Honda Design Flaw: Bolt Clearance

[Tnwagn]

I wouldn't say its a design flaw, due to the fact that you can easily pull the bolt once its on a lift, as they expect you to have all your service work done through their dealerships.

For example, is it a design flaw that if I want to change the transmission fluid on my 09 fit, and I do not have a pump system, I have to remove my plastic intake so I can get a funnel to the fill hole? How about the fact if I want to change the spark plugs, I have to remove the entire intake manifold off the top of the engine?

Just some food for thought.

However, those items are all part of the same system. Remove a part of the engine to access another part of the engine.

What I experience was one system, the transmission, causing issues with another system, the suspension.

It doesn't even need to be on a lift and you don't have to lift the transmission. If you are removing the lower control arm and disconnect it from the radius arm, lower ball joint, strut fork, and stabilizer bushings, you create enough play at the inner end to get the bolt to slip out.

That may have been your experience but for me that wasn't possible. Looking back I can almost certainly say that the age of the car and the motor mounts allowed the engine to sag, causing the interference.

[wildBill83]

My motor mounts were new, I was not able to twist the arm like the others are describing either. Take a look at the photo I took, the only thing holding the arm in was that one bolt. I had to unbolt the subframe and transmission mount and lift the transmission and it cleared by a hair.

[Losiracer2]

I think you're having issues because you jacked up only one side of the car. I had issues removing some suspension component in the past and I recall that once both sides were on jack stands with the swaybar unloaded, it came out like cake.

[Tnwagn]

I think you're having issues because you jacked up only one side of the car. I had issues removing some suspension component in the past and I recall that once both sides were on jack stands with the swaybar unloaded, it came out like cake.

Ahhhhh, that makes perfect sense. This would typically be a job done a lift, so both the wheels would be off the ground.

[wildBill83]

I think you're having issues because you jacked up only one side of the car. I had issues removing some suspension component in the past and I recall that once both sides were on jack stands with the swaybar unloaded, it came out like cake.

I had the car on jack stands... All 4 wheels were off the ground. In the photo my hydraulic jack is supporting my transmission only, the body was on jackstands. You can clearly see everything is unbolted from the LCA other than the inner bushing bolt that is all the way out and running into the transmission.

Being on a lift doesn't make a difference than the way I did it. That inner pivot moves relative to the frame not the suspension, it is in the same location on the ground as in the air. That's why I had to unbolt the transmission mount and the subframe and lift the transmission with the jack.

[reklipz]

Being on a lift doesn't make a difference than the way I did it. That inner pivot moves relative to the frame not the suspension, it is in the same location on the ground as in the air. That's why I had to unbolt the transmission mount and the subframe and lift the transmission with the jack.

That's a sound argument...

But you forgot one thing: all lifts are required by the Universal Lift Consortium to be sprinkled with magic dust as the last part of the installation process. Did you sprinkle your drive/garage/shop floor and jackstand + jack setup with magic dust? Didn't think so.

[wildBill83]

Damn, I used pixie dust... It must have been the wrong kind of dust.