Hi all,

I was just recently driving up a hill, felt my car stutter and buckle and after a second of regaining my composure my spider sense said the transmission just shit out. I've had the car since it was brand new. There was an issue with the fuel injectors which was covered under warranty luckily. Otherwise it's been really decent, had to do the starter this past summer but it wasn't crazy and I've gotten a lot of good miles out of it.

For the first 70k or so miles I had it serviced at dealership only. They did transmission fluid at 50k, brought it to another dealer at 98k for another fluid job. I had been warned about all the issues with CVT ( of course after I purchased it ) but felt like I was keeping up with it.

Anyway I was able to make it back home in limp mode - ran the codes and got P0793 and P0796... sensor and a solenoid. I figured I'd just bring it in to the dealership to let them run through the real procedure to troubleshoot instead of trying to replace the sensor on my own and maybe not even fix it.

They got to work on it today and sent me this image from when they tried to remove the sensor. I don't know "exactly" what I'm looking at but it looks like a whole chunk of the exterior pulley casing and a ton of shards from the death of my belts ? In any case this thing is fucked.
sad.Ok so that's the situation. Of course Honda dealer at first says 6k for the replacement and they could cut a great deal at 5.5k. It goes without saying that that's not an option for me at all. I haven't gotten quotes from smaller shops but I'm sure it wouldn't be that much less.

So I'm pretty fucked here. My only thought is to try and find a reasonable replacement so I can get some more life out of the car. As far as I can tell everything else is in decent shape; e.g. just got new tires, brakes and start in the last 10k miles. My options with replacing it as far as I can see from here are:

1. Shop around for a good mechanic/shop that will take pity on my sorry situation and find a decent option.
   
2. Grab a used/refurbished box and try to find a mechanic that would be able to do the work.
   

- With this and the next option my greatest concern is that any transmission that's reasonably priced has 100K + miles on it anyway !

3. Grab a used/refurbished one and wrench on it myself over the summer. I know this is a kind of crazy option and I've only done way lighter work on my cars in the past but this kind of seems like a total loss situation anyway ( i'm likely going to get a different car ) and maybe being able to salvage it on the cheap will work out decently. The transmissions look pretty hefty too so this also seems insane without a lift and decent shop space.

Anyone have experience going down any of these roads and able to provide some guidance? Aside from this godforsaken CVT trash that they stuck it with I really do love the car. I've got a kind of 4th option too as I live close to Tijuana and have some friends who know mechanics down there... do I go that way? I've seen several threads where this issue is brought up and also just wanted to post this to vent/commiserate with those about to go through it too. Thanks for reading!

tldr: fuck CVT.

 

Here's an image of the mangled trans the dealer sent:

 

That is unfortunate.

Do you have other transportation? You mention trying to do the repair/replacement yourself "over the summer" which implies you're not in a hurry. That would certainly be cheaper than paying the dealership or an independent mechanic to do the work, with the downside that that you have to DIY with all the pain and frustration that can produce.

It would certainly be worth investigating getting the car repaired in Mexico. Replacing a transmission is not difficult, assuming you have proper facilities, tools, and/or a lot of gumption. Most of the price you will pay a mechanic comes down to labor, so if you can pay less for that labor you will save money.

It would also be worth calling around to junkyards and spending some time on Craigslist, Marketplace, or similar. Cars get in accidents all the time, so it's not unreasonable that you could find a lower mileage Fit that had been rear-ended and get a good deal on a transmission.

Having said all that, you also mentioned that you're probably going to get a different car, in which case you should spend some time thinking about the economics of paying a professional to repair your car or your time investment if you attempt to DIY. In either scenario, will you recover your investment of money/time through continued use of the car or a higher sale price?

