Joemango,
Thank you for posting the solution to your random misfire issue.

Update on my misfire of 3rd cylinder:

CEL still on and off with this after another 20k miles. My OBDII code reader always registers p0303 instead of p0300.

I just took my car in for an oil change and the service rep recommended valve adjustment for $190, because my car is at 100k. I told him no, because I have cars that went beyond 200k miles without valve adjustments. I may have to reconsider this after reading Joemango's post. I was wondering if this can be a DIY job. Anyone know how to do a valve adjustment?

Edit:
Found the valve adjustment here: https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...clearance.html

Sounds like a tough job to me, so I may turn it in to the dealer to do it. I'll post an update if this solves the 3rd cylinder misfire.

 

Could it be 300 is intermittent on varying cylinders and 303 is cylinder 3 ?

And most cars have automatic valve clearances but Honda does not, so valve adjustment is usually necessary at some point Wev've had Hondas go 150,000 +miles witjout adjustment (though clearances were checked) but the majority didn't get 40,000 miles.
Clearances should be checked especially if you hear ticking noises or power/mpg drops.

 

Yes, Joemango mentioned it in an earlier post and my OBD manual said the same thing. I just wanted to differentiate my situation with his. My OBDII spits out only p0303 code, so it's not a random misfire. But I think we experience the same problem.

Thank you for the insight regarding other Hondas' valve adjustments.

 

I just want to back to update my status. In my case, it was the coil pack. Those thing are around $90 each.

 

For anyone that's following along, I have about 75K miles on my Fit Sport now. I had two coil packs replaced about 6 months ago. I had no stutters for about two weeks, then it was back to stuttering as it has since the car had about 20K miles on it. It went back in the shop and the replaced the other two coil packs and I have been stutter free for the last 3 months or so. There must have been a bad batch of coil packs.

Thankfully the dealership replaced all four coil packs free of charge because they have been working on this problem since before the warranty was up. While I can't say their troubleshooting is superb, their customer care is - if anyone in CT in the US is looking for a Honda, I wouldn't hesitate to get it at Manchester Honda...

John

 

im having the same problem..... and happens at stop lights and when im goin to accel like merging it stutters twice then goes... grr... i wanna take it in but i want em to replace all ignition coils... ohh yea its at 48k miles. SO WOULD THIS STILL BE COVERED UNDER POWERTRAIN WARRANTY?

 

I believe the powertrain warranty is 65k miles. so you should be OK.

After reading all this, the advice for GD3 owners having stutter/stall problems is thus:

- Get your car into the dealer and have them test all 4 coil packs, and don't let your car go more than 75k miles without checking the valve clearances. If you at least get it in to the shop and have them look at the coils before your warranty is up, you may not have to pay through the nose. And don't let them get you to pay for new OEM plugs.


Oh and by the way, if you let this problem go unrepaired for too long you might damage your catalytic converter, so get it fixed.

 

Wish I would have found this 7 months ago... I'm going to take my GD to the Dealership next weekend and have them check my coil packs...I had them check on my stuttering /sputtering problem twice and they told me the same thing as the rest of you..that they "can not duplicate the problem" but now I have all you as proof...I'm NOT CRAZY!!!!!

 

I had the same issue, the shop didn't experience the stutter so while they were respectful to me, they could only do so much. Finally after going back 5 or 6 times the shop manager went for a test drive with my wife in the car and it happend right in the parking lot. Even after that, it took some time before they settled on the coil packs as an issue.

I printed out some of the more eloquent responses in this thread and gave it to them for one of the visits, which I think helped them in pinpointing the issue, though I'm sure the service guys didn't appreciate the advice :-D.

