surface tension and shear viscosity. A 5W (for cold starting) and higher 30 weight for operating temperature will ensure your parts are well coated for lower wear.

 

Mine is still going strong after five years. I must have left the hatch slightly open one day, and the battery was dead two days later. Playing it safe, I bought another. A few hours on the charger brought it back to life, so now I have two batteries, both the standard, smaller size.

I recommend using a little Battery Tender, or similar, to charge the battery every so often.

 

The Battery Tender has the best charging programming our there to charge as fast as possible but maintaining long battery life. The BT Jr. is a great buy (I have one for the motorcycles) and a BT Plus for the cars (one has an AGM Gel battery and those require an additional charging program for gel.

 

Hi,
I had a really bad experience with the dealer, Bay Ridge Honda, when I purchased a low mileage 2016 Fit last year. When changing a tire they damaged, the put on the wrong size replacement and drained my battery as well. What a bunch of morons. They claim they replaced the battery (looks used) and could not tell me how they put on the wrong size tire. I do not go there anymore.
I have a question. If you are in a cold climate, how is your oil? Do you notice any smell of gas in your oil? Is the oil level RISING? The direct port injection put a little too much fuel into the cylinder and some of it gets into the oil. If the oil does not get hot enough, the impurities, both gas and water (from combustion) ruin the oil.
I'm curios if you have noticed any of this. I have, after running the local highway at the speed limit for 3 months I notices the gas smell and the rising oil level and had an oil change done at 4500 miles. I wanted to go to 7500-10000 but that was out of the question.
I purchased an OBDII port reader and can monitor my water and oil temperature in real time direct from the cars computer. Water (coolant is right on the nose, from
175-201F but the oil was too cool- running from 170- to 190F instead of 230-250F. It does burn off the fuel- just more slowly. Means more oil changes.
Let me know what you think about this.
Thanks,
Howard

 

• If you are in a cold climate, how is your oil? Fine.
• Do you notice any smell of gas in your oil? Never
• Is the oil level RISING? Never

I usually go 5000 miles between changes. I can get 7000. I live in Salt Lake. It's generally a little above freezing for the high November through Feb. A little below freezing at night.

 

I would get an Interstate battery from Costco - they have been rock stable for at least 4 years in my rotary-engined cars (under hood temperatures reaching inferno like state) and I've got ~ 5 years out of my older cars with Interstates.

 

The Fit does not have problems with gas flooding into the oil. That problem is commonly found on Honda small turbo charged engines - eg Civic and CR-V. If you have such a problem with your Fit then it is unique to your vehicle and is probably caused by something bad the previous owner did or didn't do.

 

Oli is fine in -30C. I do notice that my oil catch can holds mostly water during cold weather.
Never noticed a gassy smell. Once when some dumb ass gas jockey overfilled my tank (like probably right to the filler neck) and usually this can ruin the charcoal filter leading to a gassy smell. I believe this filter is actually in the engine bay and not the usual fuel tank.
And as already mentioned, the Civic and CRV with their turbo 1.5 motors do have problems with fuel leaking into the oil.

 

Unexplained gas smell is an indication of a loose spark plug which is very common on a Honda FIt. IMMEDIATELY re-torque all of the plugs. There have been many, many cases of the loose plug being blown out and taking the threads in the head with it. It is very expensive to fix this and Honda will not acknowledge the problem or help with the expense.

Do not drive it without re-torquing the plugs first.

 

All of that sounds bad. Having fuel in the oil is very bad because it dilutes it, so you're not getting good lubrication - aside from the fact that the car isn't running right. Is there any white/yellow foam on the inside of the filler cap? That indicates water getting into the oil. That's also very bad.

I'm sorry Bay Ridge Honda let your down. I come from Bay Ridge, and I turned out okay.

 

He has a 2016 Fit which is the latest generation. The spark plug problem was NOT an issue with this generation. It was I believe the previous generation which had this issue. Honda fixed the problem. That being said it doesn't hurt to check the spark plugs since who knows what the previous owner did.

 

I think Honda has rubber stamps made up with that statement on them.

 

Hello Fellow Honda Fit Owners.I found the Problem to the Battery Discharge Problem.
Take a Volt Meter and measure from the Negative Post Measure the Voltage across the Top of the Battery toward the Positive Terminal and go by by the Water Caps on top.
If you are measuring more than a 1 Volt across on top of the Battery the Acid is making a Conductive Path across the Battery and discharging it. ( I measured 7 Volts.).. When the Battery gets to about 1 Year Old the Battery Sweats Acid around the Cell Covers on top of the Battery. This Sweat is Conductive. CLEAN THE BATTERY WITH BAKING SODA MIXED IN WATER. The Baking Soda will eat the Acid. Take a Rag and wipe the Water with the Baking Soda around the Top of the Battery and around the Cell Covers on top. No Need to remove the battery. When Finished wash the top of the Battery with Clean water and get the Baking Soda off the top.
When the Water Drys there should be less than 1 Volt across the Top of the Battery. The 151R Battery is Only 36 Amp Hour Battery compared to other cars that have a 60 Amp Hour or Larger. I found this Cured the Problem and only cost the Price of a Small Box of Baking Soda. Stan

 

Just buy a new battery every 5 to 6 years. Then you'll have no battery issues. The average lifespan of a car battery is about 6 years.

 

Thanks for the reminder.

 

I beat the averages in everything - in a good way. If a car battery doesn't last ten years, I'm disappointed.

 

Original batteries last longer because the OEMs have their part suppliers add expensive sulfate-prevention additives to the batteries sourced in their new cars (aluminum and cadmium sulfate being two that are added). Most aftermarket batteries do not - to keep costs down.

This is done by the automakers because battery life is one of the "Consumer Value Equation" elements of new car ownership - just like not breaking down w/i the warranty period, getting 50 mi on a new tank of gas before the gauge moves off Full (F), etc. are important characteristics.

You can also extend original and aftermarket batteries by float charging them to keep them within the 20-80% of full charge window to prevent sulfation (which as the battery gets older is non-reversible).

 

The 151 R Battery Cost $175 and they start to Sweat Acid in less than a Year. A Box of Baking soda cost less than a Dollar.
It only takes a few minutes to Dissolve off the Acid that is discharging the Battery. The only Reason the Problem is more Noticeable in the fit
is the 151R is half the size of Normal Battery's and Half the Amp
Hours.

 

I bought a battery from Napa two years ago for $120. Unfortunately, I didn't know about the larger battery. The battery went dead because the hatch wasn't closed completely for two days. I was playing it safe buying a new battery, but the original one is still working. I put a Battery Tender on it occasionally since I'm not driving as much now. It's going on seven years old now.