I had a problem with front end alignment and had 2 master tech's tell me 2 different things over tire rotation. They are trained but not sure to what degree. I also had a conversation about mpg and the tech ask me if I had a hybrid, ??? He was working on my car. Seeing the problem on other Honda cars, now I wonder if synthetic oil helps prevents this?

 

Sorry, that's funny...but not funny...but funny....

I'm afraid, that's when I'd be asking for my keys and heading towards a different dealership...

I was planning on switching to synthetic oil next oil change before all this news broke...now I'm even more convinced I will.

So far "Honda" is telling me my Fit is not involved in this recall? So maybe I've dodged a bullet and won't have to worry about having my engine disassembled...

I'm going to keep monitoring the situation..and if I do get the notice..then I'm not going to rush out and be one of the dealerships first....I figure a recall on this scale...I'll wait a little and let the "Techs" get plenty of practice....

I also have to believe that on a recall this scale..Honda is going to release a lot of bulletins and information on how to do the job right....

 

I wasn't trying to be funny but it is. The mpg I get is as good as some of the hybrids get.

They are trying to figure a quick fix and depending on the damage will depend to what they do. The cylinder head is the secret to Honda's power and mpg and has more moving parts than the block and I agree they will have lots of bulletins and the later you wait the more practice the techs will have.

 

I'm not too concerned about Honda Corporation getting this recall right. I'm worried that the Mechanic won't get it right. You all know most Mechanics work flat rate. Flat rate encourages the Mechanic to cut corners and take shortcuts to get the job done sooner and make more money. I don't know why this is. I wouldn't want my Plumber or Electrician to work this way and I don't want my Mechanic to work this way either.
BTW, I was a Mechanic at dealerships and independents for close to fifteen years. I hated the flat rate system as it rewards sloppy/shoddy work.

Flat Rate:
Flat rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Finally, see this link for the 2010 Honda Fit rocker arm assy R&R (pics run in reverse order. just follow the page #'s at bottom of pg):
Rocker Arm Assy R&R - a set on Flickr

 

I am also concerned about the Honda mechanics too. They are, like us, all humans under stress, facing life problems... someone mentioned in the post earlier to try not bring our FIT in the early stages of the recall fix as Honda tech needs time to poke around and won't want my FIT to be the guniea pig for their training purpose. I'll bring it in may be a few months after receiving the recall letter

Also, would it make a difference if I bring in the FIT during office hours as opposed to Saturdays or off hours... Senior experienced mechanics tend to work premium office hours and leaving the juniors to work after hours. I won't want juniors to perform heart surgery on my FIT if I can avoid it.

 

Both good points Rico. Maybe avoid Mondays and Fridays also.
Did anyone notice that the Philipino article ( Honda recalls 5,468 cars with faulty springs - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos ) says cars distributed through April 2010 are affected, yet our Fitfreak friend from Japan says he heard it was cars produced through December 2009.
The Philipino Fits were produced in the Philipines while the the US and Japanese Fits were produced in Japan. Perhaps that is the difference, or perhaps its all semantics, Distributed vs. Produced.
Or perhaps we all just need to chill and stop stressing over something we have no control over?!

 

Big thanks to all the good info here guys

 

Some where on this forum is a Honda service tech who, not too long ago, related that early mid week brings the most reliable service.
I would venture a guess that a dealer will assign this recall repair to a mechanic in the shop and schedule their work load.
Keep in mind this repair is in addition to the shops normal work load.

you hit it scoot -

 

the ny times article i linked earlier basically said if your car was manufactured after november 2009, your car wont be recalled because it was at that point they changed the springs or some aspect of it.

a further detail appearing in the WSJ today says, "Honda dealers will inspect the spring assemblies and replace them if necessary." that's a lot of work for something that may not even need a fix. all the more reason to sit tight and let this play out a good long while before bringing your car in.

Honda Recalls Certain Fits For Engine Trouble - Driver's Seat - WSJ

 

There is a difference between "distributed" and "produced" or manufactured.

"If" as rumored Honda made a specification change while Fits where being produced...then there should be a date after which Fit's produced, would have the new specification springs installed from the factory.

At this point, I'm not trusting anything. The best I can get from Honda, is that I'm "currently" not involved in a recall..BUT I would be notified "if" I am...?????

If Honda is rolling this recall out in waves? Then I'm not sure I'm in the clear or not....

 

+ reps for the info

Everyone interested should read the WSJ link. According to Honda's own filing with the National Highway Traffic Administration, this defect was known since the summer of 2008. Honda took a long time to monitor the situation and decide whether a recall was to be made, make changes and announce the recall. This definitely appears to be a design issue, not some faulty batch of springs.

Also, note that it says that the engine may stall at low engine speeds. I believe at least one poster speculated that the danger was when vtec kicked in at higher engine speeds.

Lastly, the recall is somewhat based on the amount of time the car has been in use, as failure became more likely after a year or more of use. Given the size of the recall, perhaps they will roll this out in a staggered manner, the older cars coming first. If so, my car (bought in Nov 2009) could end up at the back of the line. Of course, I don't know, maybe the Honda dealership network has the capacity to tackle this all at once.

Lots of good info in that link.

