I have a 2010 Honda Fit AT, just bought it last weekend with 50,000 miles on it. It drove fine while test driving it.

I drove it yesterday and it felt like it was shifting really hard into second gear. I got on the highway and it wouldn't shift past third gear. I drove it to the dealership and it started shifting very hard from 1st to 2nd and then from 2nd to 3rd on the way (so it felt like it was getting worse). They gave me a loaner and they looked at the car the next day, ran diagnostics, drove it..nothing, no issues. I never did get a check engine light.

I drove it home today and no issues! Should I drive the thing back to the dealership and leave it or could it be a onetime glitch?

Thanks.

 

Maintenance history? Was the auto trans fluid changed yet? Might be worth doing that even if recommended change isn't due yet.

I don't trust Honda's ATF to last much longer than 50k miles. It may shift hard when it's cold and start acting right when it heats up a little bit.

 

It could have been a "silly happening". Our cars run off a CAN system. What that means is the ECM talks to the radio, talks to the air bag, talks to the transmission c/u...... And when a code pops up in one control unit, it can put other systems in to a fail safe mode (aka limp mode).

Note: A code can set and not signal a light.

Example: In my WRX i had bad gas and it ended up putting the whole car in to a fail safe. Once the light was reset the car was fine.

Also, I've seen Techs do a reset and tell the customer they couldn't find anything wrong. It saves the hassle of explain to the customer something that maybe over their head. Or the tech tells the service adviser they didn't find anything so he doesn't charge the customer over something silly like a quick reset.

 

Thanks for the quick replies!

I looked the carfax but don't see much in the way of maintenance on it. The car was warmed up, it had been idling for awhile before I drove it. It did seem to be in some sort of limp mode (other than the extremely hard shifting which doesn't like it would be an effective way to get someone home if there were issues). Would just turning the car off and back on reset a limp mode? I didn't do that before I returned it to the dealership. Or like De36 mentioned, maybe they did reset something and just didn't tell me.

I drove it yesterday and today and shifting was perfect.

 

Yes this very well could be the case that they reset the PCM. Shift points and how hard the trans shifts are controlled by a computer. If it's acting wonky for whatever reason you could see these symptoms. Good call De36.

I know the techs don't always agree with the service advisers and do little things like this (PCM reset) and don't report them. Kind of like "Is the machine plugged in? Did you turn the machine on and off?" questions when you call customer support, first thing to try and easy.

Resetting the PCM is usually as simple as disconnecting the battery for some time and reconnecting it. The PCM will restart on your next drive cycle and start relearning a bunch of stuff.

 

no, it doesn't sound normal. The solenoids (electrically activated valves) that control shifting have been problems on some Fits. They're medium pricey (few hundred dollars).

The good news is your car is covered by a 60K 5 year power train warranty (I think includes PCM/ECM and transmission controls).

Keep an eye on it. If your dealer isn't Honda, I'd go by a Honda svc dept and get them to pull codes (might have something stored even if the check-engine light isn't on).

 

That's an understatement. When I was a tech, one of my service advisors and I would get into screaming matches. We never saw eye to eye. Then one day I asked her out, we dated.... Needless to say it didn't work out. Haha.

 

As for the shift solenoid, Honda has had problems with their AT solenoids since the mid-late 90s. Its possible that the solenoid may working intermittently. But usually once they fail, they fail. Typically I have seen these fail 130+ miles. That's why I didn't jump to that conclusion.

This is a very low mileage car, and the CAN system is ubber sensitive. That being said; if it happens again pound the Honda dealer until its fixed or an explanation.

Drive it for a week and a half and let us know what the status is.

 

I can vouch for this. My car never had the CEL come on, but my ultra gauge would constantly flash with pending trouble codes when my IAT sensor went bad.

 

Thanks for all the great insights, I appreciate everyone sharing their knowledge.

I will De36, I would like to think think this situation is a one-off, but historically I have found that is usually not the case.

 

Just a follow up. It has been about 3 weeks and not another issue with the shifting!

 

At the risk of my sounding a bit touched, you might want to do early transmission service.

I think (not sure) that 2010s were still using the older blend ATF from the factory. Honda has since switched to a newer formula hauntingly called DW-1 (a dab behind each ear will do wonders too). It performs better than the older stuff. A typical transmission fluid change involves draining 3 quarts and adding 3 fresh. It holds about 6 quarts but this can't all be replaced short of heroics or doing multiple drain fills.

This service normally isn't called for until over 100K by the MM, but in an abundance of caution (paranoia really) most are doing this service early.

I've convinced myself that it smoothed shifting and reduced transmission noise on mine, or at least that's what the voices in my head told me.

 

Great, thanks for the feed back.