Please help me if you have any ideas on how to proceed next / had this issue before.

Last week I went to start my 2013 Fit Sport " automatic if that matters" which has NEVER given me any issues and it started but was running rough. The check engine light was on solid and the VSA light was on. These were NOT on when I parked the vehicle. Has 80k miles on it so I decided to swap the coils thinking that would fix it. Swapping coils and plugs " swapped with OEM Hitachi coils and NGK iridium plugs" Did not fix the issue. Tried unplugging the EGR and that made no difference. Car will run for roughly 90 seconds before stalling out and won't restart after stalling without pressing fuel pedal. Car will hold rev but will stall once I let off fuel. Tried to scan for codes but scanner says ( linking error) so I'm kinda up shit Creek here and hoping for a hail Mary . Any help greatly appreciated.

 

Try another scanner to see if you can pull codes.

If codes cannot be retrieved and the car was KNOWN GOOD and trouble free when it was last parked before this happened... Start checking for signs of rodent damage on wiring harness, vacuum hoses, and very rare (but easily noticeable) cases the fuel line..

 

I had it towed to the Honda dealer where they discovered that my engine is destroyed. My timing chain is intact but all of my intake valves are ruined, apparently my exhaust valves are bad as well. All was fine a thousand miles ago at a different Honda dealer.

 

Did the dealer tell you what happened? How can the timing chain be "intact" but still have all that valve damage? Did the valves hit the pistons, or did they burn?

 

that does sound odd..

 

I was told it was because my valves were so far out of adjustment. That they were hitting the Piston itself. He did not use the word burn. Hesaid they look down inside the piston and saw that the valves were damaged. Whether they are bent or chipped or whatever I know not. I have acquired the new too me engine and plan to install this weekend

 

That's even weirder - hard to argue with someone who actually SAW the valve damage, but I don't think incredibly tight valve clearances would cause them to contact the pistons. The only way this could realistically happen is if the timing chain slipped quite a few teeth. I suppose that could happen, but I've never heard of any timing chain problems on a Fit - especially one with only 80k miles. It's not even something that would happen with neglect. Weird!

Any chance you have access to the old engine? With the valve cover removed, it should be easy to see if the chain is very loose - that would at least help me sleep at night :-)

 

A friend who rebuild engines is gonna look at it for me once it's out and see what exactly happened.i will update as I get new info.

 

Yes, pls keep us updated. My GE6 is nearing 99000kms and I always fear something like this would happen.
Anyway to tell, BEFORE this happens? Signs to look out for, for "bad valve adjustments" ? Thanks.

 

hi, just checking if you were able to rebuild or put in a new engine. Did you ever find out what caused the valve damage?
hope all’s well in these pandemic times.

 

All Honda Dealers service dept are on commission every person at the dealer gets a part of every service bill.

Did you talk with a service advisor or the honda certified mechanic?

Most service advisors or in sales and are forced to be dishonest by the dealer all for money.

Honda is the worst of all dealers do not use them the system they use is built around dishonesty.

Also, every service advisors I have talked to at Honda dealers are mechanical DD's

Rick

 

Did you originally take it to Jones Honda in Lancaster? Not that I know the guys there, but used to know a bunch of people in the automotive world and have heard bad things about that dealership, plus I know is that's the only Honda dealer in Lancaster, so not a lot of options. There are few reputable shops, period. Lived in the area for 10 years and was always a car guy, mostly did my own work, but for the couple of times I did have to take my car somewhere, didn't trust many places.

I've done my own valve adjustments on the 2007 & 2008 Honda Fit that I have - I can't image that your valves were out that far that it caused engine damage. You would have heard TICKING noise and or loud engine noises, noticed a drop in power during driving and or at least noticed a drop in MPG - if none of these were being experienced, I think the dealership is being dishonest. Plus, I don't think your symptoms really align with the valves being out of adjustment - but perhaps if the valves were bent it could make sense, just seems odd. Unless you were racing and or neglected the issue for a long time, which doesn't seem like the case. I'd be curious to hear what your friend says.

 

This could happen if the oil had been low or the car sat and was driven infrequently. Engine gets hot, timing chain guides which are in large part plastic can get brittle and fail. Maybe our tensioner doesn't have enough throw range to compensate for the loss of whichever guide gave up, the way it gave up.
checked rockauto and some of the tensioners are mounted through plastic (that is to say, they are mostly plastic and not metal with plastic molded over the contact area with the chain). That means they could give out and create a large amount of slack..
This would in theory allow the timing to be off by a large enough margin for the pistons to impact the valves.
In another engine (gm 3.1V6) I experienced the same fault, save the guides were plastic molded over metal. This created enough slack to cause a whip effect when pressing the throttle. It drove like that for years before the chain snapped, resulting in an impacted valve, cracked head. I'd want the original engine back to see for myself if the pistons were fine, just dinged. throw a new head on, replace chain guides, call it good.