 

Here is the official line from NHTSA:
Results : 1 | All records displayed Make: HONDA Model: FITModel Year: 2009Manufacturer: HONDA (AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO.)Mfr's Report Date: FEB 16, 2011NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 11V101000 N/A
NHTSA Action Number: N/A Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Summary:
HONDA IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2009-2010 HONDA FIT VEHICLES. THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR ONE OR MORE OF THE FOUR SPRING ASSEMBLIES ON THE ENGINE'S VARIABLE VALVE TIMING AND LIFT ELECTRONIC CONTROL (VTEC) SYSTEM TO FAIL. Consequence:
A FAILURE OF THE SPRING ASSEMBLIES MAY CAUSE THE VEHICLE TO STALL DURING OPERATION INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.Remedy:
DEALERS WILL INSPECT AND REPLACE THE SPRING ASSEMBLIES IN THE ENGINE IF NECESSARY FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN ON OR BEFORE MARCH 7, 2011. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HONDA AT 1-800-999-1009.Notes:
HONDA'S SAFETY RECALL NO. R66. OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV .

 

when you say stall... does this mean the engine dies on you? engine don't die and just refuse to move? need more info as I had a "surprising" experience earlier...

 

Krimson_Cardnal - It makes sense that mid-week brings the most reliable service.. that's when all the senior mechanics are around I think... I am thinking of avoiding the days before or after Easter holidays....

A thought came to my mind that if those of us who know of our favorite Honda Tech whom we had dealt with in the past and really appreciate his/her expertise/experience/track record, maybe we should set up an appointment to specifically ask for that Tech to ensure him/her is around when we bring in our FIT for recall fix.

It sucks to have a less experience Tech perform heart surgery on your FIT. This is not replacing a gas pedal or any accessories. This recall involves opening up your engine block, just like "cutting open your heart". Our engine may not perform the same way after surgery if not done perfectly.

If the passing marks for a Honda Tech certification is 60%, then I would prefer a Tech who got certified by passing his Honda exam with 95% or higher...I am dreaming I know...

A Honda Tech with a passing mark of 62% will also be certified to perform FIT "heart surgery". The problem is that he/her has got 38% wrong in his test and he/she is going to open up your engine. In opening up the engine, there will be no room for error.

I sounded paranoid because I really am.

 

Just for clarification, this recall does not involve the opening of the engine block but just the removal of the valve cover to access the valvetrain to gain access to the lost motion spring.

Regardless, I'd also want the best Tech to be performing this recall.

 

Thanks for your clarification onemiglandicho. Obviously, I am mechanically challenged.

To help my paranoia, can somebody help me understand what can possibly go wrong if a Honda Tech with 62 passing grade open the valve cover, did not execute the fix perfectly, replaced something resulting in less than perfect alignment, and he/she has no idea, put back the cover, can we, as FIT owners/drivers, know something is not right when we drive away after the recall fix? what is the worst that can happen?

 

I am also extremely interested in the answer - however, if the repairs are anything like what I linked to a page ago, I doesn't look like there's that much to align. (Please correct me if I'm wrong here!) Like before, my biggest concerns are the obvious issues - premature engine wear/damage, and seeing a drop in vehicle MPG.

One thing I'm going to do is take a video showing my vehicle's current mileage and the engine's calculated MPG over my last long trip. I may take more than one video to show the mileage in the city as well. That way if the mechanic botches something and I see my mileage drop to, say, 20MPG, I can show the dealership a copy of this video, and it might be evidence in the rare event that they need to be taken into court. Fortunately my local dealer has extremely good ratings on dealerrater.com and I really doubt/hope that this won't be an issue. Again, I'm not even sure how much there really is to screw up on a job like this. I'm simply going to be very up-front before the repair work starts that I have tracked the engine's performance before the fix, and expect comparable performance (no more than a 15% efficiency change) after the fix.

As far as taking the car in later, is there a "drop-dead date" on recalls, a point after which they aren't obligated to repair the car for free and/or cover damage caused by the problem?

My concern right now is it seems like we're sort of spinning our wheels and this whole thing is a conjecture mill - we need input from experienced mechanics. Plus there's the whole thing that the quality of your mechanics may vary greatly from dealership to dealership.

 

Valve cover and rocker assembly need to be removed and the rocker assembly disassembled and four little springs replaced and then the whole thing reassembled and adjusted.

Like I said before, most likely the recall repairs will be assigned by the shop, but if you do know them well enough to request a tech - possibly it might work.

But really, everyone is acting with little faith in Honda service. I'm wondering if this is based on any hard experience or just some sort of impression that does seem to prevail on this forum from time to time.

This is not heart surgery, it's fundamental automotive mechanics.
Any Honda dealer's repair shop is fully qualified to execute this recall repair.
There are also many independent shops qualified to do the work, only problem is they can not do authorized Honda recall service.

How many of you actually understand how a V-Tec engine works and the purpose of the springs in question?
So much blind speculation.......... there is some accurate information in this thread, look for it - then search around the WWW and learn.

Life really isn't this complicated_

 

To an ASE certified automotive technician this is actually a relatively minor repair, I'm fairly confident that I could do the job in about an hour to hour and a half.

 

Hey everyone I am a service advisor at Torrington Honda in CT, they just released the service bulletins to me today actually on the recall, I did a VIN inquiry myself for my own 09 Fit Sport and my vehicle is affected by this recall. The recall will take about 1.5-2 hrs to complete, techs need to perform spring inspection by removing valve cover and look for a stamped production number, the lost motion spring kit will only be replaced if neccessary along with adjusting valves.