Honda Fit 2008, 200,000 miles

Cold engine

Over the last couple years of inheriting this beauty for free (I like it, at least), I've had to investigate some mysterious issues. I didn't get much help from the previous owner (mom 🤣 ) who told me to basically ignore it and run it into the ground 😨 , but no, I'm going to learn how to take care of it and keep it running indefinitely. 🤠  

Startup used to fail often and took several key turns just to get going on some occasions, after a battery change this seemed to resolve, I think the tiny battery just needs to be replaced occasionally. However the check engine light was on, $2000 later sparkplugs and catalytic converter were replaced due to a P0300 misfires and "catalyst inefficiency", also was running lean at one point. I am pretty sure they got a generic cat, because the OEMs cost a fortune. The dealer wanted me to pay $5000. 

So no codes now except for a misfire P0303 which happened only once (seems fine now), and engine seems to run rich, but no codes are showing for it on OBD2, only from what I see on the live data (which I may be misinterpreting, but hey)

Car seems to run better on highways, in fact long road trips seemed to have rejuvenated it after it basically sat in someone's driveway for a long time.

That's the background but for my next step (learning as I go) I want to focus on the engine being too cold for way too long.

The persistent problem I get now (ever since I got the thing) is that the engine light always stays cold on startup. I was told to ignore it, but I soon learned not to even on hot days, because if I ever dare shift from park to reverse before the blue C light goes off, the poor thing shakes and shudders, I've even had it once stop responding in the middle of the road. That was a while ago before I got worked on. I had to shift it to park and then to drive/reverse to get control again. Now I baby it. But I notice it seems to eat up a chunk of gas every startup, maybe I'm just seeing things.

The previous owner thought it was destined for the grave, but it just needs a little TLC, no reason to abuse the thing. I was told they do oil changes every 5,000 miles or 6 months, let's hope they're being honest. 🤣 Actually, one traumatic thing that happened to it, I was just now told, is it got suctioned to the back of a semi which unfastened half the bumper, now I have it bolted in place. It's probably gone over several curbs, and steep angles and even parking headstones are its enemy, always scatching the bottom part of the bumper. The plastic/rubber underneath, next to my right wheel, is hanging and almost touches the ground. All that excitement, yet there doesn't seem to be any sign of transmission damage.

Anyway there's obviously no reason I should be waiting 2, 3, 5, 10, upwards of 15 minutes for the car to let me start driving. So long as I give it its time, I have no issues. I drive conservatively but this is ridiculous. Always had this issue, it wastes me time and gas. The other mechanics never fixed it, so I'm up to the task.

In my research I'm seeing that it could be the temp sensor is failing, or the thermostat (but often people jump to replace this prematurely). In fact the engine running cold could be why it wants to run rich. 

So now my plan is to get a thermometor gun, look at the actual engine temperature on startup, and go from there. I might go ahead and check all the filters, get the coolant changed, see about maybe (maybe!) changing transmission fluid (if it's dirty??), and unrelated but change my refrigerant because the A/C feels a little too warm (altho, it does get to 60°).