quick version:

- 2017 honda fit LX manual, with 1200 miles that I picked up with salvage status. I was told that it was a front end hit but no airbags deployed or engine damage. On day 1, 40 miles in, some dash lights came on and eventually "check charge system" light came on.

- did a bunch of diagnosis (see below for details). but eventually decided to take to dealer.

- dealer has tried to resolve a "check charge system" warning light problem (as well as CEL, traction control warning lights coming on - CEL was for "fuel bank lean"). They figured that the low voltage was triggering the warning lights.

- changed alternator, still got "check charge system" lights

- then changed the PCM (or ECM?). no change

- escalated to Honda USA support and they said to change the alternator again in case the alternator is bad.

- car started up fine, but when they moved the car to the back lot for pickup, the lights came on again.

- back to Honda USA for more guidance. and now awaiting an update

- dealer has been very supportive and taken lots of time to diagnose and even provided a loaner, though it's taken over 10 days to get to this point.


Casting the net wide to see if anyone has input or suggestions.


Full details:

- bought a rebuilt/salvage 2017 fit with 1200 miles on it for a good deal. I'm aware of the risk of purchasing a salvage vehicle, and budgeted some funds for repairs into the purchase (but this is a bit more than I expected...)

- Everything drove fine until mile 40 after pick-up and CEL came on together with the TPMS and traction control warming lights but no change to driveability. I picked it up in preparation for a family move to a new city. So it sat for > 1 month before I could get back to looking at it.

- did some reseearch here on fitreak and found some similar problems but couldn't do much till I was back in the city with the car.

- When I finally got back into the city to deal with it, I got the code read, which said "Fuel bank lean" - indicating a lean condition in combustion. Reset it with a code-reader but it came back pretty quickly. Car drove and started fine as far as I could tell. I continued to drive the car for another 3 days.

- During these few days, took the car to autozone where they checked the battery and said it needed replacing. Then they checked the charge system and said that it's not giving full voltage when running.

- Being new to the city, I got referred by a friend to an indy shop. They looked at it and said that the battery is fine. And the alternator was working, but not at full capacity to charge the battery. Since they noticed the car was relatively new, they suggested bringing to honda dealer to see if they would cover it under warranty.

- took it to the local dealer and they immediately called me to confirm if I knew the car was salvage status, which I did, which meant I was on the hook for repair costs.

- they went ahead and diagnosed with my approval.

- suggested that the alternator needed replacing as it wasn't putting out sufficient voltage.

- replaced alternator for $900

- then suggested replacing the PCM or ECM?, which I approved (and they gave me their cost on it, not retail, which was helpful of them).

- they said if that fails, they might have to replace the whole wiring harness (which is like a $2000 part). but they would ask Honda USA for support first.

- after hearing back from Honda USA, they said to try another alternator as all dealer shop's diagnosis so far should point to that. IT wouldn't be the wiring harness.

- Replaced the alternator again at their cost.

- Car started up fine without codes but when they moved the car to the back lot for pick up, the lights came on again.

- So we are now waiting for Honda USA to get back to the dealer for further diagnosis/guidance.


Any input or assistance is welcome!


thanks!

 

The only 2 times that I've seen that message personally.

Blown horn fuse.

Accidentally cut one of the wires leading to the radio harness (well it was really crappy instructions on Axxess's part).

 

My first thought when reading this is bad ECM - electronic control module.

I'd be very curious if they measured the alternator voltage before and after ECM replacement, and verified that the voltage was back to normal before it went out again.

In that case, I'd agree with the salvage wiring harness being damaged somewhere. It could possibly be diagnosed by a repair shop specializing in such things and maybe repaired. It wouldn't be cheap if it took them awhile, but it could potentially be a lot cheaper than a full retail replacement.

 

I'm having the exact same problem. Did you ever get this figured out?

My car is currently sitting at the dealer awaiting for the ECM to arrive. They already replaced the alternator and I'm $900 in the hole. Only difference is my car is not salvage so I don't think there is a damaged harness.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Unfortunately, I had to do the whole harness replacement and the car has been working fine since (well, with the exception of some intermittent failure to start... but that was because they didn't tighten down one of the battery posts upon reassembly). But since then... all has been good. It was an expensive repair. Hope you don't have to go down the same route. Unfortunately, the dealer isn't going to be doing all the detailed line-by-line diagnosis for each circuit to find the break. At the point I was in, the dealer was giving me a courtesy car to use so it was just easier to leave it with them to finish the job. Renting car for the same period and sending the car to another independent shop was too much of a hassle and expense when it was our only family car.

