Cvt Gear Box

udayanga_ · November 27, 2015

Dear Friends,

Im going to buy a Honda car with CVT gear box. Is that true CVT gear box gives troubles?
How it should be properly maintained ?
Thanks

sathyajithj99 · November 28, 2015

anything could give trouble with bad maintenance.

It is said that cvts tend to give troubles after 100k kms.

But personally I think if you change cvt transmission oil on time and maintain it properly it would do fine.

1st cvt oil change is recommemded at 40k kms.

tcfern1 · November 28, 2015

cvt gear boxes cannot be repaired like normal gear boxes

hrm · November 28, 2015

For Toyotas CVT oil change interval is 40K KM. If you drive in heavy traffic every day it's advice able to do it at a lesser interval. Check with Stafford what the interval should be. And the oil replacement should only be done with manufacturer's recommended CVT oil for the model and nothing else.

I'm not sure whether SL has any CVT repairing places if busted.

monty · November 29, 2015

Regarding the CVT oil change interval, similar to engine oil change interval (4000km or 6 months which ever comes first), is there also a time period involved? Say like 40,000km or 5 years?

Amila_Silva · November 30, 2015

For Honda CVT gear boxes, the interval for changing oil is 15000 km. (Use Honda CVT ATF)

For Honda Non CVT gear boxes, the interval for changing oil is 40000 km. (Use Honda DW1 ATF. This is compatible with all Honda ATF Z1 recommended vehicles. ATF Z1 has been discontinued)

The easiest way to identify whether you have a CVT gear box or not is, near the auto gear shift you have the letter 'L' instead for '2' or '1'.

Ex:

P R N D L = CVT

P R N D 2 = Non CVT

Edited November 30, 2015 by Amila_Silva

Amila_Silva · November 30, 2015

On 11/28/2015 at 12:24 AM, sathyajithj99 said:
anything could give trouble with bad maintenance.
It is said that cvts tend to give troubles after 100k kms.

But personally I think if you change cvt transmission oil on time and maintain it properly it would do fine.

1st cvt oil change is recommemded at 40k kms.

1st and every other CVT oil change interval is 15k kms.

For non CVT gear boxes, the interval is 40k kms.

sathyajithj99 · December 1, 2015

On 11/30/2015 at 4:51 AM, Amila_Silva said:
1st and every other CVT oil change interval is 15k kms.
For non CVT gear boxes, the interval is 40k kms.

Is that so? I don't know much about Hondas but Toyota user manual for axio states that the 1st CVT oil change should be done on 40k. I know earlier the better. But don't you think 15k is a bit too early? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Rumesh88 · December 1, 2015

monty said:
Regarding the CVT oil change interval, similar to engine oil change interval (4000km or 6 months which ever comes first), is there also a time period involved? Say like 40,000km or 5 years?

Rule of thumb is 4- 5 years. However, manufacturers are a bit cautious when it comes to publishing these figures because CVT fluids are considered proprietary.

hrm · December 1, 2015

The place that replaced my CVT oil previously recommended to change it after another 25K KM given that the car is mostly run in heavy stop and go traffic.

PerfMad · December 1, 2015

Honda CVT's are advised to change oil within 15-20k intervals .. and it will cost you close to 10k @stafford (including labor which will be somewhere around 1k or something)

And yah Honda CVT still cannot overcome the gearbox failure and it cant be repaired because it will cost you like 250k or something.. if the gear box is faulty only option is replacing one (recon) which will be roughly 60-70k (depending on what model you are willing to buy)

Only advantage I see with CVT's are gear changing is smooth, good acceleration and fuel efficiency..

BuBi · December 1, 2015

On 11/27/2015 at 9:36 PM, udayanga_ said:
Dear Friends,
Im going to buy a Honda car with CVT gear box. Is that true CVT gear box gives troubles?

How it should be properly maintained ?

