2007 honda fit won't start after replacing thermostat.
 

Good morning all. My sister's 2007 Honda fit was over-heating and I noticed a lot of pressure at the upper radiator hose so I assumed the thermostat can use replacing.

At some point I had to.loosen up the wire harness to get to some bolts holding the thermostat housing.. I disconnected a ground wire thinking it'd be in my way and then proceeded to try to remove a clip. I belive this clip is for the ECM, located just left of the bolt I removed for a ground.

I couldn't figure out how to remove that clip and I mistakenly tried to separate the gray part of the clip but it never came out..

I realized I can just zip tie the wire harness out my way and removed the thermostat housing, replaced thermostat and put everything back together. The car initially started, then started misfiring and it won't start anymore.

I removed everything again to make sure I didn't miss anything and everything looked fine. I used a wire brush to clean off that ground i previously removed and put it back together but still won't start.

I'm wondering if I damaged that clip. I read in some forums there might be a ground wire that attaches to one of the bolts holding the thermostat housing but saw nothing.

Could I have blown a fuse? I'm at a loss here. I was just trying yo help my sister out. Any help will be appreciated. I have searched relentlessly on Google but can't find any info specifically for this make model honda.

I had this issue when replacing the thermostat, I'm assuming it's the ground that you disconnected right above the thermostat housing. When i put everything back together the car wouldn't start, so i checked the ground it seemed tight but wasn't making a good ground connection to the metal. So what I did, I took cut out a small square of aluminum from a soda can, punctured a hole big enough to fit the screw. The order i have it is ground, soda can, then screw. That was enough to get a good connection and car was able to start. Eventually i'll replace the can with a washer or something but eh it works fine so far.

Hard to say. Does it get the spark? Is the fuel pump turning on? If it was overheated badly enough, the engine may be damaged mechanically --- low compression due to a warped cylinder head, or seized piston....

Maybe need to have mechanic run those tests if you don't know how to check for spark, fuel, compression.

Good luck.

I added a makeshift spacer to that ground bolt and no change at all. I think I'm going to have to.leave this car to an actualnmechanic now.. thanks for trying to help guys.

Some photos would help. Did you leave a connector loose?