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Some one T-boned my car in a parking lot but I'm not counting that. 1 new door later and it's better than the other side.
Yesterday I rotated my tires. Easy peasy. Today, I can't drive it and it needs a motor mount minimum. I'm not sure that those things are connected.
I bought the car new in May 2010 with 98 original miles. 2010, Base 5-speed manual with just over 99,200 miles on it now.
The motor should be slightly more level left to right.
On the top right should be a bolt. Not it didn't work its way out. The mechanic found the top half. HALF. The bottom half of the bolt is still in the motor.
Oh hey! There's the other half of the bolt. Just as advertised.
The hole on the top middle should be mated to the bolt hole which is now square in the middle of this picture. This will cost.
On the plus side, I keep a spreadsheet and I'm still doing just over 38 mpg with a fair amount of city driving. Like I said earlier, I have over 99k worth of data points so I'm pleased with the car.
Question: The dealership says the motor mount is "collapsed". Does it look collapsed to you? I looks OK to me and felt stiff when I put my hands on it.
The dealership called me back. $900. Now for that $900 I get a new motor mount *and* the bolt. I also get a new timing chain cover and the bolts and oil seal to go with it including 5 hours of labor.
I called other reputable mechanics in the area and they can only get the cover from the dealership so Honda gets my $$$ no matter who does the work. The other mechanics won't even estimate the work until I give them a VIN so that they can price the parts.
The motor mount is likely worn out, which certainly contributed to the bolt shearing off, it definitely needs to be replaced. The bolt may have not been completely tightened, allowing motion of the engine mount casting, or the bolt could have been overtightened and damaged, but that's unlikely if it has never been changed. Extracting the broken piece from the block could take 15 min or it could take hours, it just depends on how stuck in place it is.
I can't see damage to the timing chain cover - did the engine mount casting dent it? If it dented near the end by the oil cap that indeed is near the timing chain sprocket and would possibly necessitate replacement. If not, there seems to be no reason to replace it. Unfortunately the car isn't driveable, otherwise it would be good to have an independent Honda mechanic look it over.
Thanks for that input. It helps me to feel better about my local Honda dealer. I've not been a fan of theirs ever since they put in a member of the general public to troubleshoot what turned out to be a factory defective wheel bearing. Mis-diagnose... OK... but to put some random Honda Fit owner who happened to be getting an oil change that day so that the dealership can tell me that she thinks it's fine... Not a fan of theirs. That was in 2010 shortly after I bought the car. Today it's not all that mess.
I did not see the damage to the timing chain cover so I'll just have to ask for the parts. I called several of the reputable mechanics in the area and they won't even give me a quote over the phone until they get a VIN number and then they're just going to my local Honda dealer to get the part. I know this because they all were up front and volunteered that info to me. I thought that the local independent guys were good to tell me but I'm troubled that it's such a systemic issue. Is it just Honda?
Anyway, I'm going to have the dealership replace the mount and cover for $900. I'll also have them do the 100k mile service since I'm at or just under 99,500. I think I'm looking at $2k for what seems like a relatively small amount of work.
The base price for 5 hours of shop time, the parts for the mount and cover is $900. I'm sure that's normal for a dealership but it gave me some sticker shock.
gee stealership. go for it if u think they are worth the price. the price they charge you for their parts is plus overnight shipping. your local mechanic will buy it and wait for 2-3 day shipping which is so much cheaper. what was so difficult in providing your VIN number?
anyway. i bet they will tell u the transmission mount is also damaged.
Just so you have more knowledge...these aren't bolts. The front one is a stud that threads into the timing chain cover and then a nut secures the motor mount to that front stud. The rear one is a stud that is affixed to the motor mount and it inserts down into the rear hole in the timing chain cover and a nut goes up from the bottom.
Just taking a wild guess, I'd say that the rear nut came loose and fell off by gravity which then had all of the stress on the front which caused the stud to shear.
Can you think of any service that would have had someone loosening the motor mount? Either someone didn't properly torque that rear nut or it somehow vibrated loose.
At least that's my guess. Sorry again for the bad luck.
Motor mount looks fine (if collapsed, the top part will not be straight)
looks to me like there was too much torque on the bolts during assembly (or past repair for previous owner) if tires were rotated with car not on the lift the strain caused these bolts to fail, but it could be happening anytime and anywhere
Motor mount looks fine (if collapsed, the top part will not be straight)
looks to me like there was too much torque on the bolts during assembly (or past repair for previous owner) if tires were rotated with car not on the lift the strain caused these bolts to fail, but it could be happening anytime and anywhere
Hard to tell from a picture if the motor mount is good or bad, particularly when there is no load on it.
Tire rotation and lifting the car by the jacking points or the frame will do nothing to the motor mounts, which support the motor in the unibody.
The nuts were likely over-torqued causing stretch, or they weren't tight enough which would cause the motor mount to move and place undue shear load on them.
Hard to tell from a picture if the motor mount is good or bad, particularly when there is no load on it.
Tire rotation and lifting the car by the jacking points or the frame will do nothing to the motor mounts, which support the motor in the unibody.
The nuts were likely over-torqued causing stretch, or they weren't tight enough which would cause the motor mount to move and place undue shear load on them.
Agreed!
Car was sideswiped. I wonder if there's any chance they hit a wheel? Could have caused a side to side motion which it's not set up to handle.
That's what I was wondering as well. Its not out of the realm of possibility that an impact load to the side of the car could have been enough to fracture the studs, particularly if they had been overtightened (or weren't tight at all).
That's what I was wondering as well. Its not out of the realm of possibility that an impact load to the side of the car could have been enough to fracture the studs, particularly if they had been overtightened (or weren't tight at all).
Impact from the side will break the timing chain cover! I see it very often on Fits on the wrecking yards
Long overdue but here is the result from that. The dealer had my car for two weeks but they gave me a loaner car. At the end of that two weeks they said it would be another 2 -4 weeks but they wanted the loaner back that night. Great. I called the factory myself about an after warranty assistance. Working with the dealer, the Factory paid 60% of the repair bill and had the part to the dealer in a weeks time.
I'm still not happy with my dealership as they did the bare minimum to get me up and running. I also paid them to do the 100k mile service so they got my money.
07-09-2018, 10:32 AM
1st major repair.
