I'm experiencing this exact problem with my 2009 Honda Fit Sport (5-speed) at the moment. There is no better way to describe this than in the quote above.

I googled it, found that thread where the question was posed above, but it was never answered/solved, so I'm calling out for attention.

If anyone has experienced this and knows what the problem is, please let me know so I can tell the dealership, as they don't seem to understand my complaint. If someone can pinpoint the exact part(s) causing this, that would be awesome. I need this fixed!

Thanks, all!

 

I get this too, and always just figured it was our small engine producing less power than usual because it's cold. It feels a lot like when I was learning stick (on my Fit) and wasn't giving it enough gas. Now when it's cold I'm conscious of giving it a little more gas than I would expect given where the clutch is, and I can usually avoid it.

 

Thanks for the input, baconsandwich.

You see, I tried to convince myself of this, after reading a couple of responses similar to yours, but this is only happening to a very, very small percentage of us in the grand scheme of things. Excuse my sarcasm, but when it's only a small percentage of us are experiencing this, one can only conclude that we have defective/malfunctioning Honda Fits.

Therefore, I refuse to accept these theories, and will not gas more to bring the RMPs up higher before I start-up in 1st gear.

 

Fair enough. Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting redlining in your garage in the morning. Generally, the difference between 1k and 1.5k as I'm releasing the clutch is enough to avoid the shuddering.

Hope you figure out what's going on, and let us know if it turns out to be more sinister than we thought.

 

Proper shifting technique.
There should be no lag to speak of when releasing the clutch pedal.

When starting from first, enough rpm needs to be provided to get the job done.
Clutch release should be smooth and total. No hanging about in the 'friction zone'.

 

I don't know the solution, but I think the issue is more commonly called "clutch chatter". Assuming that you're an experienced stickshift driver, and you have not had this problem before, then you have a problem with your clutch.

 

I get it when gently getting going after starting the car when cold. Goes away after a few shifts.

 

My problem is very bad though. The slipping/stalling sound is rapid and very loud.

To the others above: I've been driving standard for 9 years - all Hondas. The problem with my Fit started appearing at about 15,000kms on the odometre - a few months ago, not straight from the lot outta the box. This cannot possibly have anything to do with my stick-shift skill level.

 

I just googled "clutch chatter" and it matches my description perfectly. As they say, it's a very, very, very violent sound AND feeling from first gear's start-up.

 

I get a slight clutch chatter when starting gently in 1st when it's cold, especially if it's humid out. It does go away after a little while usually.

I've had stick shifts cars for 12 years, and neither of my cars before the Fit seemed to act quite like this. I've never really fully adjusted to the feel of my Fit's clutch for some reason. It's almost too light to give good feedback, but the flywheel seems so light that if you do something a little bit off with it, you end up with a really jerky shift. It's not quite as easy of a car to drive smoothly as I expected it to be.

 

My Fit's an AT but clutch chatter was an issue with my 02 WRX when the model first came out. If I recall correctly Subaru issued a Tech Bulletin and I think they offered to replace the pressure plates case by case basis because not everyone had the issue and there was a mileage range on who qualified etc.

I didn't bring mine in then. It wasn't a big deal then and just lived with it but now over 100k later, still there, but I think its getting time to replace the clutch assembly anyway. Good luck!

 

My fit is fine but my 91 accord had this from day 1. Worst was in humid weather. If it's still under warranty I'd try to get them to acknowledge and fix if you can. I was too lazy to get it fixed on the accord and just lived with it since it only happend once in a while. I got my clutch replaced 145k miles and I wonder if it would have lasted longer had it not had this problem.

 

I've owned many MT cars, and only had clutch chatter on one, a 15 year old Integra that was abused by teenage drivers who were learning stickshift. The clutch would chatter violently when cold (it took about 10 mins for it to go away). I ended up selling it, with disclosure about the clutch chatter.

But that was on a 15 year old car that was mistreated, not a 2 year old. I would definitely have the dealership fix it under warranty (if it is still under warranty). Good luck!

 

Mine did that the first couple of times I backed up the steep hill in front of my house. Seems like the Fit clutch does not like to be slipped. Like a lot of performance clutches. So I just learned to start it moving in reverse a little more firmly. ie minimize the slipping. It's never given another hint of that in reverse and never did anyway in first gear.

Most of my driving has been in cars with stiff performance clutches that strongly preferred to be either in or out....NO in between. Also learned to shift up and down through the forward gears without using the clutch at all. My early hassle with the Fit was that drive-by-wire thing....I was already in the next forward gear before the rpm began to fall. So I adapted by releasing the throttle just a hair earlier.

geo

 

I brought it into the dealership and they had no clue what was wrong with it. They let the car sit for 8 hours and started it up again to try to replicate/experience what I was going through. They said everything was "fine". I beg to differ.

In the end, they said that my valves (exhaust or something) #1 and #3 were "not up to spec" and they adjusted those, though they weren't even sure that was causing it. It has been 2 days. The violent thud thud thud chatter has been toned down signficantly - almost none. But we'll see... I'm sure it will come back.

Thanks for all the input, though!

What I'm finding in any forum/discussion related to this, is that there are SO many possible reasons that will cause clutch chatter. People say you need to replace this, replace that and by the time you compile a list of everyone's opinion, you're just about replacing the entire engine and every component attached to it. So, whoever experiences this problem and wants to find out what exactly causes this: no one knows - not even professionally-trained Honda mechanics. You're best to ask them to give you a new car altogether if you want to remedy this completely. Otherwise, we'll all have to live with it 'til we get rid of the car. That's my take on this.

I'll keep you all updated over the next few weeks to see if my chatter gets worse again. If it remains tame, then I would definitely recommend everyone with this problem to have someone adjust all your vehicle's exhaust valves.

Cheers!

 

kind of hard for them to say otherwise when they can't replicate it, but do keep us posted. my fit is perfectly fine, but this subject does have me interested.

 

I was interested to see the comment above about the chatter being worse in humid weather. My Fit is an auto, but my Jeep is manual, and I often encounter clutch chatter when it's been sitting awhile in damp weather. I need to slip the clutch a bit on the first start up the driveway; after slipping the clutch more than normal initially, the problem goes away for the day. I can then start with very little clutch slip and low engine revs.
I've been told the issue is rust on the pressure plate, and a bit of slippage removes the rust. Makes sense to me; 80k on the original clutch.
Moon

 

Check your lost motions springs that is what mine was, there was a recall on them

 

I get a bit of chatter sometimes on my 97 civic when creeping around or on the first few starts in first for the day. Then again the car has 186,000 miles on it with at least 3 people learning to drive stick in it and still has the original clutch so I am just amazed it works at all.

 

its valve adjustment that causes it. tight exhaust valves in fact. see it on a quite a few of the gd's at work