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I have about 350 miles on our Fit Sport. My wife's car actually and I have only driven a few times. Well, maybe I did not notice but this morning and then again after work (no driving in between) when I started the car the "Low engine coolant temp indicator light came on, light blue light. It stayed on for about 45-60 seconds each time and then turned off. It did not come on again while driving. I parked the car in the garage and started it after siting for 2 hours and the indicator came on for about 10-15 seconds. (By the way my drive home is about 5 mile so the car did not get very hot)
I called the dealer and they state that this is normal for the fit. The manual seems to indicate this also. I just am a bit wary becasue my wife has not noticed it, maybe it has always come on, not sure. I just want some feedback form other owners for peace of mind.
I appreciate your feedback and look forward to hearing whateveryone has to say about this issue.
Thank you all!
It is not really a warning indicator and that is why Honda made it blue instead of red. I think it is informational only, possibly to make up for the lack of a coolant temperature gauge.
In the event the coolant reaches what would be close to "H" on the conventional gauge, the red LED lights up. If it exceeds the "H", it will start flashing red.
I have about 350 miles on our Fit Sport. My wife's car actually and I have only driven a few times. Well, maybe I did not notice but this morning and then again after work (no driving in between) when I started the car the "Low engine coolant temp indicator light came on, light blue light. It stayed on for about 45-60 seconds each time and then turned off. It did not come on again while driving. I parked the car in the garage and started it after siting for 2 hours and the indicator came on for about 10-15 seconds. (By the way my drive home is about 5 mile so the car did not get very hot)
I called the dealer and they state that this is normal for the fit. The manual seems to indicate this also. I just am a bit wary becasue my wife has not noticed it, maybe it has always come on, not sure. I just want some feedback form other owners for peace of mind.
I appreciate your feedback and look forward to hearing whateveryone has to say about this issue.
Thank you all!
A dial-type gauge would require you to glance down and notice its actual position, whereas, if you think about it, the Fit's lighting system is more likely to grab your attention, when something begins to go wrong.
ie - on my old Buick 160 degrees and 200 degrees showed as 180 degrees - there's no variation or movement until it hits about 210 degrees, then it shoots up crazy fast.
I think Honda realized this and just ditched the useless needle, since the mechanism behind/sensor is identical anyways.
Everytime you turn the ignition key to the II position, every little light comes up on the dashboard. This includes the red "overheating light". If it doesn't come on then, then you know something is wrong and you can get it fixed. I was worried a little at first about not having the conventional gauge, but I am totally over it now. It's really not that big of a deal, and as plekto said, the needle gauges are pretty useless too.
OK, fair enough. But lets say, 2 hours into your high-speed run across the desert in 110 degree heat, as you hurry home to the wife, after your visit to the Mustang Ranch at Vegas, wouldn't you feel a wee bit more relaxed with a real temp gauge? :P :shades:
It's funny that you mentioned that!
I used to have a 2000 Tacoma that had a real temperture gauge. For about a week one early spring I watched the gauge go up every day on my way home up the Grapevine. It never got close enough to the top to panic, but I did pay attention to it. Then one weekend, the first hot weekend of the year, we drove to Vegas. When I took over the driving in Baker and started up Halloran Summit, I watched the gauge climb and reach the top just as I got to Halloran Summit. While having some warning that there might be a problem was nice, it made no difference - we were still stranded in the middle of the Mojave Desert.
You're right that, with or without a temp gauge, you may still get stranded. But the way I see it, being able to see impending doom may at least give you a chance to take self-preservative action! (Such as stop and flag down the only car that would pass you for the next 90 minutes?) :P
the fact you ignored it isn't the fault of the temp gauge.
you may have been able to prevent a unscheduled stop in the mojave desert
I do prefer to have a real gauge - however, my other car has one of those almost-idiot-light gauges. Maybe since I know that one is not much better than a light (I've gotten used to the idea), it didn't bother me about the Fit's light.
True, but if you had added that you've driven the Grapevine lots of time previously and the temp gauge had never gone that high, then it may have prompted him to do a bit of diagnosis.
Those of you who know, please share.
It's always best to let a car warm up before you drive it, to avoid putting undue wear and stress on its components.
I actually prefer the Honda light to a traditional temperature gauge! With a gauge, I would wonder, when is it warm enough to drive, how far should I wait for the needle to move? With the Honda, once the light goes off, I know it's fine.
And as this post indicated, I think it may actually have educational value. Drivers may not realize that a car should be allowed to warm up. Lots of people just routinely jump into a car an go and don't give it a thought, they may never have been told otherwise. If a car has a gauge, they may not look at it, they may think it serves no purpose except to indicate overheating. The blue light forces someone who might not know to think, "hmmm, why is that light on?" And then they may learn that they should try to avoid driving a cold car when possible.
