Honda Fit cold start rattle

Fix Honda Fit rattle cold start

Honda has issued a service bulletin #16-088 to address a Honda Fit cold start rattle on the vehicles listed below. Honda has determined the cause to be a faulty variable valve timing control (VTEC) actuator. The rattle begins at cold start and sounds for about 2-seconds. The rattle may be intermittent and occurs usually when the engine has been off for 6-8 hours

Vehicles affected by Honda service bulletin #16-088

2015-16 Honda Fit All trims, All VINS

Parts required to fix Honda fit cold start rattle

VTC Actuator 14310-5R1-013
Fuel Joint Pipe Set 16012-5R1-315
0-Ring 91311-5R1-J01
Intake Manifold Gasket 17105-5R0-004 (4)
Throttle Body Gasket 17107-5R0-004
EGR Port Gasket 17108-5R0-004
Sealing Washer (12 mm) 16705-5R1-J01
Fuel High Pressure Pump Base 0-Ring 91304-5R7-A01

Honda cold start rattle repair procedure

1) Disconnect negative battery cable

2) Remove the air cleaner assembly

3) Remove the throttle body (you can leave the coolant lines attached)

4) Remove the intake manifold

5) Remove the ignition coils

6) Remove the valve cover

7) Rotate the crankshaft to #1 cylinder TDC. ON the intake side, mark the chain where the arrow on the VTC is pointing to. On the exhaust side, mark the camshaft sprocket to the timing chain and secure the chain to the camshaft sprocket using zip ties.

8) Remove the high-pressure fuel pump

9) remove the high pressure fuel pump cover

10) Raise the vehicle and remove the right front wheel and lower splash shield and timing chain tensioner cover.

11) Rotate the crankshaft counterclockwise a few degrees to compress the auto-tensioner. Align the hole in the lock and auto-tensioner and insert a .05″ diameter lock pin. Rotate the crank back to TDC and remove the timing chain tensioner. Then lower the vehicle.

12) Remove the five intake side camshaft caps. Keep them in order and set them aside. Tip-up the camshaft and remove the timing chain from the VTC teeth.

13) Remove the intake camshaft and VTC actuator and secure the chain

14) On a workbench hold the camshaft while using an open-end wrench to remove the VTC actuator mounting bolt. Separate the VTC actuator and discard it. Swap in the new VTC.

15) Hold the camshaft while tightening the VTC actuator bolt to 85-ft/lbs.

16) reinstall the camshaft and reverse the disassembly procedure.

Camshaft cap torque to 4-ft/lbs, then to 10-ft/lbs starting in the middle and working out

Timing chain tensioner torque is 9-ft/lbs.