Thanks

CVT tend to give trouble if it's not being given the proper attention. Honda CVT gear box needs oil changes at 15,000 km intervals. I did mine few months back. It cost me 9000 rupees total at Stafford service center. If u intend on buying a Honda be sure to maintain your cars gear box through Stafford.

kchemist · December 1, 2015

Talk about CVT giving trouble, I have a ZF 9 speed on a car which is less than 1000 miles. Already went to the dealer 3 times for hard shift in 2-3 rd gear. So I guess nowadays not only CVTs we have to worry about. I hope this comment doesn't make it off topic.

udayanga_ · December 2, 2015

Thanks all.. Learned lot about CVT gear box.

monty · December 2, 2015

On 12/1/2015 at 2:33 AM, Rumesh88 said:
Rule of thumb is 4- 5 years. However, manufacturers are a bit cautious when it comes to publishing these figures because CVT fluids are considered proprietary.

Thanks Rumesh. Explains why I could not find that information in the service manuals of cars with CVT boxes.

luckey007 · December 3, 2015

On 12/1/2015 at 9:16 AM, PerfMad said:
Honda CVT's are advised to change oil within 15-20k intervals .. and it will cost you close to 10k @stafford (including labor which will be somewhere around 1k or something)
And yah Honda CVT still cannot overcome the gearbox failure and it cant be repaired because it will cost you like 250k or something.. if the gear box is faulty only option is replacing one (recon) which will be roughly 60-70k (depending on what model you are willing to buy)

Only advantage I see with CVT's are gear changing is smooth, good acceleration and fuel efficiency..

What do you expect from transmission..... to flirt with you??????

Edited December 3, 2015 by luckey007

nsiva · December 3, 2015

What do you expect from transmission.....flirt with you??????</blockquote>

Well said. I have a CVT in my 2000 Vi-RS, and when you want to overtake and press the accelerator pedal fully...

The engine goes to about 5,000rpm. Few seconds later you see the speed is 100km/h fcame from nowhere

The Stig · December 3, 2015

What do you expect from transmission..... to flirt with you??????</blockquote>

Ruggedness, durability, temperature tolerance, less frequent maintainance cycles ?

PerfMad · December 3, 2015

On 12/3/2015 at 3:53 AM, The Stig said:
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="luckey007" data-cid="287112" data-time="1449105544">
What do you expect from transmission..... to flirt with you??????</blockquote>

Ruggedness, durability, temperature tolerance, less frequent maintainance cycles ?

@stig - ya.. because when we compare with a normal gear box, maintaining a CVT is quite expensive and since it cannot be repaired like other general gearboxes, replacing one is not always the better option we have...

luckey007 & nsiva -

I also have a Honda CVT and im saying these with experience.. If the gearbox is faulty then ur done.. simply bcz it cannot be repaired bcz it will cost u a fortune + only option is to replace and that gearbox condition also unknown. Stafford says a recondition would do maximum of 45-50k then ur done again..

Amila_Silva · December 10, 2015

On 12/1/2015 at 12:41 AM, sathyajithj99 said:
Is that so? I don't know much about Hondas but Toyota user manual for axio states that the 1st CVT oil change should be done on 40k. I know earlier the better. But don't you think 15k is a bit too early? Correct me if I'm wrong.

What to do. Its there in the Honda Logo owners manual for Honda Logo TS.

Amila_Silva · December 10, 2015

On 12/1/2015 at 4:52 PM, BuBi said:
CVT tend to give trouble if it's not being given the proper attention. Honda CVT gear box needs oil changes at 15,000 km intervals. I did mine few months back. It cost me 9000 rupees total at Stafford service center. If u intend on buying a Honda be sure to maintain your cars gear box through Stafford.

For mine, I purchased Honda DW1 for 1900 LKR from Teck Motors. Had to use 3 of them so the total cost was 4800 LKR. I did the oil change myself.

Machan, may I know how much did you pay for CVT 1 quart bottle and from where did you purchase it?

MNI · April 27, 2016

Hi all I m new to the autolanka forum but used to read it regularly.

