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Dealer idled car in Drive for an hour for CVT TSB

4K views 20 replies 13 participants last post by  SoKalAccord 
#1 ·
I took my car in for the CVT software update TSB that you all know. The details may be a bit different from dealer to dealer but at my dealership, one of the things they were doing was idling the car for prolonged periods of time in Drive mode. Mine was about an hour, give or take a few minutes. After the cvt update, I have not noticed any difference from before and just added an unknown amount of wear and tear to the drivetrain. I suggest if your car does not exhibit any symptoms described in the TSB, don't bother taking it in.

The question is how bad is it for the engine and especially cvt to sit in idle, especially in D? I hear different stories, but none of them good. Is the cvt going to extra wear and tear idling in D or does the torque converter decouple the cvt and the engine? Thanks in advance.
 
#6 ·
I don't understand why idle in D for an hour will do any extra wear and tear..
You probably idle your car more than an hour in a month of regular driving which is like 2 mins a day.

The stress on the CVT when idle can almost be neglect compare to the force when you accelerate the car during normal driving.

Don't worry about it.
 
#8 · (Edited by Moderator)
Wont hurt it, unless you do it every day for years.



I detest the CVT's.

I had a 2012 Altima with the CVT. (Nissan LOVES the CVT's and use them in almost all their vehicles)
CVT started overheating at only 40,000 miles so I traded it in.

The CVT's are bad news if you do a lot of mountain driving or if you live in the South West states where it gets REAL Hot in the Summers.....or for that matter the South too!
They simply aren't as durable as a traditional geared transmission.
They use synthetic fluid but they STILL run hot and overheat and then they go into "limp" mode and your top speed is about 40mph until you shut it down and it cools.
 
#10 ·
it's not about how much ACCUMULATED idling I do in a month. Yeah, I may idle for a minute here and there and start moving again during traffic, but it's not the same as idling for an hour heat soaking the entire drivetrain without any cool downs from moving. Anyhoo, I understand im not gonna see the end of the car's lifespan regardless but just wanted to know how the cvt functions during idle in drive gear.
 
#19 ·
Because I saw it and the advisor also told me. For those that bash on the cvt, I actually love the cvt. Honda did a great job. It's smooth, quiet, and efficient. Did you buy an accord for it to be a sporty car that feels connected to the road? I didn't. The only big gripe I have with the cvt is that it drops the idle rpm too low while in Drive and causes the engine to vibrate which is HIGHLY annoying but apparently there is no fix because it's the design of the powertrain.
 
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