Hello. I bought an Element in January and have been reading this site. I started expereincing a number of the problems described here after having the car for a couple of months.

The doors rattle.

The winsdshield rattles/clicks with the slightest bump (unless the weather is warm- like 70 degrees or more).

Straps for seats missing..

Gas gauge is wrong.

Anyone have any advice for me? I'd really appreciate it. The dealer is Babylon Honda here in NY. :(

holy heck, you do have problems and none of which i would even slightly consider acceptable!

though question for you on 2.. what do you mean gas guage wrong, we all know that when the light comes on you can drive a considerable distance before it is really empty (this is really not a bad thing)..

and the straps missing, you are you talking about the hooks to hold your seals up veritically?? and you did check the little pockets on the seats for them.. they don't just dangle, they have a little mini pocket they stow into when not holding the seats up vertically.

anyhow for the door and window noises, please do have those checked out.. and please do verify the seat hooks and the gas question..

also please let us know how your visit goes when you get those issues taken care of.. good luck!

>The doors rattle.

Likely a minor latch adjustment.

>The winsdshield rattles/clicks

There is a TSB ("technical service bulletin" - a dealer servicing advisory) on this. It is likely also a minor adjustment.

>Straps for seats missing.

Yes, be sure to double check for the straps/carabiners hidden in a pocket in the seat fabric, on the underside near the edge of the cushion. It is very easily overlooked if you weren't shown where to find them.

>Gas gauge is wrong.

How is it "wrong"?

The "1/2" indication should correspond to a fillup of 7-7.5 gallons. 1/8 tank - and approximately when the warning light comes on - corresponds to roughly 4 gallons remaining, and a fillup of 11-12 gallons. The gauge moves faster between "1/2" and "E" than it does from "F" to "1/2".

If this is not what you are experiencing then it may need to be looked at, but, also, its normal behavior may not be similar to what you have experienced in another vehicle.

Hmm. I'm glad I spoke to you guys!

The gas gauge may not be wrong after all! On every other Honda I've had (3), the light comes on with one gallon left. I thought it was weird that could only put 11 gallons in when the light was on. Was that in the manual? If so, I feel pretty stupid! Thanks for your help.

I've looked everywhere for the straps, and I can't find them. I'll double check tonight, but I'm pretty sure they're missing.

I hope those noises can be fixed the first time. If they are, I'll be very happy with the car!

I love the attention it gets- people either love or hate it (much like my Ronald Reagan T-shirt).

I think you will find your seat straps before Friday also. You won't find them until you raise the seat up as though to hang it .... then you can see where the silver clip and the strap are tucked into a little pocket on the side of the seat.

[quote:0cc8ff4425=" "]Hmm. I'm glad I spoke to you guys!

The gas gauge may not be wrong after all! On every other Honda I've had (3), the light comes on with one gallon left. I thought it was weird that could only put 11 gallons in when the light was on. Was that in the manual? If so, I feel pretty stupid! Thanks for your help. .[/quote:0cc8ff4425]
I am glad you asked too.. please let us know how it all goes, and please don;'t feel stupid..

one the gas gauge inquiry is not something "known" it is something we all discovered over time, and talking among ourselves here..

the clip i am sure freaked us all out initially.. when i went to pick up my E, i am sure i entertained my sales guy as he watched me crawl all around my new vehicle, opening everything, flipping the seats up.. etc.. i wanted to make sure there were no major questions right off the bat.. i was soo excited and thrilled to adopt my little E!!

Anyhow, keep us posted, no question is a dumb on.. and good luck with your fine tuning issues!

Good luck with the door rattle thing. I brought mine in today because of the same issue. Left the parking lot and both doors are still jigglin away. Course, I also brought my 04 in for a windshield crack today as well and the dealership wanted nothing to do with that either. I'm rather disgusted with the whole experience at the moment.

[quote:5c110b3dbe=" "]Good luck with the door rattle thing. I brought mine in today because of the same issue. Left the parking lot and both doors are still jigglin away. Course, I also brought my 04 in for a windshield crack today as well and the dealership wanted nothing to do with that either. I'm rather disgusted with the whole experience at the moment.[/quote:5c110b3dbe]
i am so sorry for your frustration with your dealer.

so you brought yours in for a door rattle and it still rattles?
they would not do anything about the windshield? where was the crack?

was the crack from the bottom or corners, or from the center or top?

[quote:0cd006b6e6=" "]Good luck with the door rattle thing. I brought mine in today because of the same issue. Left the parking lot and both doors are still jigglin away. Course, I also brought my 04 in for a windshield crack today as well and the dealership wanted nothing to do with that either. I'm rather disgusted with the whole experience at the moment.[/quote:0cd006b6e6]

My suggestion: find yourself another Honda service department, and make sure the first place knows about their loss of business. :(

-brendan

Hi. No luck with finding the straps. I had already taken the seats out for a while and looked for them. I tried again last night- no luck.

