2015 Honda Fit LX random no-start issues - Resolved

Automotive
#1

I drive a 2015 Honda Fit LX. For the last week or so, it has randomly refused to start. Like multiple times, key all the way out and back in, it doesn’t start, and then eventually it starts.

When it doesn’t start, everything is normal except it makes no attempt to turn over. There are no loud clicks/funny noises etc.
No warning lights firing once it’s started on the dash.
I took it to Autozone and had the battery checked, they said it was totally fine.

Looking for advice on how to diagnose this. Sometimes it happens when I’ve just ducked into the store, sometimes when the car has been sitting for a while. Does it sound like a starter issue, electrical?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

2010 Honda fit won’t start
#2

When it will not start, and the key is in the on position, do your gauge lights still work?

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#3

To clarify:

When you say “makes no attempt to turn over” do you mean cranks but won’t start, or doesn’t crank?

Are the lights on the dash on when it won’t start?

I’d be looking at a loose battery connection, off the top of my head…

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#4

The lights come on as normal when it doesn’t start. It doesn’t crank. Then when it does start everything is like normal again. And there’s no difference in what I am doing when it does vs. doesn’t start.

#5

If you have a large, heavy key chain you may have problems with your key switch on the car.

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#6

Just have about 10 keys and a DMS fob. no decorative items. Does that qualify?

#7

Try without other keys would be a way to quickly check what Raymond is talking about.

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#9

Ok, I will go out in a bit, check the clamps on the battery and get my Car key all by itself. I’ll also try my wife’s spare key to see if maybe just the key is faulty. Either way, I won’t know for sure if it’s fixed for a few days because I first noticed the issue 2 mondays ago, and then it’s been fine more days than not.

Thanks for your help. I will update on anything I figure out!

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#10

This is just a stab in the dark with a little dawn of light, but if a mechanical issue is eliminated, it’s most likely a ‘brain’ electrical issue.

I’ve used this method in newer Fords like F250, F150, Explorers, etc. not sure it will be the same with a Honda, but it might work and don’t think it will hurt.

I was told on my 2014 F150 that what happens sometimes is the ‘brain’ for ignition gets scrambled sometimes on different voodoo, EMP spectrums (be patient please, just my frail attempt at humor cuz, nobody really knows or can explain to me where I can understand) and that a reset is needed. What I was told to do was to quickly for 10x turn the ignition on and off. This, I was told, re-something or other ‘conditions’ the ignition brain electrically (seemed very Matrixesque). I tried it and have not experienced the exact same symptoms you described for the last year or so.

Or maybe just throw salt over your shoulder 5x and turn clockwise 2x and that might work…:wink:

But seriously, it worked.

#11

Gold star to @zmetzing ! Thanks everyone for your help.

The DMS fob and the immobilizer were the culprits. I took all my keys off and it started right up. Then I turned it off, and held the DMS fob against the Key, and it refused to start once or twice, and also sometimes started and then a Key shaped light flashed and it killed the engine after 3 seconds or so.

Guess I am interested in one of those DMS wrist bands lol.

Thanks everyone, glad it was an easy fix!

7 Likes
#12

Glad you found it! :slight_smile:

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#13

Awesome info!
As a related aside, and I know how impracticable this is for people, but “best practices” says: when your ignition key goes in the car, it should be the ONLY key on the ring.
I know. i know. But it will help avoid all kinds of weirdness (some alluded to in this thread).
Also, the one and only saving grace to keyless start.

#15

Literally LOLed @ that! Have to explain my outburst to colleagues.

So… Hypothetical (or practical if you have such knowledge)…
If you carry several RFIDs in your pocket, and your vehicle is keyless start, does that mean that it has to filter the many RFID returns it gets when it scans you when attempting to start, and so does if its fingerprint is among those returns?
Just thinking about footprint, complexity, attack surfaces, hacking, and, inevitably, self-drive cars…

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#17

Issue unresolved. Symptoms still occurring without fob near the fit. Read on some forums that if wiggling the key helps, it is probably the ignition switch. It seemed to help, so I have ordered another switch from autozone. Youtube leads me to believe I have the necessary skills to replace it, but I may bring it up to the space to do it just in case.

#18

Heavy key chains lead to early deaths of those pesky switches.

You’ll want to review any YouTube videos for changing that switch. Some are far easier to replace than others, but to do it safely you’ll want to disconnect the battery and depress the brake pedal for a few seconds. Not sure about Honda, but that’s what you do on the Mazda’s I’ve worked on to make sure the airbag doesn’t accidentally deploy.

Hopefully you can just remove the lower cover on the steering column to do it and not the gauge shroud and both the upper and lower cover. :slight_smile:

#19

I don’t think my keychain was ever heavy, but I definitely own’t have anything but the key in the ignition from now on.

I have only been able to find examples of other hondas, not my exact model/year. Any advice on where I could further check for procedures to stop the airbag deploying? I hadn’t even considered that a possibility…

#20

Probably a Chilton’s manual would be the best source and they are always handy if you want to do your own work on vehicles.

#21

for what it’s worth, in my book, 10 keys is too heavy. No more than 3 has always been my advise, if you can’t find a way to make your car key the only one in the ignition (“breakaway keychains”, etc.)

Chilton’s may be better than nothing, but, if you can get them, the factory manual is really the only way to go (for any car, not just Honda). (see this advice from Tom (@TLAR ) to this effect). Getting your hands on the Honda manual is likely not going to happen, though. You MIGHT be able to find decent info through ShopKey, or similar online services, sometimes libraries offer such services, or sometimes you can talk a local shop into letting you look (may or may not be fees involved; don’t underestimate the power of beer!)…

As for the exact procedure, no dice for me, either, with the youtubes. This is likely close


The most daunting piece for the novice, if necessary (I’m not sure) is chiseling out the shear bolts. Novices aren’t accustomed to taking a hammer and chisel (or cut off wheel, etc.) to their steering column. The air hammer with chisel was my preferred tool, in my assembly line days.

You can do this! :+1:

#22

Looks like I also need to buy the bolts to re-attach since I am not buying a whole lock cylinder… are they a standard size/type?

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#23

IF you need them, they are furnished, typically, to my recollection…
If you do need them, you’ll want to purchase the specific bolts. Their function is integral to the collapsible steering column. That’s why they’re made that way, so they aren’t overtightened, undertightened, etc. even by the factory (or so I’ve been told; never have actually fact-checked that).