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CVT problems

257K views 416 replies 149 participants last post by  262105 
#1 ·
Accord Sport, 15K miles. Started hearing a whirring sound last week accompanied by a slight lurching upon accelleration so I took it to the dealer today.

They drained the trans fluid and showed it to me. Black and Burnt! WTF???!!!

Said all he can do is flush and refill twice and see what happens down the road. Insinuated that I had abused the car in some way. (Blood starting to boil)

Then says this falls under maintenance and will not be covered under warranty; so this comes out of my pocket.

I'm so pissed at Honda right now I can't see straight.
 
#2 ·
That is not maintenance and should fall under warranty. I no way should your transmission fluid be changed after 15,000 miles. I hope that you refused to pay...

If not, open a complaint with Honda.
 
#4 ·
That is not maintenance and should fall under warranty.
Changing the trans fluid is maintenance. It's no different than changing the engine oil.

Looks like Honda may have some CVT failures down the road. If I was buying a 9th gen Accord, it'd be either a 6MT or the V6 with a regular trans. I wouldn't want to be a Honda CVT guinea pig.

OP or someone with around 10,000 miles should do a trans fluid change and send a sample in for oil analysis to see how the fluid is holding up.
 
#9 ·
How is changing the trans fluid at 15K maintenance???

Changing the trans fluid at its prescribed intervals is maintenance.
Changing fluids is maintenance, regardless of the interval used. It's up to the owner when s/he wants to change them... whether it's following the maintenance minder or not.

The same goes with changing spark plugs, engine oil, coolant, cabin/engine filter, rotating tires, etc. These items all fall under maintenance.

Did the OP have to change the trans fluid? No. But if the OP wanted to, it's out of your own pocket... unless the dealer's nice enough to goodwill the service. It could've been something the OP could have asked for.

Many 7th gen owners (especially V6 auto owners) and some 8th gen owners change the trans fluid a lot sooner than what the manual has listed. Some do it every oil change, some do it every other oil change, some do it every 15K or 20K miles. Why? As preventative maintenance against trans failure.

7th gen V6 auto Accords (particularly the 03-05 years) were notorious for trans failures. The same goes for the 6th gen V6 Accord, 2nd gen Acura TL's and CL's, 3rd gen Acura TL's, 1st gen Acura MDX, 2nd gen Honda Odyssey's,..... I wouldn't be surprised if the 9th gen CVT was added to that list.

Since we choose to change it sooner, does that mean we should expect Honda to cover it under warranty?
 
#5 ·
Yeah I'm hoping now it goes ahead and blows up so I can get it replaced and sell this thing. Should have bought the 6MT.

The thing that is painfully obvious to me is that burnt trans fluid is a SYMPTOM of something wrong with the trans and the service mgr. wouldn't admit that!
 
#6 ·
what maintenance?? are you supposed to change trans fluid at 15k or sooner??

i would ask a dealer put everything they say in writing, and sign it. than send that paper to honda hq, customer relation dept. and if they refuse still, take them to small claims court. but you will have to pay to fix it first for small claims.
 
#8 ·
O_O ..... What color is new CVT fluid?

Do you feel any difference with new fluids? No more jerk when going to complete stop?
 
#13 ·
I drove a Maxima last year and thought is was a nice car, but CVT, I told them it will be a cold day in h___ before I get a CVT, same goes for Honda, and they tell you it's maintenance? The service manager needs a serious talking to, if this is Honda's policy I may have bought my last Honda, I can hardly believe that is corporate policy. That is really really bad.
 
#15 ·
I'm almost at 22,000 miles on my CVT sport and will be performing a CVT fluid change at 25k miles recommended in the owners manual. http://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/pubs/OM/2A1313/2A1313OM.pdf Page 491 if anybody is interested.

When it comes to maintenance, I change my oil every 7,500 miles religiously (roughly 20-30% oil life) and keep every service record of my Accord. In case anything happens warranty wise I have records showing proper maintenance was taken and that it's not my fault but manufacturing.
 
#17 ·
If it's as bad as yours if not worse then Honda is going to get a nasty letter and request for a new vehicle for poor manufacturing.

Either that just trade it in preferably for a 6-speed not a CVT. Considering I can get 3,500 off a new Accord and how high in demand the Sport's are especially used, I doubt I would lose that much. Or just trade it in for a Honda Civic SI
 
#20 ·
Wow keep us updated on how those CVT's are holding up.
We were going to get the CVT but the V6 screamed Buy Me at the dealer and the fact that it is traditional 6sp auto and an update to the previous gen's reliable engine just made it all the better choice.
 