John

 

I would be surprised if Honda ever admitted to the problem My problem is that the car, my '07 Fit, has cut out multiple times at stop lights! What happens if if decides to cut out @ 65 mph?
Next Tuesday, 02-16-10 I am going to shell out $110.00 for diagnostics at a dealership. The clues are there: @ 2500 rpm with or w/o AC; automatic trans; steady highway speed; goes away with idle learning procedure only to rear it's head in two months; no codes on my hand-held scanning device; rpm does go down a couple of hundred each times it happens. ECU, coil, some kind of electrical sensor on transmission, sensor on gas pedal (oh! Oh! Toyota Prius move over), and on and on.
BTW with my Accord, which has mods, never had a problem at all. It is going to have it's first tune up soon.
I have been told by a professional racer as well as two ASCE techs that because I am not throwing out any codes they would not advise throwing the money away! They said it could be anything from the 'coil packs' - @ $129.00/ea to the ECU. I wonder if there is any such thing as a accelerator pedal sensor; but that would not explain cutting out @ stoplights would it? Honda has opened up a case number but I was told that they would close it within 24 hours or more. Huh?
My ultimate wonder is if this 'stuttering/missing' is going to ruin the engine over a period of time? If so, would Honda replace a damaged engine?? NOT!!

 

Docjim2 - that sounds exactly like my problem. I had it cut out on me one time at highway speeds - I was merging from one highway onto another, slowing from 70MPH to 50MPH and the engine stuttered then died for a short period of time (5 seconds or less). Scary, but I was lucky when it happened - that's when I got a lot more serious with the shop.

You can search through and find my "process" of troubleshooting in this thread, but in my opinion its a coil problem, other things the shop did (valve adjustments etc) did seem to improve it for short periods of time - get them to concentrate on the coils if you can.

As far as I know the shop never did prove the coils bad through any direct testing.

John

 

as the post questions: does a cylinder misfire ultimately damage the engine?
I like the Fit; but if I were to buy a car now that has misfiring, missing/stuttering engine I would get rid of it! Honda are you listening??
Maybe we will find in the near future Honda is going the way of Toyota?!?

 

Well, an update to my Fit stutter problem. I went to the dealership here in GA: Hennesey Honda.
Made the appointment to have the engine diagnosed, change (not back flush) the transmission fluid (had a whole case of Honda with me in the back floorboard), and some kind of software issue that they had the fix for, finally after 3 years.
Took most of the day total, but @ 1245 I got the Mr. __ we have found the problem and it will cost you: $$. Darn, forgot to tell them about my extended warranty >over 60k< and the total was $100.00 deductible with free rental car. Oh, what was it: two of the coil packs. But what helped my issue, not the printout of this site's blogs, was that the service manager and the technician went out for a ride and my Fit did not disappoint them.
BTW even with my Accord I never used that extended warranty; but this one paid for itself. I am currently at 64,900 and the extended warranty covers to 75k.
Got to drive a '09 Civic and I liked it especially the 1.8L: more power. But I did not like the way the Civic gas pedal was positioned...

 

I just got an 07 fit sport 5sp auto with 60,000 miles on it a week ago. A week and 1000 miles later I've got the CEL flashing and then solid. Took the car to the Honda dealer because the Mercedes dealer I got it from said that would be best. Honda charges me $99 to check it out. Then they charge another $299 to take off the vavle cover and adjust the valves. They've had it for 3 days so far. Said they swapped the coils from another car and it fixed the problem so they're ordering coils and I should get the car back tomorrow sometime.

Even though the car is out of warranty they're replacing the parts for free, I'll just have to pay the initial $400 for inspection and valve adjustment etc. After finding this forum tonight I'm just really having second thoughts about wanting to keep it. I just spent $11k on this car thinking I'd have a reliable ride and now now a week later I have to have in the shop for 3 days? wtf! Not my idea of reliable. It drove fine on the test drive.

Being that it's under 30 days I'm just really considering taking it back to the dealer I got it from and demanding my money back. I got an 06 pontiac vibe a little over a year ago and loved it, but I totalled it a few weeks ago. When I got that I really wanted a fit but couldn't find any cheap enough at the time. Now I'm honestly considering getting rid of this and trying to find a Matrix for around the same price. We have a Toyota Sienna with over 140k miles that is still going strong. I almost wish I hadn't found this forum, then I'd get my fit back in working condition not knowing of the countless others that have had or are still having this same problem. What to do....what to do......