Another problem I have sometimes is a steering problem. Sometimes the wheel gets harder to turn and makes a thumping noise when turned allth eway, and it kind of "fights" me. It sometimes lasts a few hours or a few days, then stops. It happened last night for the first time in a few months. I thought maybe it was cause of the cold when I first got the car in Januaury. So much for that theory. I'll add it to the list for friday!

I wonder if they'll finish in one day. Maybe they can give me a loaner if not. I just want it all fixed, so the car is the way it's suppoed to be!

Thanks again.

[quote:3cd4cd3f15=" "]Hi. No luck with finding the straps. I had already taken the seats out for a while and looked for them. I tried again last night- no luck.[/quote:3cd4cd3f15]

Look closely at the Folding the Rear Seats section here:

http://www.honda.ca/HondaEng/YouAndYourCar/Vehicle_Tips/Element_Tips.htm#_Toc30294371

The 3rd and 4th pictures show that the fastening strap is anchored to the seat on the side (or is it just over the edge onto the underside...I'll go outside to check later) of the seat cushion. You should see the seat end of the strap stitched in there, and it should also run into a small flat pocket on the side of the cushion. If you tug on it, the strap should pull the hook out of the pocket and dangle loose.

[quote:3cd4cd3f15=" "]

Another problem I have sometimes is a steering problem. Sometimes the wheel gets harder to turn and makes a thumping noise when turned allth eway, and it kind of "fights" me. It sometimes lasts a few hours or a few days, then stops. It happened last night for the first time in a few months. I thought maybe it was cause of the cold when I first got the car in Januaury. So much for that theory. I'll add it to the list for friday!

I wonder if they'll finish in one day. Maybe they can give me a loaner if not. I just want it all fixed, so the car is the way it's suppoed to be!

Thanks again.[/quote:3cd4cd3f15]

Ugh.

Aside from not being sure that you really should turn the wheel *all the way*, stop to stop, on a regular basis, that sounds like either a power steering problem or some sort of mechanical failure. Drive cautiously, if at all, before having them check that out.

-brendan

Brendan great link (directions) for the folding seats..

The strap pocket is on the side of the seats.. it is very well tucked in.. so look carefully.

But it does sound like you need to have alot of things checked out, do make a list.. contact them in advance, i doubt it would be checked in one day, ask about a loaner.. they very well likely will give you a free loaner. But do ask.. can never hurt to ask.

Please let us know how it goes, good luck!!

My windshield crack is from under the wiper on the passenger's side. My next step is calling Honda directly.

Hello, guys. Sorry I didn't reply again sooner. Been very busy.

My visit to Honda was a waste of time. They said they couldn't reproduce the dash/windsheild rattle/clicking. That might have been true, since it's much louder when the temperature outside is lower than about 75 degrees and it was a hot day. Now I'm still stuck with the noise every night when it cools down.

They tried to fix the door rattles by "resetting the door strikers and lubricating the weatherstripping." This is the strangest attempt at fixing anything I've ever seen. They smeared some white grease all over the doors-the latches and all the rubber trim. Other than staining my clothes every time I drive, it seems to have no effect and I'm not sure why they thought it would. Some adjustment is clearly needed- not smearing goop all over it.

As for the rocking driver's seat, they said it had a "normal amount of play." What's a normal amount of play for a car seat? There should be NONE!

I'll call Honda customer service and complain and then take the car to a different dealer when I have time. I'm really not happy with this car.

Any suggestions?

Thanks again!

If your seats a rocking, there was a TSB on the early models about this. Perhps it will help you out.

http://www.hondasuv.com/forum_element/viewtopic.php?t=692

For your rattle, dealers won't spend as much time as you will to find it, so they usually can't fix it unless it is a specific problem that they have seen before. Most of the TSB's for noises involve gluing felt on a loose pice of trim to deaden the noise, that is all.

I suggest getting someone else to ride in the car with you and see if they can make it stop by holding their hand against various pieces of trim inside the car until they find which one makes it stop. Then you can figur out if it is loose, has a broken clip, needs a little silicone glue, etc.

Best of luck,

Where do you live? I live in Long Beach and will be using Huntington Honda for service since I work in Melville.

I also have the rocking seats and will bring the TSB with me for them to take care of it. A few other minor issues, but nothing like you are talking about with the windshield.

Let me know where you live and I will help you find the straps that hold the seats up.

Thanks for all the replies. They showed me the seat straps and I felt like an idiot. That was the one thing they were able to "fix."

Still having the windshield/dash noise and the door rattle amd the seat rocking.

Larry, are you happy with Huntington Honda? I'm going to complain to Honda Customer Service and take the car back in. I'll bring TSB's with me this time!

On the subject of creaking doors .... my door would creak as I made a turn will driving over a dip in the street. I learned from another element website about putting some white lithium grease on the door latches would help. It did stop the creaks. I think that in my case, during turns, the car body is twisting and it puts a force on the latch and produces a noise at the latch.

I don't think that putting grease on the rubber gaskets will have any positve effect. They're flexible and would not contribute to any noise.