Forgot to mention that my radiator has been 50% blocked through all of this.... and todays temps were about 45degrees.

 

Got on the freeway today. 83°F, 65 mph, 2000 rpm and a tick over 50mph on the instant meter.

Still focused on CVT.

 

I bought a lemon....

It definitely needs a valve adjustment, but when the honda tech looked at it today when I was picking up cvt fluid he said that the valve cover bolts were new and that it looks like it was recently done. So im betting it was traded in noisy and that was there attempted fix.

Changed the cvt fluid and it was BLACK, I swear its never been this dark checking it on the dip stick. Also the magnet drain plug was covered in this greasy silver metallic stuff. All in the pics im attaching. I let it drain for an hour. Drove it and little has changed. I still am getting the flares when re-applying the throttle after slowing down and what not. It seemed after the change that the flares were only about 200rpm versus before they were 300-500rpm. But it also was the warmest its been in a month at almost 50 degrees today. Im assuming this means Ive got cvt issues and shes gonna crap on me.

I posted a pic of the instant gauge at 63mph with the cruise set on flat ground, without cruise I can get it to almost 50mpg but cant maintain it. It seems once you hit 60+mph she just struggles.

I could get it to do the lean burn phase around 52mph but not for more than 15-20 seconds at a time.

Its running at 90-92c and will occasionally drop to 88c at idle.

No fault codes, however in the emissions app it says evaporative system is incomplete no matter how long its been running or what the temp is.

Whats next? Other than crying about having a car payment and likely needing a transmission. This is my luck, I never hear of hchII cvt issues and of course I get them.

Also what generation is this cvt considered, the fluid I got from honda says not for use in second generation cvt transmissions.


Thanks for everything so far! Not all of my pics will fit with the post so look at the next as well.

 

More pics

 

Dirty fluid

 

Limited time this morning, but want to respond.

You have the correct CVT fluid. CVT gen is different than civic gen. Save the fluid. If you bought this from a dealership only 8K miles ago, it should have been replaced and that's evidence it wasn't. That color doesn't mean a catastrophe, just neglect. Paste on the plug is normal.

If you bought the car from that dealership, they should have a record of what was done, not a suspicion.

I'd also suggest a carfax if you didn't already. You might find something in its history. Our 2nd HCH2 had its odo replaced... the prior owner thought he bought a car with 75K on it... when it had over 210K on it.

Drive on this fluid this week and replace again next weekend. You will always have "slip" as that's how they work. I can't say what's normal, but if you want long CVT life, more frequent fluid changes as previously recommended.

I still suspect that cold temps are a major factor. Was the CVT fluid very warm when you replaced it? I can't recall my fluid ever being more than mildly warm to the touch except in the 120°F PHX heat when everything is WARM.

IIRC, you disconnected your 12V sometime recently. That's probably why the evap cycle is incomplete.

More later when I have a chance.

 

The dealer I bought the fluid from, was not where I purchased the car. The dealership I bought it from has flat out refused any responsibility for anything since its out of the 30day 1000mile warranty that came with the car. When I asked about warranty on the honda brakes they installed they again said only the 30days and 1000miles.

Carfax is clean Ive got a copy of it in my glovebox, and was serviced consistently but not always by honda. But it does help me confirm that mileage is correct.

Fluid was lukewarm when I drained it, I had driven the car around a good bit and pulled it right in on the lift and dumped it.

With these temps in the upper 40s Im getting her back to 44mpg in town on longer runs... The cvt is allowing me to travel along at 1100rpm at 35mph which was very rare before.

However the second I start any type of 60-70mph driving she drops back to mid to upper 30s no matter how hard I try.

Cvt is still flaring even with the car warmed up but is still lesser tachometer jump values then before the change.

At this point I guess I am just going to accept it for what it is. Really pointless to have spent this much for a "well maintained" hybrid over a same year and mileage lx 5speed model, but oh well. Im going to do another cvt change this upcoming weekend and and then do them every other oil change. (so much for Honda's reputation of inexpensive ownership costs)

Ive calculated when I should be able to trade it in based on what I owe and its residual value and I should only have to keep it for about 14 more months before I can trade it in and not lose my *** on it. So the goal is to just keep her moving and presentable in that time frame.

I really appreciate your help so far!

 

Sorry to hear about your dealer. We got a deal on our first in 2010. They sold it as a certified used Honda and included a 2 yr, 100K warranty on it (had about 65K on it). The warranty wouldn't have covered the IMA battery, but they disclosed that up front. Fortunately, we have had 70K nearly trouble-free miles (trouble-free when you consider I'm willing to muck about with the battery pack).

Glad you got a clean car fax.

The lukewarm condition of the fluid confirms my suspicion that the CVT produces very little heat on its own as I've never experienced mine getting beyond lukewarm except in extreme AZ ambient conditions.

Given that you've seen some improvement in the CVT, I would consider yet another fluid change after next weekend (3 total). IIRC, 3 is the magic number where something like 94% of all of the original fluid is removed by dilution. If you notice additional improvement after this coming weekend's fluid change, I would encourage a 3rd.

I tracked my mileage on my trip home:

• 78°F
• Open-window climate control system
• 18.3 miles including 2 stops to pick-up kids
• Stop-and-go surface street driving with 1.25 miles of 60mph freeway
• Conservative acceleration limited to 2k rpm or 3k rpm on freeway on-ramp
• I work on 1 airport, and I live a mile from another. The elevation difference between those two airports is 5 feet.

Trip meter B mileage: 52.4mpg.

This is about as good as it gets. I expect that your warmer-weather driving will be noticeably better than the cold.

Lastly, regardless of what the mechanic said (generally, those bolts aren't replaced), a valve adjustment may be in order.

 

Well I believe worst case scenario is occurring. As of yesterday the transmission has started making a high pitched whining noise. Noise changes pitch when moving between gears on the selector and when the system is cold the whine follows pitch with acceleration. Once warmed up I can't hear it in the car anymore but still at idle. This whine is very similar to older GM vehicles with failing transmissions such as a grand prix. Will be changing the fluid again, but I'm assuming it's not good from here.

Has anyone rebuilt these or is there a common failure point that can be fixed? Otherwise I have found a few used ones on car-part.com for 800-1000.

 

I'm sorry to hear that. FWIW, these are not GM transmissions. Any non-CVT specific experience you have doesn't apply. Nonetheless, new noises aren't good. The fact that it decreases with heat is somewhat encouraging.

Does the whine occur in neutral? While stationary? While moving, but in neutral and revving the engine?

Our original '06 has always had a whine that varies with engine speed. The whine gets 2X louder during my first left turn in the morning when bone-cold then settles after a few seconds.

Replacement with used is the cheapest option. There are 3 primary replacement components in the CVT, and the sum of the 3 parts is more than the cost of a new replacement from Honda.

Stick with the plan. While rarely done, you can drop the CVT pan to replace the internal strainer. There is also a larger magnet in the cavity that can be cleaned. Strainer and gasket are less than $50, but you'll need to be armed with the P/N as most parts counters and service people don't even know about it. I've never done this, but I'm considering it due to the high mileage of both cars.

Lastly, because of your experiences, I've paid closer attention to our 2nd HCH. It has over 200K miles, and its CVT acts more as you describe. While I can match rpm to speed numbers to those of my other car, it definitely revs higher with less pedal input. Mpg on that car is also significantly lower, but it's mostly due to her hilly commute compared to my flatland drive. I'll trade her on Friday and see what I can do (same year, same tires, same miles on tires, comparable IMA batteries and new oversized 12V batteries... even same color).

Good luck. I'm a little more optimistic than you are, but I can totally see why you're frustrated with this.