I have less than 200 miles on my manual Fit, and last night the malfunction light came on. There was no message to check the gas cap, but I retightened it anyway. I am still on the original tank of gas, so the cap has not been touched since the car was filled up at the dealer 6 days ago.

I have been driving very conservatively (accelerating and braking gradually) during the break-in period, though it has been a mix of city and highway driving.

I already have an appointment tomorrow for the dealer to install the anchors for the floor mats, so they are going to take a look at the computer codes at that time. The service person at my dealership hesitated to speculate what the problem could be, but said maybe a connection was loose or unplugged. He also said it was okay to drive the car with light on as long as it seemed to be running normally, which it seems to be doing.


What are some reasons why the malfunction light would come on? Has this happened to anyone else? Should I be worried?

Thanks for any comments.

 

maybe your car is malfunctioning........hahaha
no one would know whats wrong with your car. it's probably something minor so i wouldnt worry about it too much, the dealer will take care of it

 

I have heard of a few people having the lights come on after installing a cold air intake because it was hitting an airbag sensor.. but nothing off the lot.

 

try resetting the ECU. just disconnect the battery for about 10 min see if it comes back on.

 

I wouldn't do that. If it is something serious, the code will be erased by disconnecting the battery and the dealer won't be able to retrieve it with their scanner. The car is under warranty... let them fix these type of problems for you. If you monkey around, they will just end up trying to blame you for the condition.

 

Yeah, just go back to the dealer. That is why you buy a new car, because it comes with a warranty.

 

Thanks for everyone's input. I took it to the dealer Saturday, and they said the malfunction light was from a knock sensor code. They at first said it detected a little knocking, possibly from some bad gas. But then they cleared it and the light went on again after they drove it a little bit. They researched it some more, and said the problem was the knock sensor. It would be involved to fix it, something they couldn't start at 3pm on Saturday.

I made arrangements to drop the car off Monday night, and they will provide a free rental car.

I told them I was planning on taking a trip to Atlantic City that evening, and the service person said that would be no problem. The car has been working fine, and I certainly have not heard any knocking.

Sunday, when I started up the car, the light was off! I drove it locally today and made a few stops. The light did not come back on.

I will call them tomorrow and see if they feel I should still bring the car back in for service.

Joe

 

Just bring it back in, better to be safe than sorry.

 

Most likely a intemittant short in the knock sensor wiring. While it may read ok at this time it can/will go on again in the future. Get it to the dealer and let them repl the knock sensor that way there is no chance of problems in the future...

 

I work at a dealer, this is exactly the first thing they would do after retrieving the code. If there is something wrong the light will come back on, it will not just erase it forever and leave the problem there.

 

Definitely have them fix that. If the knock sensor is failing, it can mess up your ignition timing, and can affect your fuel economy. Even worse, it could cause the car not to properly adjust the ignition timing, which could result in detonation, causing damage to the engine. Have the dealer replace the knock sensor ASAP.

 

Thanks, I'm familiar with how this all works... but he wanted to know what was wrong with his car and what could be causing the CEL. If he disconnected the battery and the code was erased, he would never know what tripped it in the first place.

 

I dropped the car off at the dealer last Thursday so they could work on it, and picked it up on Saturday. They said that the knock sensor connection was loose, and that the signal from the sensor was not consistent. I guess they tightened it up, but mentioned that they ordered the sensor so they will have it if I needed it.

After picking up the car, I drove about 150 miles before the malfunction light came on again. This time it went off later the same day, and has not been on since.

Today I will be taking the car back to the dealer, and they are going to replace the sensor.

Should I be concerned about this issue, or is it just an unusual defective part and/or poor factory installation? Should I ask for them to extend the warranty?

Joe

 

I have heard no problems of anything except the paint issue. Good luck and hope that fixes the problem man.

 

The knock sensor was replaced, and the malfunction light has not come on since. Hopefully this issue has been resolved for good.

Joe