Picture of dipstick oil level

Hello! First time poster here. I am mechanically inclined when it comes to computers… cars not so much but I am learning as I need to.

So a little background, I have a 2007 Black Honda Fit Sport - automatic. Has about 190K mileage.

When COVID pandemic hit and forced us to quarantine, the Fit was due an oil change a month or two at the time in terms of the date. I didn’t have to use the car much at all… maybe 20 miles a week if that. A few months ago, my work started to allow us to go back. This means I started to drive the car for about 30mi a day providing I wasn’t stopping elsewhere. I didn’t notice the date needed and the oil percentage was 80-90%

Last month, on my last day of work before going on vacation for a month, and about 1mi off the interstate exit before I got home, I was hearing a noise that was getting louder very quickly what sounded like from the engine. (I also down to my last 25mi of gas too..)

I figured that I would be back from my vacation before the weekend but that didn’t happen so I may not be able to get the car looked at by a mechanic.

The noise sounded like loud squeaking. I looked at the oil dip stick today and from what I can tell it looks like the line (albeit faint) is about a quarter of the way down from the first dot so I’m guessing I have a good level of oil or am I suppose to see a more prominent/visible line? It did seem darker than I think it should be near the bottom of the stick. Right at the end of the stick there is a small dark dot.

I had to jump start the car because it wasn’t used for a month and the sound seemed quieter but the noise is there. I can try to get video/audio of the sound so you can understand more better than I can explain.

Hopefully it’s as simple as an oil change… like others this pandemic has made things tight so I hope for a small repair bill here.

any advice would be appreciated!

 

Might be a tensioner or pulley noise of some sort, upload a video on youtube and post it here.

 

If the battery is flat, it would cause the alternator to work harder. If the belt is not tensioned properly that could be the cause of the noise.

When you replace the belt, look at a new tensioner too. You have a 14 year old car so it would make sense. Before removing the belt, make sure you know which way it routes over/under each pulley. There will be plenty of youtube videos to show the details of doing a job like that and for shade tree guys, it can take an hour or two to fiddle around with it. The belt would be bad if it is cracked or shiney meaning that it's slipping and glazed over or stretched out. The tensioner would be bad if it fails to hold the belt tight or was making the noise itself or wobbling while the engine is running. It has a bearing which does wear out over time.

As long as the oil is between those two dots, you're fine. Those two dots usually represent 1 quart of oil. If you are exactly at the bottom mark, it would be a quart low.

 

Thank you for the replies. Today was something for sure.

here are the links from YouTube. The first one I don’t know if you would be able to hear it well but the second one is where I am driving around.



the battery was bad for sure It was 2 years old and I was able to jump it fine and drove around though when I got it to grease monkey, they couldn’t even get it to charge… so they pushed out the car …. AAA did get it going though before the change… which makes no sense to me haha

Now I can’t lock the car by using the key in the door, or even pushing down on the lock… the only way I can lock the car is to push on the lock while the car is on … using the lock button on the door doesn’t even work…

So if you need more sound video let me know!

 

this is kind of noise I am hearing too so I think you guys are right about the belts and tensioner.

 

There's no tensioner to replace in the 07 and 08 Fits according to the Haynes manual, it's just a bolt unlike 09 and later models which have an automatic tensioner and pulley. I'm with those guys too, it's probably your belt. If you haven't changed your water pump yet, I'd do that too cause you have to take the drivebelt off anyway, and you might as well change the idler pulley while your at it with 190k on it.

 

If the car doesn't have a tensioner, then the belt must get its tension from the alternator. However, since the belt has been slipping, it will start or be glazed over and should be replaced. This can be a DIY project if you want it to be. Be prepared to curse a lot and skin a few knuckles. It is one of those jobs that if you do it you will have a great sense of pride. But you can hire it out too if DIY isn't your thing. I agree that you should replace the idler since those things can really leave you in a heap of trouble after you've driven far away from home. If it locks up it will burn and break the belt leaving you stranded.

A simple socket set and a pry bar is about all you need for this job.

Again, youtube for details but the gist will be that you loosen two bolts on the alternator. One is a pivot and the other is a slider. Keep them taught enough that you can *just* pivot the alternator by hand. Loop the belt around all of the pulleys. Once the belt is in place, use a pry bar to put tension on the belt. Don't crank on it but give it good tension. Then tighten the slider bolt which will allow you to release tension on the pry bar. Then tighten the pivot bolt. Check for proper tension and adjust again as needed. About a week later, check for proper tension again as the belt will probably stretch just a bit.

 

Thank you all for the information. It turns out it was my compressor that was the cause.

One day I will get to learn more about this car. lol

 

Happy to hear that you found the problem and are getting it resolved.

 

Well 1 problem down, more to go... haha

I don't know if it's because of Arizona weather or what but the AC is not working correctly. During the morning it seems to be working fine (can feel cold air but not 'freezer cold', but by the time to go home at 5pm the AC does work (blows hot air after a few minutes). It's almost seems that the AC doesn't kick in. Kinda similar to where i put in too much of the AC stuff and it shuts down.

Other issues I have is that my radio will not turn on at all (maybe I turned on the radio one to many times when it needed a code?), and the door controls doesn't work unless the car is on, as in the locking mechanism. I can't open the door with the clicker and I do know there is battery in that.

I have always had an issue with my dome light going out after a couple of months even though I made sure I am not on ON all the time.

So much to look at and not enough time or money (or both sometimes)...

 

The radio and door controls I think are all on the same fuse. My Dad had a similar issue on his Fit. I never did find the fuse that was blown hence we took it to a shop who found and replaced it immediately.