 

I can relate to the frustration of having your car at the dealer for days on end. There's probably nothing more frustrating, expensive and still unreassuring that the problem is really fixed. It really sounds like it's just poor timing that this happens just as you get it.

I hope that you hang in there with it. If anything else happens at all before you run out of time, then certainly take it back to the Mercedes dealer. The Matrix sounds like a good car, although I have no clue if its fuel economy is comparable to the Fit.

 

the Pontiac vibe and toyota matrix are the same car, only thing gm on the vibe is the radio and Pontiac logos. Seeing as how I loved the vibe I'm sure I'd love the matrix too. They get upward of 32-35 mpg on the freeway.

I did really love the fit for the first few days where it had no problems. I just need a little hatchback with good mpg since I drive all the time for work. I might even consider a versa. There's an 08 hatchback at a nearby dealer. 32k miles, certified with a 7 year 100k mile warranty for the same price and it's a 6 speed manual. I saw the Nissan before I got the fit but opted for the fit because I thought it would be a better car, not to mention the fit looks much nicer and seemed to have more get up and go even though the versa has a 1.8. This is going to be a tough decision. Wish me luck.

 

The Versa gets low marks in the MPG arena. It is NOT a Fit; heck now that my car has been to the dealer for it's 'stutter' prob I am averaging 33MPG mixed driving. Heck the other day I was over 160mi @ 1/2 tank.

 

This is going to really cost you! I went to my dealer, which is a real good dealer, and had my Fit checked out @ 64800 mi. I was told that the warranty was 65.... but what the 'salesman' meant was 60K 5 years.
To make a long story short: so far my car is running great and getting better MPG. They wanted to charge me > $700 for everything. But I had a extended warranty and they even gave me a rental car! I paid $106.95 which included my deductible.
Have to give credit to the dealer because the service manager and the mechanic took it for a ride. (No they did not want to read the pages that I printed from this site concerning other people's problems.)The stutter, missing, reared it's ugly head. Two of four coil packs were bad.
I have always thought that the dealer extended warranty was a stupid thing to do with a Honda and for the most part is it a real money maker for the dealer; this was the exception.

 

I'd say if the mercedes dealer is going to cover the repairs, you're better off keeping the Fit. (if not you should get your refund) Just make sure the honda dealer replaces ALL 4 of the coil packs, and you should be good for another 75k before you need any more tune-up related repairs.

My car has been a champ since I got the work done. 137 k on mine and it still gets 32 mpg every day with no smoke from the tailpipe.

 

It's not going to be too bad. Honda told me they would install the new coil packs for free even though it's out of warranty. I guess they felt bad that I just got the car and am having this problem or something, plus I was just in a couple days after I got the car and paid them $180 for a new key because it only came with one. I'm pretty happy with their customer service at Elk Grove Honda here in California. I'm going to be purchasing the extended warranty from the credit union I got the loan from unless Honda has a better deal. It's 4 years and 48k miles for like $1280. With the amount of miles I drove my last car 48k should last me about 2.5 years, but I think it's still worth it especially since i'm still going to be getting money back from the warranty and gap coverage on the vibe I totalled. I'll have to talk to Honda and see what they offer and if it's even available since I'm the 2nd owner.

Mercedes offers a 90 day 50/50 warranty on the powertrain of their used cars so I'm hoping they're going to pay half of the $400 the Honda dealer is charging me for the inspection and valve adjustment since technically the valve's are part of the "powertrain" and Mercedes told me to take it to Honda since they only specialize in Mercedes.

And to the other poster, I was in no way comparing the Nissan Versa to the Fit, just stating I might see that as an option if I decided to not keep the fit if I couldn't find a Matrix I liked. While I was recently car shopping I only found 2 fits in my price range within a 500 miles radius and the other one had over 100k miles. People must be hanging on to these cars. I've pretty much decided I'm going to do the same and stick with it.