Honda Fit GD3, WOF Time

Oops, I completely forgot to wrap this section up. After polishing the car within an inch of its life, it was time to take it in for the WOF.

I had checked off the previous failures; the bald tyres (replacement wheels) and front lower arm bushes torn (new arms), so I had hoped it would fly through effortlessly.

That was not to happen. It failed.

Because I was using a different workshop for the WOF this time, it was a full inspection not a recheck of the previous failures, so they found two new issues.

One was that the handbrake travel was excessive. I knew this, but figured since VTNZ didn’t mention it last time and it did work fine, it wouldn’t be an issue.

The second failure was more of a pain in the backside, one of the tyres on the wheels I had just fitted failed the WOF as the tread depth was too low. Bugger. I thought it would get one more WOF, but I guess not.

The hand brake was easy to fix. I removed the two screws at the back of the center console, popped out the cover under the hand brake lever and lifted the console up. This allowed me to access the adjuster.

As it turns out, it was almost completely adjusted out. I used a deep socket and ratchet to wind the nut in and tighten the cables. The Honda spec is a slight drag on the rear wheels on 1 click, and locked at 7-10 clicks, so that’s what I set it to. The lever travels about half the distance now.

The tyres were a bit more annoying. I ordered a pair of tyres through work on the Wednesday, having booked the fitting and recheck on Saturday, knowing the tyres should be an overnight delivery. They weren’t. I called the supplier on Friday and apparently, the courier couldn’t find the massive building they have always delivered our packages to and sent them back to the depot. I ended up having to get the supplier to arrange an urgent courier to take them from the depot to my work, just so I could have them in time to be fitted that next morning. Stressful.

I dropped the car in and had the new tyres fitted, and the WOF passed with no other issues. Great success.

I celebrated by taking the car for a decent run, and some extra photos.

The eagle-eyed might notice the steering wheel is now an OEM leather wheel instead of the factory rubber one.

A friend nabbed this from Pick a Part a while ago, so I took the chance to grab it from him and fit it, as leather always feels better.

Replacing the wheel is pretty easy. A Torx screw on each side holds the airbag in place (remember to disconnect the battery first)

and when you turn the wheel 90 degrees you will see a cover on the underside, which has the airbag plug under it

You squeeze the sliding collar on the plug backwards (upwards in the photo) to unplug them

When removing the airbag you also need to unplug the horn connector, this is a single spade terminal with a little button to release it

The airbag can then be removed, leaving the bare wheel.

The big bolt in the center holds the wheel on. Remember to leave it threaded in a few turns when trying to remove the wheel, lest it rapidly eject from the column and leave you with a rearranged face.

Swap the trims if needed, and reassemble.

This wheel has more km than the car, so the leather is a bit on the shiny side even after cleaning, but it feels nicer than the rubber coating.

With the WOF done, and the car looking and driving good, it’s time to move it on to a new owner as per the original plan. Hopefully that’ll happen soon and I can go back to my plan of buying something silly.