Enough Talk... Who has actually changed their CVT Fluid?

some1livesintexas

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After watching the youtube video below, I actually attempted to change the transmission fluid today on my 2016 honda civic ex, but i got stuck at 1:02, wasn't really sure how to remove the bolt at the middle of the screen
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IronFusion

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Breaker bar. One you do not have an emotional attachment to. You can try penetrating oil, but the square peg bolt will still likely eat a tool or two while being worked loose.
 

Civics4Ever

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So, I changed mine today. Pretty straight forward, fairly easy and followed the you tube video. Filled back up with 3.9 qts. The factory fill I drained out totalled about 4.4qts. Does Honda overfill intentionally or does the CVT oil complete capacity total 4+ qts? After the change and short test drive, my car works fine. Any ideas?
 

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So, I changed mine today. Pretty straight forward, fairly easy and followed the you tube video. Filled back up with 3.9 qts. The factory fill I drained out totalled about 4.4qts. Does Honda overfill intentionally or does the CVT oil complete capacity total 4+ qts? After the change and short test drive, my car works fine. Any ideas?
did you remove the check bolt to see if anyting came out? if nothing came out then you are low on fluid
 

Civics4Ever

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did you remove the check bolt to see if anyting came out? if nothing came out then you are low on fluid
I did not. If it takes more than the 3.9 qts. Stated for capacity, why should there be over 4 qts. In there? I will check it tonight and see if any oil flows out.
 


Civics4Ever

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the cvt holds 7 or 8qts total if you do a complete flush
Ah ok. That makes sense. I took the check bolt out and I had to add another half court to get it to dribble out. When is it recommended to do a complete flush?
 

RetroJR

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Not a civic, but did a drain\refill of my wife's 2017 CRV CVT fluid and Diff fluid @27k miles. Very straightforward and easy to do. The CVT took just over 5 quarts to refill. Diff took about 1.2 quarts
Here are pics of the magnetic drain plug. The first is the Diff, which frankly had more collected on it than the CVT drain plug. Third pic is a clean plug for reference.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/hrSD3s2BzZggmBsH6

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JyU8ahuTjZtrR8X16

https://photos.app.goo.gl/dMxk9tZnMXvax3bg9
 

TLAPkenn

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I have 52,000 miles on my 2016 Civic 1.5T. I've changed the CVT fluid twice at about 25,000 miles and 49,000 miles using Honda Genuine CVT fluid that I picked up from the dealership. As some have already mentioned on this thread, I prefer not to chance it using a third-party CVT fluid even though Amsoil CVT fluid might be "better" or more easily available at your local auto-parts store. For me, I reason that Honda makes great engines, but not the best automatic transmissions. It's good insurance to change the CVT fluid ahead of the maintenance reminder. Like the age old advice of normal automatic transmissions, I don't ever "flush" the old transmission fluid out.

It's relatively straight forward process to change the CVT fluid and much like changing the oil. However, do note that there is no dip-stick for the CVT fluid and that there is a check-valve instead. This is what complicates the process as many are worried about the quantity that they put in. I use about 4 quarts of CVT fluid when I change the fluid (its a partial change of the total 7 quart capacity, which I think is another reason why to change the CVT fluid ahead of the maintenance schedule). Also note that the CVT fluid drain bolt also uses a crush washer like the motor oil drain bolt. The size of the CVT drain bolt crush washer is a different size that the motor oil drain bolt crush washer. You can purchase the CVT drain bolt crush washer at the Honda dealer or online for a few bucks. When you replace/add the CVT fluid, a long funnel will be helpful as the opening is lower in the engine bay.
 

TLAPkenn

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Ah ok. That makes sense. I took the check bolt out and I had to add another half court to get it to dribble out. When is it recommended to do a complete flush?
I wouldn't do a complete flush like they do at transmission places. Just replace the CVT fluid as per the maintenance schedule or ahead of it (like I do). I guess if you really want to make sure you are running 100% clean CVT Fluid, you can change it once (removing 3.9 quarts) and replace it with new fluid, and then change it out again (removing another 3.9 quarts). That just seems excessive to me and not very environmental. But to each his own.
 