Hope you get it sorted out!

 

What did they charge you for? I just spoke to the service advisor, they contacted "techline" which told them to replace the pcm or ecm they did that and it didn't fix the problem at which point they told them to replace the alternator again and they think that fixed the issue. Fingers crossed.. bit now I'm worried that they're going to try to charge me for the ecm that I didn't need in the first place. The advisor said he will call me on Monday when the manager is in when I asked him what i would be charged for. My car has now been at the dealer for nearly a month.

 

Seems like they are diagnosing in similar way. I paid for all of that: alternator, ECM and harness at the end of it all. so it was in the $3K range after everything was said and done.

 

But does that include the 2k wiring harness?

 

Well I was going to pick it up today and the dealer called while on my way there. Check charge system light came back on as they pulled it up front. Service advisor said it would most likely be the the harness.... guess I'll be eating ramen this month.

Interesting to note though my car was never in a wreck so it may be a quality issue with the 2015 Fit model. Has anyone else had this problem?

 

2015 with 78k miles. Only time I had check engine lights was when I incorrectly installed a self powered sub. Once that got corrected it's been fine. Sorry you're having this problem. It must be frustrating.

 

We've heard of QC issues with the 2015s, but not associated with the wiring harness.

I suspect whatever is going on has to do with a bad ECM/PCM, and it doesn't play nicely with the rest of the electrical system as it malfunctions. So even if you put a new one in, you're dealing with damage already done by the old one, and you can't tell where the damage is coming from without doing a full diagnostic on the harness, which nobody wants to do because it's expensive and doesn't always work.

I don't like the way your situation with the dealer is going....throw $$$$ in parts and hope it solves the problem. Sure makes them a lot of $$$$.

 

Well after nearly $2K and 1.5 months of not having the car it was fixed. The real issue was the wiring harness.

1)I replaced the battery at autozone issue went away for about a week, they tested the alternator and said it was good

2) light came back on so I took it to the dealer (maybe I needed an OEM battery?) NO they were sure it was a bad alternator. 1 week later alternator came in and they replaced it and charged me $900

3)I drive the car that day and later "check charge system" light comes back

4) The dealer is now scratching their head, techline (corporate engineering line) says to change the PCM, 1 Week later they get tired of waiting for the PCM and get one from a wrecked fit and program and replace it (they didn't tell me this until after I got my car the next month when I was talking to the manager

5) they're sure the PCM was the problem and schedule me to pick up the car. As they're pulling the car up front the light comes back and I get a call... don't come it's not the PCM

6) Techline says to replace the alternator again it must be a defective remanufactured alternator. 1 week goes by it comes in and they replace it AGAIN. test drive it and well... you guessed it. The light came back.

7) now the only thing left to replace is the harness and the BMS battery sensor. 1 week later they replace them, test drive it and it's fixed. $900 again please and thank you.

I hope this helps anyone who might have this issue in the future. Unlike OP my car was never wrecked so I don't think that is the cause may just be bad QC somewhere in the harness itself.

I drove a loaner HRV for a week and CRV for a month and I am so glad that I have my fit back. I was kind of wanting an SUV but them has guzzlers are expensive to drive. I'll stick to my fit.

 

Wow, what an ordeal. Any way you can get back some of that money on the spitballing troubleshooting steps that didn't pan out. Looks like you had to eat "repairs" that didn't need to take place.

 

Whoa. A non-salvage vehicle develops all kinds of problems with the wiring harness, which leads to wholesale replacement of other parts....except the one that was faulty.

I'm wondering if the wiring harness was damaged (not by you) and that led to its downfall. It's eerily similar to the salvage vehicle case, except without the salvage vehicle.

I'd be on the horn to Honda corporate asking for assistance if they haven't offered it already. Even if the car is out of warranty, it sure made them a lot on the parts side, so asking for a little back from the labor side is a reasonable request.