Those "someone" that don't ever look at a temp gauge likely also would not pay much attention to a little blue light that comes on and off.
Actually, I suspect most buyers of Fits, and others models in that price segment, are the "jump in the car and go" type --- the type that treats cars more as an appliance. Perhaps not most of the Fit owners that post regularly on this thread, but probably most of the general Fit customer base.
Though I just checked the Honda manual, and it doesn't actually suggest any particular behavior for cold operation. Hmm!
Thanx for the help...Aloha
I think it was due to overfilling the gas tank, to be honest. I recall pushing as much fuel into the tank as I could see fit, then after that one short trip, the indicator came on. I drove it for a tank and a half before it cleared itself.
I also called the dealer and they said the same thing. Tighten the cap, drive it a few days, then we'll clear it. I, obviously, didn't have to have them clear it, but I'll sure take the automatic cutoff's advice when I'm at the pump anymore.
The dealer also said to make sure and get several clicks out of the cap... its designed to do it, so I shouldn't be turned away by the horrible noise.
So, if the seat is empty, the light won't come on. If an adult/teenager is in the seat, the light won't come on, and the airbags are enabled. If you put a light purse on the seat, the light won't come on, but the airbag is disabled. If you put a bag of groceries on the seat, the light will probably come on, and the airbags will be disabled. The manual may state the minimum weight required to trigger the light, denoting that the airbag is disabled (because there's not enough weight for it to assume it's a person large enough to safely take the impact of a deploying airbag).
Steve
See I really didn't expect that jumping into a car that's been sitting on asphalt for 8 hours in 95 degree heat to REALLY need to warm up. Go figger!
I can see quite well at night with low beam, the signs are illuminated, and no oncoming vehicle has complained about the lights being too high.
I have tried the Silverstars (North American Sylvania model) on a previous vehicle and my particlular ones burned out extremely quickly and I didn't notice much difference in visibility. I was tempted to return them to the store because they burned out so quickly - but I didn't think the store would have too much sympathy with me.
See http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/blue/good/good.html
In conclusion, just have the dealer adjust the lights to specs and if that doesn't work then go a couple notches higher.
Here's a diagram, that may help:
Some have suggested that you mark your phillips-head screwdriver, and count the number of times you rotate the screwdriver. That didn't work for me, because the screwdriver would slip sometimes, and I wouldn't get a proper count. It was also hard to keep track of the screwdriver mark, while trying to keep an eye on how far up the headlight beam was working its way up my brick wall.
I found it easiest to place a mark on the edge of the "gear", and then keep track of the number of times it spun around instead. I was running about 12 wrist twists of the screwdriver, to make one full rotation of the "gear."
The label that you see, showing "Up (left arrow)" and "Down (right arrow)" refers to the direction that you should see the gear teeth moving, as viewed from the top of the gear. So, for the headlights to move "Up", the gear moves left.
On the driver's side, you have to rotate the screwdriver, so that you get the same effect (gear rotating to the left, as viewed from the top, to raise the headlights):
This is what lurks beneath the plastic shield on the driver's side. It really makes it a pain in the butt to see what's going on, underneath it. You can also see where I marked the gear, and added the left/up, right/down sticker:
I hope I haven't confused anyone, more than they may already be! :surprise:
Does that mean ONLY the dealer can reset it?
Does that mean if I change my own oil or have a non-dealer mechanic change it that the indicator will remain on?
Or is there some way for a non-dealer to reset the indicator?
I would be very, very annoyed if I HAD to go to a Honda dealer to turn the indicator off
The Fit reset may work in the same way - may not.
Well... Here's the procedure, from the 2007 Honda Fit owner's manual (which I did not have with me, at the time of my earlier post):
If maintenance service is done by someone other than your dealer, reset the maintenance minder as follows:
Turn the ignition switch to the ON (II) position.
Press the Select/Reset knob repeatedly until the engine oil life is displayed.
Press the Select/Reset knob for about 10 seconds. The engine oil life and the maintenance item code(s) will blink.
Press the Select/Reset knob for another 5 seconds. The maintenance item code(s) will disappear, and the engine oil life will reset to ‘‘100.’’
My mistake was that I took the manual's directive on oil changes to have the dealer reset the Maintenance Minder as meaning that dealers need to reset it. So I didn't look how to do it myself in the manual until after I posted.
Other than that issue the Fit has been everything I expected it to be.
Don G
Atlanta GA
boatfloyd
Tried removing the two obvious 10mm bolts figuring that the headlamp assembly would lift or hinge out but no go. What is the replacement trick?