YZ490

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Did the CVT fluid change on my 2017 Civic Hatchback this weekend. I was at 50k miles - almost all highway. The "3" hasn't come on for the maintenance minder yet, but after talking to one of the local Honda service managers I was scared to go any further without changing it. (I was at the Honda dealer to get a spare key reprogrammed as I had a BCM changed under warranty at 35.5k miles and forgot to get the spare key reprogrammed until last week.) I bought 5 quarts of the HCF-2 and the new crush washer for the drain plug. Local Honda dealer had trouble finding the crush washer for the fill check plug so I had to re-use that one. I had to do a 550 mile drive for work today so I didn't want to wait for one to get ordered in. When I drained the fluid I was worried about how bad it smelled, but when I checked the smell of the new fluid it was just as odorous. The smell was different than oil, transmission fluid, or differential gear oil (my favorite). There was a little sluggy fluid on the drain plug but no metal shavings that I could see. I ended up re-filling just shy of 4 quarts before running through the gears while cranked. I had to use just a little of the 5th quart after running through all the gears. Maybe I'll change it again at 80k miles. I mean if I already have it up on jacks for the oil change I might as well.
 

bubbaleenc

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Okay, so I did mine this weekend. I have the 1.5T CVT, and finding the upper fill plug and the drain bolt were easy. Finding the check bolt was another story. I’ve seen several pictures showing where it *should* be, but there are no bolts in that location that could possibly be the check.

Now the odd thing is, my car has 2 fill plugs (see pictures). One is where you can easily see it, the other is down near where the check bolt should be. Nowhere have I seen a blow up schematic of our CVT that has 2 fill plugs.

Anyone else have this???

Overhead:
Honda Civic 10th gen Enough Talk... Who has actually changed their CVT Fluid? upload_2018-12-3_22-18-25


Up close to the top plug:
Honda Civic 10th gen Enough Talk... Who has actually changed their CVT Fluid? upload_2018-12-3_22-17-54


Location of lower plug:
Honda Civic 10th gen Enough Talk... Who has actually changed their CVT Fluid? upload_2018-12-3_22-19-48



The lower one is accessible when you remove the flex duct downstream of the MAF on the intake.
 
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IronFusion

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Okay, so I did mine this weekend. I have the 1.5T CVT, and finding the upper fill plug and the drain bolt were easy. Finding the check bolt was another story. I’ve seen several pictures showing where it *should* be, but there are no bolts in that location that could possibly be the check.

Now the odd thing is, my car has 2 fill plugs (see pictures). One is where you can easily see it, the other is down near where the check bolt should be. Nowhere have I seen a blow up schematic of our CVT that has 2 fill plugs.

Anyone else have this???

Overhead:
upload_2018-12-3_22-18-25.jpeg


Up close to the top plug:
upload_2018-12-3_22-17-54.jpeg


Location of lower plug:
upload_2018-12-3_22-19-48.jpeg



The lower one is accessible when you remove the flex duct downstream of the MAF on the intake.

I vaguely recall that being the case for me too. Ignore the lower, even if it looks like the top fill you're actually working with. If you've already drained.... that is some bolt they have on there, huh!? On my car, it was so frozen on it was like they all but spot welded to keep the peasants out.
 

bubbaleenc

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I vaguely recall that being the case for me too. Ignore the lower, even if it looks like the top fill you're actually working with. If you've already drained.... that is some bolt they have on there, huh!? On my car, it was so frozen on it was like they all but spot welded to keep the peasants out.
No Joke! Thankfully I have a *long* breaker bar and a square pipe plug socket for an impact wrench so I was able to torque it off relatively quickly. But when I first tried with just a ratchet I swear I heard that bolt chuckling at me...

I simply replaced a slightly lower volume of fluid compared to what I removed (to account for heat expansion)... that is, I drained around 4.2 qt and replaced with 4 qt. I found a reference to where the check bolt may be, so I'll try it tonight if I get around to it. The only thing is that it is, if it is actually the check bolt, it is the only one I've ever seen that isn't on a vertical section of case... :hmm:
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