I cant seem to find the check/fill location for the CVT fluid. I clearly see the drain plug, just no clue where the fill is...any ideas?

 

The manual is singularly unhelpful. It says to have a dealer check the level and replace if the maintenance minder specifies a sublevel 3 service.

If the Fit is similar to the latest generation Accord there will be a fill cap near the top of the transmission, a drain plug at the bottom, and a level check screw somewhere higher up. You pull the drain plug to drain the fluid then refill with a specified amount of fluid through the top cap. You then start the car, exercise it through all gears while stationary, then shut it down. You remove the level screw and fluid should just ooze out. If not, you add a bit more.

Seems like a big step backwards from an ordinary dipstick.

 

new age cvt doesn't need as much maintenance compare to old school automatic transmission that's why alot of new car don't have trans dip stick and everything is more hidden
most CVT trans is sealed unit and does not require maintenance

 

I don't know... there is a lot of belt dust usually accumulating in belt based scooter cvts which are essentially similar to any cvts.
Those need to be periodically cleaned. I wonder if honda's cvt requires cleaning and inspection. I bet it does.

 

A Honda automotive CVT is nothing like a rubber belt CVT. The belt is metal, runs in a lubricant bath, and does not slip to disengage. Comparing the two is like comparing an apple to a walnut.

I don't think that a CVT is as low-maintenance as a manual gearbox. first-generation CVTs had maintenance intervals of 20K-60K miles depending upon use. I have no idea of what the 2nd gen CVTs have for intervals, and Honda's reliance on the maintenance minder system gives no ballpark figure for that interval. My wild guess is 40k in normal service

 

George, they are very similar in their principal operation and can very well be compared - red delicious apple and granny smith. ( I don't know where you get the association with nuts ; ) ).

Both use a belt that relies on friction to transfer power between the drive pulley and the driven pulley. Since there is friction - there is wear, contamination, and therefore the need for periodic maintenance and cleaning.

 

Just a note here, and a note for all transmission/differential fluid changes.

Remove the FILL plug first. If you remove the drain plug first, and then for some reason can't get the fill plug out, you'll be screwed. At least if you remove the fill first, you know you'll be fine (and it will drain faster).

Normally, modern cars you now have to fill it, put it in drive and warm up the transmission to a certain temperature, then open the fill bolt and let it drain to that level (while vehicle is running). That's the procedure for most german cars nowadays. Don't know about the Fit.

 

Automotive and scooter CVTs are similar in that they both transmit power and use variable pulley sheaves, but that is where the similarity ends. Apples and walnuts are similar in that they are both nutritious and grow on trees but that is where the similarity ends.

The big difference is that the rubber-belt CVT also has the function of a clutch, which means that it has to slip a lot. Metal-belt CVTs have a separate clutch or torque converter so they never slip in normal operation. That makes a huge difference in the amount of wear and debris in the lubricant. A more minor difference is that rubber-belt CVTs transmit force via belt tension and metal-belt CVTs transmit force via belt compression, the segments of the belt forming a column that solidly links the two sheaves.

Now, you'll say that there has to be some slippage as the belt runs in and out of engagement as it rotates. The fact is that there is a bit of relative motion just as there is in gears, but the transmission fluid provides a film that prevents galling. The trick was in creating a fluid that flows but turns into a ultra-viscous near-solid under the pressure of the sheave. That is the breakthrough that allowed high-power, efficient, metal-belt CVTs.

 

George, I don't know how familiar you are with scooter CVTs but they definitely have separate clutches. I am not debating the fine differences, that is indisputable but when you say both CVTs can not be compared, here is where I disagree.

You wouldn't want to compare a CVT to a hydraulic automatic transmission, or a manual transmission, or some other way of changing the ratios of transfer, but all CVTs are basically operating on the same basic principle - CONTINUOUS VARIABLE Transmission... of power.

Btw, a green Granny Smith apply is a lot more different from a Red Delicious apple (chemically, genetically, by colors) than the design and the operating principles of a Fit's and a scooter CVTs.

 

Honda Worldwide | Technology Picture Book | CVT

 

old video but you get a gist

 

What I can tell you my old 2012 Civic Hybrid requires CVT fluid change every 30K miles. I did one myself which is really easy. The dealer wanted $129 to do a 15 minute fluid change. I was like you are crazy.

The Honda CVT fluid is expensive but doing it yourself isn't bad at all.

I do not know if 2015 Fit CVT requires fluid change every 30K miles so we'll have to wait and see when the maintenance minder pops up on it. When you do change it yourself make sure you clean off the gunk on the plug as the end is magnetic and it collects the metal shavings.

 

Scooters do indeed have a centrifugal clutch built into the transmission, but that clutch and the belt run dry which means direct contact between the clutch friction material and its drum and between the belt and sheaves. Dry contact means the surfaces have to be designed to wear and and subsequently generate quite a lot of dust. Older scooters and snowmobiles solved this problem by running without a housing, newer scooters need periodic cleaning.

Automotive CVTs run in a lubricant bath. There is much less surface contact due to the film effects of the CVT fluid. There is a filter that takes care of what particulates are generated.

So, other than the superficial similarity, the two systems differ dramatically in how they transmit drive forces from pulley to belt and back to pulley. This difference greatly reduces the amount of wear in the automotive CVT design.

Since Honda has made it more difficult to change the fluid and to monitor its level they've pretty much made fluid change a dealer-only operation for most owners, much like a manual transmission. You wouldn't want to trust your $$$ CVT to Jiffy Lube since both fluid quantity and quality are critical and neither are directly observable by the owner after the service. My thought is that second generation CVTs will go quite a bit longer between fluid changes than the first generation since that is the trend as technology matures.

 

at least we need to know how to check the fluid level
nobody knows how to do that yet ?

 

I just bought a 2016 EX and I am checking things over right now.

I came in and got on the computer after being unable to find the trans dipstick.

So now I guess I'll have to wait for the maintenance minder and then try to find the fill and drain plugs then.

I'm finding that their dealer prep is lacking I found the spare tire at 35 PSI. It is suppose to be 60. I found 5 battery cells marginally low. The anti-freeze tests at -50 F. which is interesting. I initially thought that the tester was bad until I tried it in a new bottle of 50/50. It reads correctly.

So much for relying on the dealer to take care of you car.

Thanks for the info on the dipstick or lack there of.

 

 

So what were you doing with the long extension at around the 3:30 mark? Were you just using it to press down on the plug or is there a nut or something that needs to be screwed down tight?

 

When you put the flexi-funnel in I said to myself "I hope that the label comes back out with the funnel." It did, barely!

 

I was thinking the same thing when I saw it.

 

just to press down the plug