Vibration on take off

Lovert Mafukure

It’s almost a default setting on earlier model Honda Fits to have that shudder on take-off.

Some time in its life the Honda Fit will have to go through it. Normal cars do not usually go through it but it’s something special and limited to cars with CVT or should I say Honda CVT. The manufacturer was and is well aware of it and later model do not suffer from this problem.

The good thing is it can go away.

All the fluids that go into a car are specially formulated to work in their respective fields, we have engine oil, transmission oil, engine coolant, brake fluid etc. This must never be mixed up. Let’s acquaint ourselves with the Honda Fit.

The first generation Honda Fit – GD1 to GD5 – is the most popular model in the Hatch Category. It is a somewhat fun to drive car with plenty of room for passengers. I’m sure it’s the one of the best of the small cars when it comes to interior space, boot space, durability and power delivery.

The Honda Fit comes with the L series power plant. It is a 4-cylinder single overhead camshaft engine. Two different variations are available for the Honda Fit, L13A and L15A.

They run on the same L-block platform but have different cylinder heads. The L13A is the 1399cc, it’s the one that comes with the Red dot Model and features two valves and two plugs per cylinder. It has 8 plugs in total.

According to Honda, it helps with fuel efficiency and better power output. You will find out that the red dot is then a bit more expensive to maintain than normal cars.

The L15A is the one that comes with the Blue dot Honda Fit model and it has the 1500cc motor. This variant comes with Vtec setup, 4 valves and one spark plug per cylinder. The Vtec generates more power. Both these engines are highly fuel-efficient engines and Honda claims fuel consumption of around 20km/litre. In Zimbabwe we may get less mileage from our blended fuels.

We have now established that Honda Fits have continuously variable transmissions (CVT). In isolated cases you can find a 5 Speed manual Gearbox on a Honda fit.

The Bluedot Honda Fit with L15A is the sportier version and comes equipped with a 7-speed option. Since it’s a CVT, it makes more sense to say it has 7 different speed ratios since it doesn’t actually have gears.

Some people despise them saying they have weak gearboxes but it’s a case of ignorance, you cannot prevent TB with a measles vaccine, it will not work. Use of the correct CVT fluid in all CVT gearboxes will keep the mechanic away. Proper maintenance of these gearboxes is also lacking. As the first owner, start your own service record the right away and you will not be disappointed with your car. I know a few people that have serviced their Hondas correctly and are still enjoying the smooth drive even after years of owning the cars.

The vibrations on acceleration are usually caused by old transmission oil or wrong fluid altogether. Atf does not work well in CVT gearboxes, you will experience reduced performance and the gearbox soon wears away.

A flush and refill job usually deals with the problem and only if the correct oil is used. Many people shy away from servicing the gearboxes because the CVT fluid is very expensive but it is wiser to buy the correct fluid than to replace a whole gearbox.

A clever somebody once said measure twice cut once. In the automotive business, whether you take your car to a garage, bring it to us or you do it yourself, always make sure it is done right and the right fluids are topped up.

As humans if we eat the wrong food, we get sick, cars alike die if you poison them with wrong fluids or fluids that have stayed way beyond their “use until’’ date. So change your oils in time and you will enjoy the car for longer and the shudder will go away.

Honda Fits are strong cars compared to other smaller cars Honda has a history of making engines that last beyond expectation and the L series engine is no exception.

The CVT is just as good and offers more efficiency than an automatic transmission ever could. There is a general point of view that Honda Fits have problematic transmissions and I say it’s not entirely true. Its transmission problems are more of human error than an engineering weakness…all the best. Happy motoring!

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