I got my Fit Sport Automatic about a month ago and have under 1500 miles on it. I've been babying my car and so far have driven it only on asphalt or pavement. Now I'm hearing and feeling a slight rhythmic thumping noise when I drive. Sort of what you would hear/feel driving across a road with very thin evenly spaced breaks across it, except I'm hearing/feeling this across perfectly flat, even, unbroken roads. It's really noticeable between 5 - 10 MPH. At highway speeds I can hear a fast thrumming noise and it changes as I change speed. I checked my tires and wheels and didn't see or feel anything wrong. It doesn't look like there is any odd wear on the tire tread. It sounds like it's coming from the back but I can't be sure since the whole car seems to vibrate slightly with the thumps.

Any ideas?

 

Take it to the dealer. Its still under warranty. I would guess maybe one of your tires has a defect, but maybe not. Just take it to the dealer though, get them to drive it slowly around the lot. If they say theres nothing wrong with it, atleast if it does die, you wont have any problem getting warranty coverage. If its something major and you just let it go and then it breaks, they could say "Sorry, not covered since you let it go on so long."

 

I had this problem but it was going over small bumps. Sounds like if the rear shock wasn't bolted down to the frame. I haven't heard it ever since moved my speaker box to the other side of the trunk. I think it might either be #1: the spare tire cover, or #2: the spare tire needs to be tighted down.

I could be wrong

 

Thanks, I'll check the spare. If that doesn't help I'll take it to the dealership. I've got some free time from working coming up anyway

Thanks again!

 

Take it to the dealer. They'll check the balance and ask to road force them also.

If anything you have a bad tire or 2. It can be caused from under inflation and sitting for too long not being driven. Also over inflation which is what they should do.

 

It's probably just a dead body... check the hatch

 

So I took the car to the dealership this morning. A service tech did a test drive in the car with me before they put it on a lift and he felt the same thumping that I did. Once they put it on the lift the real damage was fully visible. Both rear tires have irregular tread damage and flat spots! You can even see where the edges on some parts of the tread are starting to curl away from the tire. The service manager told me that the damage was likely caused by the rear wheels locking up during very hard breaking. Both front tires have no damage or irregular wear patterns at all.

This obviously isn't a manufacturer defect of the tire, and so it's not covered under warranty, but my problem is that I didn't do this! I've been babying this car and am not even into racing, performance modding, or anything like that. I haven't even had a situation arise yet where I would have had to break hard enough to cause this damage. The service manager was helpful but since I didn't buy the car from them they weren't obligated to replace the tires. He did go so far as to call the other dealership to see if they would be willing to allow them to replace the tires at the the other dealership's cost. But the other dealership insists on seeing the damage first.

I'm making the hour drive to the Power Honda dealership in Valencia, CA on Friday. The local service manager suggested I go then because the regional Honda rep will be there and might be able to influence the issue in my favor. The only thing I can think of is that somebody took a joy ride in the car before I bought it. Either after it came off the boat or after it arrived at the dealership.

 

Uhm. If the tires really are locking up while breaking your ABS (Anti-lock Breaking System) must be defective, and that is definantly covered in warrenty. As I understand it, all US Fits come standard with ABS; so, wheel locking should not be a problem, even if you do break hard.

You know when ABS activates because you can hear and feel the break pumping effect. It usually takes some dramatic breaking to get it going too. Unless your breaking on slick surfaces.

I think your service rep is a little too quick to blame you for user negligence. Take it to your original dealer for thier second opinion, make sure you express how much care you treat your car with, and that you never break hard enough to activate ABS, and thus never break hard enough to lock the wheels.

It is also funny how the front wheels have no problems. If wheel locking was a problem then wouldn't all tires be affected?

Anyway, I conclude with: If wheel locking really is a problem, failed ABS is the issue, and that is not your fault.
BUT, I'm not a professional.

 

The local dealership didn't come right out and say that they thought I was responsible for the damage. The service manager was pretty polite but I'm sure he thought:

1. This damage was most likely caused by the brakes locking up.
2. The only way to do that on a Fit with ABS is to engage the hand brake(?)
3. Either you did it or someone else in your household with access to the car did.

In the end I think he made up his mind that I didn't do this and so offered to call the other dealership and see if they would play nicely and allow them to replace the tires at the other dealer's expense.

