I recommend a set of Rhino ramps for this and the oil change procedure.

 

Thank you Gary. Great help for us that haven't had to do this yet. Did you notice any change in how it ran after the change? Those hills in San fran must put your cvt to the test!H

 

Even up in Canada, where most fluids come in liters, Honda's CVT fluid comes in US Quarts. I guess there's just not enough Hybrids to warrant metric production run.

Hmm, the one thing I continue to find confusing is the cold vs hot check of level. Putting in 3 US quarts on my recent change (after a thorough drain: had supper while it drained), it looked about right, for cold level.

But checking following the hot check procedure, the level was almost off the bottom of the dipstick. I added 300cc which brought it just above the lower level of the hot zone.

Now the cold level is about 300cc over the full mark, go figure. I think it's ok, but not totally convinced. I'll just leave it as is.

 

I was told by the dealer that it would be a bad idea to refill through the dipstick opening. I'm pretty close with my dealer. They usually give me pretty good information. They said that they use a pump to refill the fluid because it's on the side of the transmission, and is quite difficult to get to. You can't just pour it in.

Just my $.02

 

"You can't just pour it in."

Sure you can: there are funnels designed for just this task, with extra long necks. The above documents posted by Orient Express are from the Service Manual. Have you looked at the dipstick location? It's easily accessable with one of the long-necked funnels. Your dealership is either snowing you, or the person you are talking to is purely "counter-person".

 

Having personally done this procedure many times, I can tell you that there is not an issue with filling from the top. i recommend a long funnel to avoid making a mess.

 

I have one thing to add. Take the CVT dipstick out BEFORE you remove the drain plug. That way you won't be tempted to take it out after removing the drain plug and have the CVT fluid go SHOOTING all over your driveway..... 4 months later it's still there..... :-(

Eric

 

I have the same experience and wrote about it in another thread. The elaborate procedure in the owner's manual must be the one to follow. We added around 2-3 dL (through the dipstick tube).

 

Superjay, I think the first gen Civic Hybrid CVT was somewhat different, more difficult to drain and fill. This is just from what I've read in forums, maybe here. Maybe your dealership is thinking of first gen Civic CVT? People were saying they drained CVT fluid, and then couldn't bust loose some fill bolt near the top of the CVT. The gen II CVT is not like that.

 

One other thing to take note of.

If you notice the drain plug is rather long. This is because there is a magnet on the end of it to attract any metallic particles that might be floating around in the CVT fluid.

Make sure that you clean all of the gunk that will accumulate on the end of the magnet plug before you screw it back in the transmission.