Nope, there was no point in rocking it back and forth, the car sits too low to the ground. That did get me thinking though that maybe sand got in fins of a transmission cooler or something to that effect but that didn't turn out to be the case either. Sand wasn't related.


I just got off the phone with the service manager and the tests showed a programming malfunction that caused the 'B' solenoid to stay open, which I suppose caused it to slip and disengage, and get extremely hot.


The fix was to reprogram and recode it under direction from Honda, and change the fluid. They test drove the car for over 100 miles, presumably up and down the grade I was on in order to duplicate things and it's working fine according to them and is ready for pickup.


We'll see.

 

You had a CVT as well?

 

no, i have a 6mt.

fitfolk, good luck with your car. hopefully it is resolved.

 

What exactly was your issue?

 

car didn't move... pm sent

 

VERY interesting!

Sorry to hear of you problems as well.



A programming malfunction? Wonder what they mean by that. What caused this programming malfunction? I was just looking it up online and some info about solenoid 'B' but couldn't find anything on the Jazz forums. Interesting!

 

Bernardi Honda does -- there is an Enterprise desk right in the service area. No muss, no fuss.

 

Right, it wasn't the solenoid itself. I can't speculate as to what data caused it to stay open.
Interestingly, there was no check engine light till it quit. I'll try and get all the read out data just to make sure.


As spooky as it is to think that you have little to no direct control over a car these days, it's those very computer controlled systems and their ability to adjust and compensate that allows them to last longer.

 

It might be a good idea to talk to Honda corporate and make sure that they acknowledge in writing that the transmission "got extremely hot" due to a warranty issue. This might well have damaged something else in the transmission, such as whatever part was slipping excessively.

This possible damage may cause the transmission to fail sooner in its life than normal, but beyond the warranty period. Since Honda isn't replacing the transmission they should make a commitment to the transmission having a normal life, not just to the end of the warranty.

 

That's a very good idea. It needs to be a matter of record.


It was fortunate that it gave out on an interstate with fairly light traffic and an apron. Many two lane hilly roads I tend to travel when there's free time don't have that luxury.


I was hoping to pick the car up today with a one way rental but El Centro only has Hertz and Enterprise and neither will let anything go from their inventory in the Coachella Valley for at least a week. Too bad, I could have walked to Enterprise at the La Quinta Resort. Dang resort towns, wife and I will have to run down there early tomorrow and Honda's off the hook for paying for a rental car.

 

Sorry to hear about your transmission problem. I hope it is solved for good now. I bought my wife a brand new civic last year. At first oil change, I noticed it was leaking oil. My wife brought it in for warranty repair and they gave her a rental car before even looking at the car themselves. That is inexcusable that you would have such a severe problem as a transmission failure and they don't give you a rental.

 

We went back to El Centro and retrieved the car early this morning and in the 100 mile trip back, the transmission seems to be working fine. The only thing I can notice is that in situations like lifting off the accelerator coming from a signal it formerly lifted heavily, almost like it was looking for another rev band to be in. Now it just lifts without any jolting motion. Kind of like backing off line pressure a little as you'd do in tweaking an old Torque-Flight automatic.


Bottom line is that neither the dealership nor Honda can say why it did what it did.


The fix was to read the diagnostic code for the transmission, reset, and reprogram and update the ECM and PCM. They drained and strained the transmission fluid and checked the paint strainer for anything metallic and didn't find anything, then replaced the fluid.


Under Honda's direction, they then ran the car on a test loop several times totaling 110 miles (radio history indicates the driver liked corridos...I kind of like them too) to get a snap shot code, which never returned, so they declared the car good to go.


Honda is aware of this incident and it's the first time they've seen this happen. I'll be making sure legal ducks are in a row on this case.


A side note I learned there this morning is that all Honda CVTs now have torque converters. The gen 3 Fit has since it came out and the rest of the line since late last year.

 

This is what they tell every customer with a problem. It may be true or it may be false. The goal is to stop owners with similar problems from talking to each other and, more importantly, to lawyers.


Yes they do, and I think that this is a good thing. Unlike a friction clutch the torque converter does not wear out or change engagement as it wears. Achieving a smooth engagement with automated clutches has always been a tricky thing (cough, Ford, cough) A well-designed lockup torque converter is just as efficient as a friction clutch in all drive regimes except for the initial vehicle motion.

 

GeorgeL,

I always wanted to know if the TC in the Fit had a lockup clutch but couldn't find any info at all.
Do you know for sure it is a lockup TC or are you just assuming it is?

Leaving the TC unlocked is unefficient but it would probably mean a lot less strain in the belt of the CVT as it avoids a direct coupling between the engine and the drivetrain, filtering shocks.

It might be a choice between reliability or efficiency...

 

I would be very surprised if any manufacturer is using a non-lock-up torque converter, particularly a manufacturer that is chasing the 40MPG holy grail.

I can't find any data for the US model. Apparently Americans aren't smart enough to handle such facts. Honda's specifications for Sri Lanka are more detailed and mention the lock-up feature:

Honda

 

This honda article gives some information about their new CVT Tech. TC is suppose to be same as in AT.

Honda Worldwide | Technology Picture Book | CVT

What is the power/torque lost with these CVT transmissions? I am assuming that MT puts all of power/torque to wheels with 0% lost.

 

That's not a good assumption. No drivetrain has zero loss, hence the difference between flywheel horsepower and wheel horsepower even with a geared transmission.

Considering that the CVT is now beating the manual transmission in fuel economy the relative efficiency of the two transmissions is comparable.

The advantage of the CVT comes from better ratios for economy that aren't practical in the 6 speed because of marketing considerations.

 

Thanks for the info!
Seems Americans need info digested like this

Honda Fit (2015)

looots of marketing and some useful data (like info of the 6mt gear ratios)


I also found a 2009 SAE paper regarding a CVT for the second generation FIT, I don't know if it was really used in that generation, but it looks sooo similar to the 'new' CVT.

http://papers.sae.org/2009-01-1541/

You have to pay to download it, but the preview is free and shows all the paper just with a watermark

 

40 mpg isn't a holy grail, it's a sad winter baseline. Nothing gives you mileage, but manual transmissions are much more efficient than anything else out there and allow for much higher mpg than anything else can hope for.

If you simply wish for the engineers to build a car that will graciously hand you 40 mpg by slipping belts and pumping fluids all around inside, you're going to have to wait a long time. If you're willing to use actual gears and do it yourself, 40 is just sitting there waiting for you to take it.

 

Well, it's done it again in local driving. Orange icon is on and the 'D' symbol is replaced by a box with an X in it. I put the car in the garage and called Honda Customer Service and they won't get to it till the next business day. The local dealer's service department says they won't look at it till Saturday.
Meanwhile, unless I just want to take a chance and see if it can get me where I need to go the next several days, I'm stranded.