We'll see what happens on Friday. The worst case scenario for me is that my drive down there is a total waste of time and I'll have to cough up the cash for two new tires

They're about $70 each at TireRack for the same Dunlops on my car.

 

I find it pretty hard to believe that you could drive a vehicle for 1500 miles and not notice the thumping from tires being flat spotted. It was most likely caused by the parking brake not being disengaged, since that would only lock the rear wheels. Good Luck with your claim.

 

Well, it's really only noticeable (sound and vibration) at 5-10 MPH. At highway speeds the ride seems pretty smooth to me, nothing that jumps right out and screams SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOUR TIRES and 90% of my driving is on the highway. I do hear a thrumming sound that I associate with the damage but it's really hard to differentiate it from road noise or just a plain bad road surface. I only really noticed it about a week ago when I was slowly driving through a parking lot looking for a space.

I'm no expert so maybe I'm exaggerating the damage (I need to post some pics I took with my phone) but it looked really torn up to me. The service manager I dealt with said it's still ok to drive but that I should get the tires replaced as soon as possible.

 

Lemme see if this works:

Driver side rear tire:


Passenger side rear tire:


Excuse the quality. My phone isn't that much of a camera

 

It would take a high speed skid of about 500 yards to grind of that much rubber, or numerous short ones that miraculously all locked up at the exact same spot on the tire. Make em replace them.

 

Are these Dunlops the Honda tires made for the Fit?

 

But if you leave the parking break on and drive the tires will still turn, albiet reluctantly. They wont drag behind the car, and if they did you'd definantly notice it. Plus all models of the Fit will make beeping noises in complaint if the car moves forward with the emergency break on.

This all seems pretty odd to me, but I'm not a mechanic. Maybe there is a flaw in how the rear wheels were assembled.

I hope your trip solves the mystery and all comes out well.

EDIT: ----

I was talking with a friend of mine and he offered that your tires are probably out of alignment.

 

Another thought that has not been discussed:

The car was parked with the parking brake on and was drug. Done by a tow truck (have you had to bail out the car for parking or the like?) or being unloaded from the autorack truck or boat to/from Mother Japan?

Option 2 maybe not as likely, as you did not notice it in the first 1500 miles.

I propose this as I have seen this damage from dragging cars around before.

 

Actually a front wheel drive car can drag the rear wheels with parking brake on. I have been on many test drives with customers (I sell Acura's) that have forgotten to release the parking brake until I reminded them. Some drove for 100-150 feet. Admittedly all Acura's have considerably more power than the Fit does, but it is possible if someone isn't paying attention (stereo blasting, talking on cell phone...etc).

I still stand by my first post. I gave the OP the benefit of the doubt on driving with the parking brake on and didn't call him out. I truly believe someone (brother? sister? mother? father? wife? friend? significant other?) recently has made an aggressive stop (perhaps to check out the ABS?). I have driven on several sets of tires that were flat spotted to different degrees. In Auto Crossing it does happen, albeit very infrequently, unless you like to spend money on tires. But regardless of how bad the flat spotting was, you could definately feel it immediately after it happened.

I have seen tires damaged from by drivers when the vehicle was in transport before. In fact I've seen them arrive with all 4 tires flat spotted so bad that they were through the tread into the steel belts. Like I said, if it were the next day or so after delivery I could buy that, but after a month and driving the equivalent of half way accross the entire US, I don't think so.

 

I wasn't able to drive to the dealership in Valencia today. Work was busier than I expected and there was a wind advisory in effect in my area anyway. I don't feel entirely safe driving my Fit with the tires the way they are now, more so in less than ideal driving conditions

@Spule 4
What you're describing is pretty unlikely. When at home my car is parked in the garage at all times. I work inside an Air Force base and I would imagine it would be a little more difficult for anyone to just pull up and start towing a vehicle without being noticed.

@Cosmo
What you're describing is even less likely. I have not yet made the mistake of driving off in my Fit with the parking break engaged nor have i engaged it for any reason while driving. I also have not had any reason to brake aggressively at any time with this car. The only other person who could have driven the car is my wife and I know she hasn't done anything at all with my Fit.

Now that I know the damage is there I can say I notice it all the time. But I have had other passengers in the car since I bought it and no one can say they noticed anything out of the ordinary either.

I've hardly driven my Fit at all this week and I don't have the time any more to drive to Valencia where I bought the car so I'm just going to have the tires replaced at my own expense. My time and effort is worth more to me right now than the ~$140 + labor it might cost me.