Very frequent HONDA service intervals

[TimSi]

Hello! I own a 2009 Honda Jazz/Fit and since the dealer charges “millions” of euros and my service reminder is almost always on, I started doing service work on my own. I’ve done regular oil and filters change, also brake fluid change. What I am in doubt when reading the forums are the following:
– MT fluid change (to do or not to do? it says in the service book to do it every 120 kkm; so far I think I will do it because it is a simple job and not so expensive)
-fuel filter (to do or not to do? it seem a bit of a hard job in the jazz, because it’s in the fuel tank which is located between the front seats if I am correct)
-sparkplugs (they are the iridium type which last a long time and by the manual they need to be changed also at 120 kkm; I’m thinking to push it a bit, maybe to 160 or so? or is that a bad idea?)
-valve ajustment (I’ve already skipped this one at 100 kkm according to the manual. I thing I can manage the job itself, but according to Eric it is not really needed for a car this young. Any additional thoughts on this? The car was driven mostly on the highway if that is relevant)
-idle control (is there anything more to this than checking the idle RPM? it seems normal at around 700 when warm (when cold 1500), or does it need further inspection?)

While I’m at is, I have some more questions:
The brakes – the back disks are not worn evenly, should that cause a concern? I know there shouldn’t be grooves in the disks, but if the brakes function normal, that’s not a problem?
Also, I wan’t to do a brake inspection (put them apart and add lubricant if needed – the copper and silicon paste if I remember Erics’ advice correctly). Do you recommend something special to be aware of?

In general, what are the weak point of honda cars (jazz/fit in particular) that a DIY car guy can miss? I am aiming at maybe certain pipes, hoses, electrical stuff, rubber seals, washers etc. Thanks to Eric, I know to check CV boots, but that’s all.

Anyway, sorry for such a long post and many questions. I watch all of ETCG videos and they give me a lot of knowlage. Thank you so much for that!!! However, I still need answers for the questions above. Any comments are appreciated!

Cheers,
Tim

Topic

[Anonymous]

You really only need to adjust the valves if they’re noisy. It wouldn’t hurt to check but I would leave it alone if they aren’t making noise. Also, about the brakes, you said there are grooves? is it a thin line cut in? And you also mentioned they aren’t wearing evenly.. do you mean the front are worn more than the rear or the right side is worn more than the left? And are they making any noise?

[TimSi]

They wear even between discs, but the rear disks themselves have uneven wear (meaning grooves). Each back disk has sort of a few mm wide and maybe 1 mm high circular bulge. My guess would be that at some point in time, the brake pads were damaged and are now wearing strangely. Furthermore, my guess would be that the car was driven with the handbrake on (or some other sort of back brake malfunction – I also have a receipt saying there was some brake work), thus heating the back brakes and damaging the pads. I cannot know for sure, since I am a second owner.

[TimSi]

UPDATE:

I’m sorry to say, but I did not get the help I was looking for. I understand, there are a lot of people asking all sorts of question all the time. Anyway, for anyone in the future asking the same stuff, here are my findings:

I finally changed the spark plugs and checked the valves at 125.000 km. It took me about 7 hours on the Honda jazz/fit, 1.4 L, 2009. I had to remove a hell of a lot of things just to get to the valve cover. And I am a total amateur DIY (my education is in biochemistry and this is my fist a bit more real “car job”).

When checking the valves, I only adjusted 3 out of 16 and even that only just. My recommendations is that they don’t need a check until 200.000 km. Also the spark plugs seemed in excellent condition, they had a tiny bit of whitish tan to them (except one was partially covered in brownish crust – what is that?). For these, I also recommend changing them not sooner than at 160.000 km (I would have them ready and only changed them if any problems occurred, if not, I would change them anyway at the 200.000 km – united with the valve adjustment).

I changed the gearbox oil and it was to my eye in good condition, I think it could be changed later, at 160 or 180.000 km.

As far as the brakes are concerned, I took a look at other small cars with 4 wheel disks and some seem to have the same issue. My theory is, that they are under-used (specially in my case since I drive mostly on the highway and in traffic I tend to break mostly with the engine and use the brakes lightly) and also that they are sensitive to debris and material ageing (since I don’t wear them and thus don’t change them – I’ve had the same pads since beginning and they still have a lot of “meat” to them).

I still have the fuel filter job to do and I’m not looking forward to that 😀

Here is the photo of the valves if you have any comment:

[fitone]

Plugs for these cars can go 105,000 miles or 169K. Changing before that is just wasting your money in my opinion. Valves should only be adjusted if they are noisy, otherwise leave them alone. Sometimes you can do more harm than good in that respect. Your valve train looks normal, just keep changing the oil regularly along with a quality oil filter.
I would not bother with that fuel filter located in your gas tank. Those rarely get clogged, again just wasting time and money to worry about this filter.
Interseting that your Jazz has four wheel disc brakes, in the US these cars only have front disc and rear drum brakes. I wish that mine had rear disc, much easier to service than drum brakes.

[Author]

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