Hi, new here. My girlfriend has a 2015 EX that recently developed an issue. We were driving on a pretty hot day recently when the trouble started. I was entering a street from a yield when the throttle was very unresponsive. Enough where it was a little scary as a car was approaching. After just a second it responded and we were down the road. Stop for a little shopping, after the car starts fine. We head across the street for some grub. After lunch we are heading out and the engine is shaking a bit at idle. It seems to accelerate fine and we make it down the road to our next stop just across the street. As we're driving in the parking lot the engine just dies. No dash lights came on and no real warning, just quits. We coast and then I push it into a parking spot. After multiple tries it will not start. Engine turns over great, but just won't run. No sign of it firing. Instantly I think it's a fuel issue. So, we have it towed to the dealership (bad choice). I explain what happen and they say it will be 2 days before they can look at it.

FF to the next Tuesday and they have a diagnosis. They say it was the fuel injectors that are clogged with built up carbon, and the VTC is bad. Well, after some research I find that there is indeed a common fuel injector issue with 2015 Fits as well as the VTC. But, the VTC making that death rattle on start up really isn't an issue if you can just ignore it. Back to the injectors. I'm more of a classic VW guy, so not too familiar with fuel injection, but it just doesn't sound right. The odds of enough injectors failing that it would cause the engine to stop like that and not even try to run seems very unlikely.

So the dealer wants about $3k to do the injectors and VTC. We say nope, and have it towed to our house. The driver rolls it off the truck and in front of our driveway. We say, what the heck, and try to start it. Starts right up and purrs away. Sounds perfect. We put it in gear and it drives a short distance just fine. In my mind this pretty much rules out an injector issue.

So FF to the next day. We haven't driven it for fear of being stranded again. I want to test it out and our street slopes slightly downward to our house, so I can roll home if needed. I reverse it up the street a good 100 yards. No prob. Put it in "D" and cruise back home. No problem. Put it in "P" and rev it up a few times. After a few pumps of the peddle, *bam* completely dies just like before and will not start for anything. Spins over just fine, but won't start. Let it sit a few hours and of course it starts right up.

So, I went off to do some more research. I've come up with two possibilities. This is a 2015, but production date is 8/14, which lines up with the ignition coil recall a few years back. I call the dealer and also Honda directly and they both say by the VIN it wasn't part of the recall. Plus what are the odds that enough of the coils fail to make it shut down like that. Next possibility is that the main/fuel pump relay is faulty and once warms up shuts the engine down. Seems pretty likely and I've read that this is a common Honda issue. Also read that when the relay fails it will throw a code like the injectors are failing. Fits in with what the dealer said.

I go pull the main relay and take a look at it. Pull the blue one under the Driver's side dash and it is the Vietnamese brand Mitsuba. Leaving it off I try to start the car and it starts right up. So, I'm thinking I have the wrong relay. So, can someone verify (with a picture if possible) where the main/fuel pump relay is exactly. Or if anyone has any suggestions of what our issue is, please let me know! Thanks and sorry this was so long...

 

I wonder about starter failure. The pushbutton start EX's seem to be notorious for starter failure according to reports here. I'd have the starter looked at if they didn't already.

As far as the engine issues, my first thought was vapor lock, esp. on a hot day...but that wouldn't account for ongoing symptoms once it cooled down.

 

Hmm, I don't think it's the starter. When the issues occurs it turns over just fine. The engine spins and spins, just doesn't actually start. And I mean it's like you took out the dist. rotor or something. Not even a cough from the engine.

That's a thought, the second time it happened I only drove it a short time and it happened, maybe not long enough for VL to happen. Not sure. That's what lead me to believe it's a relay maybe. I know if there is an internal short or something they can get hot fast. I just wish I could verify which relay is for the fuel pump. Google is failing me, and it's not in the owner's manual. Might need a shop manual I suppose.

 

Can you verify that you're getting spark? That would at least narrow it down to no spark or no fuel.

 

We took it to a shop and of course they can't reproduce the issue. We drove it back home with no issues. A cool front blew through, so the ambient temp. is much cooler than the two times it did happen. Still not driving it as I'm sure it will happen again at the most inopportune moment.

Can anyone please tell me where the fuel pump relay is?

 

Anyone know? Is the relay that hard to point out? I wish you could still get a printed shop manual.

We are at the point that we're about to trade this '15 Fit in for a 2nd gen or get a Toyota.

 

Ever find that fuel pump relay? I also can't locate which relay is which. Not to hijack the thread but I really want to know whether there is a relay for the starter. Again we have diagrams for fuses but somebody help with the relays!

 

No, never did. But, the issue came back and we ended up towing the car to that same shop I mentioned earlier. Took them a full day of troubleshooting, but finally fixed the issue. We've been driving trouble free for the past few months. And the price was well under 1/2 what the dealership wanted to charge for new fuel injectors and related parts. Fuel injectors are just fine and 1st Texas Honda didn't have a clue what they were doing, as I suspected. I can't remember the issue, but I'll look it up and reply.

 

Hot engine issues sound more like compression or coils. Getting the compression checked using a piston engine compression gauge is easy. I would be shocked if the coils are failing this fast unless the car has a significant number of miles. Any OBD-II codes show up when scanned?

 

There was a recall for the coils on some of the 2015s. Was yours one, and was it done?

 

The EGR valve was the culprit. Fixed the issue 100%