Recently I bought an Axio 141 G grade with a mileage of 86000 km . When I went for the service at laughs they told me my gear box oil is not good and I told them to change it. During the oil change they told me this car has not done a gear oil change ever by looking at the seal of the sump which they told comes from Japan itself. Before buying the car I did an inspection at Toyota lanka and they never mentioned any fault of the gear box but they told me if the gear oil is not changed on time, even if you change it, due to new oil the worn out parts of the gear box will give trouble sooner than if the gear oil not changed. Anyway I did a gear oil change and now done about 100 km so far no issues. But what wasl told at Toyota lanka worries me. I WANT you all expert idea to know will there be any gear box problem even after I changed the oil as gear oil was not changed for 86000 km.

Rumesh88 · April 27, 2016

On 4/27/2016 at 2:48 PM, MNI said:
Hi all I m new to the autolanka forum but used to read it regularly.
Recently I bought an Axio 141 G grade with a mileage of 86000 km . When I went for the service at laughs they told me my gear box oil is not good and I told them to change it. During the oil change they told me this car has not done a gear oil change ever by looking at the seal of the sump which they told comes from Japan itself. Before buying the car I did an inspection at Toyota lanka and they never mentioned any fault of the gear box but they told me if the gear oil is not changed on time, even if you change it, due to new oil the worn out parts of the gear box will give trouble sooner than if the gear oil not changed. Anyway I did a gear oil change and now done about 100 km so far no issues. But what wasl told at Toyota lanka worries me. I WANT you all expert idea to know will there be any gear box problem even after I changed the oil as gear oil was not changed for 86000 km.

If TL really meant what you have stated above IMO there is absolutely no logic behind the argument. Did they mean not to change the oil because it has not been done at 40k and to wait until the gear box fails? Whatever the damage done to the CVT gearbox due to the delay in changing the fluid is already done. So changing the oil will not have any impact on it. Other thing is you cannot conclude that oil has not been changed in the past by just looking at the sump seal. Just forget about it and enjoy the car.

MNI · April 27, 2016

Thanks mate.It was under first owners name while used by the cousin and when I asked from the user about gear oil change,he never gave me a proper answer. What the Toyota fellows told me is they didn't wanted to do the oil change themselves,as there could be an issue as I was told. The car was registered in sri lanka in 2011 December. So is there any possibility before exporting from Japan they would have done a gear oil change in which case the mileage of running the car without oil change would be less than 86000 km

Twin Turbo · April 27, 2016

And you believe that? Sounds like an easy excuse which other-wise means, see you when the thing fails!

No one will be mad enough to service a car thrown away in Jap before export.

Any dealer will say , that it's the owner/user's responsibility to maintain their car.

At least now, forget the abusive past of the car, and stick to the maintenance and ATF recommended by TL. And how sure are you of the mileage?

Edited April 28, 2016 by Twin Turbo

sathyajithj99 · April 28, 2016

On 4/27/2016 at 2:48 PM, MNI said:
Hi all I m new to the autolanka forum but used to read it regularly.
Recently I bought an Axio 141 G grade with a mileage of 86000 km . When I went for the service at laughs they told me my gear box oil is not good and I told them to change it. During the oil change they told me this car has not done a gear oil change ever by looking at the seal of the sump which they told comes from Japan itself. Before buying the car I did an inspection at Toyota lanka and they never mentioned any fault of the gear box but they told me if the gear oil is not changed on time, even if you change it, due to new oil the worn out parts of the gear box will give trouble sooner than if the gear oil not changed. Anyway I did a gear oil change and now done about 100 km so far no issues. But what wasl told at Toyota lanka worries me. I WANT you all expert idea to know will there be any gear box problem even after I changed the oil as gear oil was not changed for 86000 km.

It's not like buying a brand new car through agents, we cannot assume that the reconditioned ones have been maintained properly by the previous owners in Japan. Also the same when you buy a second hand one in SL otherwise the previous owner provides you with service records. You should have given much priority for this when you bought the vehicle in the first place because maintaining the CVT is a big issue. Anyway as Rumesh88 also said , if damage is done you cannot reverse it. It's a good thing at least you changed it now. But be cautious, poorly maintained CVTs tend to fail prematurely.