Civic CVT Fluid Change with Castrol?

xjoshuax89

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jtrader

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Car still runs great. Fingers crossed ?
Good to hear! I just bought 4qts of Eneos Model H from Napa last week. Will be replacing my Valvoline CVT soon at 50k miles, which I've had since 30k. Valvoline was fine, but gonna try Eneos this time around as I've read good things about it.
 

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Just did the CVT fluid change on my 60,000 Miles 2016 Civic with the new Castrol Transmax ATF/CVT Universal fluid. The new universal fluid is only $19 for 4 quarts at Walmart with the same specs as the Castrol CVT fluid which will cost $32 for 4 quarts. Since I do my CVT fluid every 20,000 miles, it's the third CVT fluid change with Castrol products, and haven't experienced any CVT deviation yet.
Honda Civic 10th gen Civic CVT Fluid Change with Castrol? Castrol CVT fluid specs

Honda Civic 10th gen Civic CVT Fluid Change with Castrol? Castrol ATF CVT Universal fluid specs
 

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Just did the CVT fluid change on my 60,000 Miles 2016 Civic with the new Castrol Transmax ATF/CVT Universal fluid. The new universal fluid is only $19 for 4 quarts at Walmart with the same specs as the Castrol CVT fluid which will cost $32 for 4 quarts. Since I do my CVT fluid every 20,000 miles, it's the third CVT fluid change with Castrol products, and haven't experienced any CVT deviation yet.
Castrol CVT fluid specs.jpg

Castrol ATF CVT Universal fluid specs.jpg
Thanks! Those are identical specs. Will buy this when it's time for the next change. HCF-2 compatible. That's all I needed to know. Currently using Transmax CVT in two cars without any issue.

Honda Civic 10th gen Civic CVT Fluid Change with Castrol? 1623714108795
 


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If I were to change my cvt to Castrol would I need to do a flush to be safe
 

Myx

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Have you put Castrol in yet?
Yes! Had Castrol put in since a few months ago. Zero issues and do not expect any. Planning to have it changed out every 20k miles. I may have it changed out in 10k this round then 20k afterwards. Just to have more pure Castrol in the tranny vs mostly Castrol but some Honda CVT fluid mixed in.
 

Christianjwong

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Yes! Had Castrol put in since a few months ago. Zero issues and do not expect any. Planning to have it changed out every 20k miles. I may have it changed out in 10k this round then 20k afterwards. Just to have more pure Castrol in the tranny vs mostly Castrol but some Honda CVT fluid mixed in.
Thoughts on it
 

Myx

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Thoughts on it
I haven't been racing last year and most of this year due to Covid. So I haven't been able to test how durable the transmission is with this setup. However, I have had zero issues otherwise. I am not an aggressive driver.
 

Christianjwong

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I haven't been racing last year and most of this year due to Covid. So I haven't been able to test how durable the transmission is with this setup. However, I have had zero issues otherwise. I am not an aggressive driver.
Oh gotchya makes sense I am I usually use the b
I haven't been racing last year and most of this year due to Covid. So I haven't been able to test how durable the transmission is with this setup. However, I have had zero issues otherwise. I am not an aggressive driver.
I haven't been racing last year and most of this year due to Covid. So I haven't been able to test how durable the transmission is with this setup. However, I have had zero issues otherwise. I am not an aggressive driver.
Gotchya that makes sense I am I'm probably on the paddle shifters 75 percent of the time and I usually rev it out. So that's why I'm interested in switching the cvt fluid to something thicker or more protective idk if that's a good idea or not
 
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Myx

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Oh gotchya makes sense I am I usually use the b


Gotchya that makes sense I am I'm probably on the paddle shifters 75 percent of the time and I usually rev it out. So that's why I'm interested in switching the cvt fluid to something thicker or more protective idk if that's a good idea or not
Totally understandable! Best thing to do and be on the safe side is to stick with the Honda CVT fluid but change it out more frequently if you drive hard. Changing it out every 20k seems like a safe bet. That's what I'll be doing even though I hardly race anymore. I still will be sticking with Castrol now because I like what I have read about it.
 

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Totally understandable! Best thing to do and be on the safe side is to stick with the Honda CVT fluid but change it out more frequently if you drive hard. Changing it out every 20k seems like a safe bet. That's what I'll be doing even though I hardly race anymore. I still will be sticking with Castrol now because I like what I have read about it.
What have you read as far as benefits I've heard it rides smoother is that true?
 
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FatPolarBear

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Although I don't have any scientific or numerical proof, a family member who didn't know I switched to Castrol CVT fluid noticed differences. He reflected the car had less drony noise under high speed, ran smoother under lower gears, and MPG increased from 26 to 28 (SF bumper to bumper traffic). I totally agree with him and that's the reason why I still stick to the Castrol CVT fluid after 3 CVT fluid changes. Draining and filling are quite easy. If you don't like the result of the Castrol fluid ($18 for 4 qt), just drain it out and top it with the Honda HCF-2 again. After 2 cycles, the fluid will change from red back to Honda gold as the original. I tried Amsoil, royal purple, Mobile 1, and Castrol synthetic 0W-20 in my 2016 Civic with liquid moly and other additives. Currently, Castrol synthetic 0W20 w/o additive + mobile 1 filter and Castrol CVT fluid is my favorite combination. For the engine oil, Mobile 1 is very loud even with fresh oil, royal purple declines too fast (after the first 1,000 miles), and Amsoil shows a similar result as Castrol but 3x on price. I don't drive like a lunatic anymore and all I want is a quiet commute, so I choose Castrol.
 
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What have you read as far as benefits I've heard it rides smoother is that true?
I haven't noticed any difference. I never had any problems with the stock Honda fluid though. @FatPolarBear has some interesting observations though and he has done comparisons to other fluids.

Also, I barely drive the car fast anymore. Ever! Difficult to get time to race at the tracks and no-one races this for some reason. I did have one older Honda that tried about a week ago. Was very loud, revving....etc. It was over as soon as it started. No speed limits broken. Went 2x! Transmission performed flawlessly. Guy was laughing and gave thumbs up. Only other time was a couple months back when I did a test at the dragstrip for the Ktuner aritificial knock removal tune. No issues with the transmission. Ran a couple 13.6's on the base tune. Drama free performance from the transmission which is excellent.
 

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Just ordered some Honda brand HCF-2 for an upcoming 30k change. The memory of the poor performance of my old Nissan AT (not a CVT) after using non-Nissan trans fluid is still fresh in my mind YEARS later. I'm not going to make that same mistake again.
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