#23 ·
It's one isolated incident. I wouldn't panic just yet. Maybe the fluid was low from day 1 or something went wrong with this particular unit during manufacturing. If there was a design issue with the CVT, I think we'd be seeing more cases. Time will tell.
 
#24 ·
It's true it could just be an isolated incident. But the fact is that there has not been an extensive CVT prod test by Honda until now. Hopefully it's just that, an isolated incident.

This was THE main reason why I opted for the V6.
 
#26 ·
^^This. I'm not ready to freak out just yet. Given how many new Accords with the CVT have been sold, there are bound to be a few problems failures here and there.

OP: Would be curious what the last 6 digits of your VIN are. Maybe you have an early car and Honda made some modifications to the later units.
 
#28 ·
I stuck a bamboo skewer into the hole where the transmission housing has plug to add the transmission fluid and get some of my transmission fluid out today. They are still in a light amber color with a smell little bit different from the tranditional ATF from my old Nissan Sentra. Since it is not black, I don't think I smell anything burnt or abnormal.......Other people who is concernd with the fluid might want to try just take a look really quick. BTW, the car is purchased last Dec and currently has around 5K miles on it.
 
#39 ·
Went ahead and checked mine too even though I've only got 4000 miles and would have been shocked if it weren't pristine, and it was, very clear, no smell except as MN noted, a slightly chemical kind of odor unlike traditional ATF fluid, but I guess that's what HCF-2 is supposed to be.
 
#30 ·
Did you save the CVT fluid?

Accord Sport, 15K miles. Started hearing a whirring sound last week accompanied by a slight lurching upon accelleration so I took it to the dealer today.
They drained the trans fluid and showed it to me. Black and Burnt!
I am having a little trouble believing this story in many ways. CVT fluid should be good for 25K even under the most extreme case per owner's manual. If the fluid is truly black at 15K then the CVT must have gotten really hot to cook the fluid. Thus changing the fluid is only good for a short time. It would have been great to see the black and burnt CVT fluid.
 
#31 ·
I am having a little trouble believing this story in many ways. CVT fluid should be good for 25K even under the most extreme case per owner's manual. If the fluid is truly black at 15K then the CVT must have gotten really hot to cook the fluid. Thus changing the fluid is only good for a short time. It would have been great to see the black and burnt CVT fluid.
I did see it. That's why I wrote that he showed it to me. Although, I wouldn't put it past these service people to have a cup of burnt trans fluid sitting around to get people to agree to a trans flush.


I'm incredulous that you are having a little trouble believing my story in many ways.:grumpy:
 
#34 ·
My CVT Fluid is Clear

Just checked my CVT fluid color using a wooden chopstick (Gave me an idea on how to check the CVT fluid level as well). The CVT fluid was absolutely clear (color of brand new Mobil 1 0-20W oil). Given a new condition fluid color, there is no point changing the fluid this morning (it is a waste of my time and money). So Buff1's CVT got super hot to cook the oil, which is the reason for black color and burnt smell. I think he has to find out the root cause otherwise his CVT is not going to last.

My chopstick is 8" long and with the end of chopstick flushed against the top of the CVT fill hole, the fluid level is about 1.5". Hopefully this helps.
 

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#36 ·
Just checked my CVT fluid color using a wooden chopstick (Gave me an idea to check the CVT fluid level as well). The CVT fluid was absolutely clear (color of brand new Mobil 1 0-20W oil). Given a new condition fluid color, there is no point change the fluid this morning (it is a waste of my time and money). So Buff1's CVT got super hot to cook the oil, which is the reason for black color and burnt smell. I think he has to find out the root cause otherwise his CVT is not going to last.

My chopstick is 8" long and with the end of chopstick flushed against the top of the CVT fill hole, the fluid level is about 1.5". Hopefully this helps.
That was exactly what I did yesterday...I inserted a bamboo skewer into the hole where the fill plug sits at. Color is exactly the same. Did you try to smell the fluid? How does it smell, I think it smells a little different than traditional ATF but not completely differernt.
 
#38 ·
Did you guys just pull the rubber plug on the front of the CVT in the engine compartment to check the level?
 
#49 ·
Compensating would be calling the OP's car a lemon and issuing a full refund. And if that did happen, OP would still have to pay about $6,000 to get an EX-L V6 as that's the price difference between the trims.

What you're talking about is issuing a full refund *and* knocking off an additional $3,000 to $4,000.
 
#55 ·
Get Real!



Why don't you open a Honda dealer and treat every customer the way you think he/she should be treated? I doubt you can stay in business for more than a few weeks. Regardless, biff1's CVT is functional so they are not going to do anything until it starts to act up again. You can't fix something that is working. Not sure I understand your logic.
 
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