 

Yeah definitely a bummer! The horrors persist but so do we right ? I've been reaching out to shops in my area to get a confirmation that the transmission is toast and to also check what type of options they can offer. I think after that I'll be asking my friends in TJ if they know any resources and then I think after that I'd decide to do the work in my carport. I have a decent amount of hand tools but from what I've researched I'd need an engine lift, a couple of pans for keeping the site and as you mentioned a lot of gumption!
And finally yes you're absolutely correct. I've been in a bit of a frenzy since this all happened 6 days ago and I haven't really had time to crunch the numbers and analyze what my best option here is. I'm currently finishing school and am not in the best financial shape ever... but if a good jobs comes along sooner than later I'd definitely be inclined to keep this car. We've had 10 years and so many journeys together! But yeah thank you for bringing that up I've got to definitely do some sober calculations of what this all means in the long run.
Thank you much for that thoughtful reply !

 

I would never attempt to do something myself like switch a transmission without a lift (and other tools) and a significant skill level. I would lean to looking for a wreck and a non-dealer shop with significant Honda experience.

 

So it was 2 fluid changes in 112000 miles? I've done 3 CVT fluid changes in 128000 miles on my 2016

 

Well 2 fluid changes in 98k. That was the recommended schedule and I wasn't privy to the 30k changes I've since learned about online. I was going by the dealer's recommendations.

 

Yeah I'm currently checking with some independent shops on solutions. Firstly I want to see if they concur with Honda dealer. I definitely acknowledge the steepness of the hill but engine lifts can be had for 150 - 200, a used transmission for 15-1800, 300 more for filters and o-rings. In a different life situation I'd definitely not consider it but I'm pretty stuck financially at this time.

 

how much for a new CVT minus the labor ?

 

Shop owner here. Your best route is just a used swap and maybe re seal. Lots of times that's not necessary, but it wouldn't hurt. Hardest part is most CVTs have a somewhat technical fill process - get it 1/4 of a qt of, it can act up. So follow it as closely as possible. You could probably get away with taller stands (make sure to lock em good), I think you'll drop the subframe. After that it stays pretty simple.

I tell people shoulda gone manual. Theres a price to pay for convenience! (Almost 205,000 mi on stock clutch for mine). Be well man. Hope everything works out.

 

are there any alignment issues in dropping the subframe on these cars ?

 

You always should realign even if you put nuts and bolts back to the mark marks. I had to after trans rebuilt done and reinstalled on my 07 Accord V6.

 

Enough said. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

 

I've found a few used ones for 1200-1800. Factory re-manufactured it seems like Honda wants 4200 . In that light the shop quote of 5,500 for full install doesn't even seem too bad

 

It's a bummer that knowledge comes with so much pain sometimes! I'll definitely be keeping this advice in mind next purchase. When I was younger I had a manual for like a year and it was the clunkiest shifting POS ever... gotta shake off the scars lol.

I've got it in an independent shop and they're gonna give me their take tomorrow. I'll def keep the using stands advice in mind too that would make it much more convenient not having to grab a cherry picker. Also - I saw some people taking the engine out completely, you think i can get away without that ?
Thanks for reply !

 

pulling off subframe parts is also nerve-wracking for me as a DIY. I feel like i'd spend hours just making sure everything was torqued back as best I could.

 

Will def keep this in mind if I gotta do the work myself. Seems like the difference between having a smooth drive and a clunker afterwards.

 

You'll definitely want to get it realigned after dropping the frame. I believe LCAs are embedded in, so that's a suspension component - realignment necessary.

I have taken transmissions out withOUT undoing suspension components from subframe; just letting the frame free hang so to speak. 3 am so don't ask me what vehicles.

The key to working on cars isn't NOT screwing up. It's doing what you can effectively and being able to fix something if you did mess it up. Pointing your mind towards screwing up is the first mistake. Just go through the steps, be patient, double check your work as you go along. You'll be fine.

 

In my 2015 LX CVT 85k/mi it seems to like the eco mode programming more. Its more gentle, the regular mode is more sensitive at the pedal and if you dont have legs and nerves of swiss mechanics you may exhaust the tranny servos so the eco mode soothes out your nerves and the too sensitive petal = long cvt. Maybe?! Its worth extending the life ill argue.