CVT Fluid Change
 

A little over a week ago, my son's 2015 Fit said it needed oil/filter and CVT fluid changed. A few days later, it changed its mind about the CVT fluid, but I changed it anyway, at about 26,500 miles.

I had to remove the belly pan for the oil change, so I figured I might as well do the CVT fluid at the same time. Those two rear plastic screws are ridiculous. One of them no longer holds, so I'll have to come up with another way to hold it on. Overall, it was an easy change.

The CVT plug is an inset square, rather than a hex. Using a 3/8" drive ratchet or breaker bar is the best way to remove it. Rather than attaching a socket to the ratchet, push the 3/8" piece into the drain plug. It was on very tight. Be aware that when the fluid starts to drain, it will shoot very far - like all the way to the wheel. It's best to hold a pan up to catch the fluid till the flow slows down a bit. The fluid looks just like clean engine oil - same color. The drain plug has a magnetic tip, and I had a bit of metal stuck to it.

I didn't see a fill plug on top, so I used the side "sight" plug. I have a funnel with a long plastic tube attached, and I was able to reach up from underneath and push it into that hole, once I removed the plug (17mm).

I poured in 3 1/2 qts, and put the sight plug back in. Since the car was up on ramps and sitting at an angle, I didn't bother checking the level. It needs 3 1/2 qts, and that's what I put in.

Below is the 3/8" ratchet wrench I used to remove the drain plug.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...ed671a4e5c.jpg

CVT fluid coming out
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...68cbeecc34.jpg


CVT fluid going in
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...1b257514de.jpg


What do you suppose this black, removable plate is for? I thought maybe for inspecting the flywheel.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...bfaf9b460e.jpg

Thank you for posting this. I have less than half the miles, but I like to know what I'll need to do when the time comes.

Is the drain plug on the driver's side?

The sight plug is in the front of the engine right? I can see the radiator overflow so that's my guess.

For the replacement plastic screw, I was thinking of using one of those expanding plastic wall anchors but I haven't personally seen it yet so I'm not sure.

You're right about both plugs.

For the rear screw, I might try something using JB Weld. I could drill into that and use a sheetmetal screw. I could also attach a nut with the JB Weld and screw a bolt into it. I could also use a speed nut - like the ones holding the other screws in place.

I painted all the screws yellow to make them easier to find. I was surprised to see a bit of rust on the frame, here and there. I sanded, primed, and painted it.

I'll add my thanks for the pics and writeup. I'm sitting at 29,300 and my "wrench" came on for the first time since I bought the car with an A12 code (oil life is at 15%). I think I'll go ahead and change the CVT fluid at the same time…

es

If the guy who sold me this 2015 Fit new hadn't told me this was sealed system I wouldn't have bought the car.
Like the extra charge for the nitrogen in the tires that I refused. What's next, replace the hood every 40K? The doorlocks
after 100K?

I have owned close to 20 vehicles and only an F250 with a towing package required this sort of dark ages maintenance.
As for the CVT, I have a 1993 Tercel with 200K+ miles that get 8 mpg more while blowing cold A/C. Manual transmission.

Can you help me understand what we're supposed to take away from this post? It sounds like you're satisfied that this is a sealed system, but then complain about your F250 which required fluid changes (which you refer to as "dark ages maintenance"). It feels all over the map and I'm struggling to understand what you're trying to say here.

OK, let me clarify:
 

Out of the 20+ vehicles this old guy has owned "only an F250 with a towing package required this sort of dark ages maintenance". That means I never changed the transmission fluid, filter, etc. in a single other of them and the transmissions never failed. The vast majority of these went well over 200K miles.
the F250 needed it because the dipstick smelled burnt.

I asked while buying a Fit if the transmission need maintenance, because I heard some weird complaints about Honda in that regard, and the answer was apparently true AND false: it is sealed in the sense there is no dipstick, but it is far from maintenance-free. No one opens up a sealed battery every year and adds water.

No one can tell me how often or under what circumstances I should have this fluid changed. I am reading where people do it every time with their oil, others every 60K miles, and others claiming the little wrench comes on just so you take it to the dealer, who claims to have done it whether needed or not.

So yes, I am dismayed for two reasons:
1) Apparently I could have purchased a relatively maintenance-free CVT.
2) I have no barometer by which to actually believe this maintenance
is in reality necessary. For instance, Toyota always wanted me to adjust valves
and change timing belts, I never did, and every one stayed pristine. Does this fluid wear out with age, after 20K, 60K, 100K miles? The answer is unscientific fear, uncertainty, and doubt---" it is safer to change it more often". Yes, maybe.

But who does this really benefit and why? I could change the lawn-mower sized battery early in this thing too, before it ever strands me somewhere, and in some sense that would benefit me. It would benefit the battery-makers much more.

Thus my confusion.

That makes a lot more sense, thanks for taking the time to write that out and explain.

I'm coming from a Mazda3 with a five speed manual and I changed the transmission fluid in that car at ~100k miles because it was visibly discolored. When I bought my CVT Fit I knew that it had expensive fluid that would need changing.

Like you, I'm not entirely clear on the fluid change interval. So I guess we'll just see what happens ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Changing the transmission fluid with every oil change? Crazy. Do it when it comes up on the maintenance minder (code 3). Probably not for 60,000 miles.

I haven't done it on my 2016 yet but on my 2010 it was easier than an oil change. Hardly a reason to avoid buying a car.

Code 3 (Transmission Fluid) came on before 60k miles on mine, but YMMV. The fluid change if you buy the fluid and DIY is really not that expensive. It's like $10 a qt and you need 4 for the 3.6qt change.

No, there's no clear schedule- because basing fluid changes on miles or time is not optimal. The Fit uses a formula (that nobody has been able to figure out) to determine when oil, etc. should be changed.

We've heard it takes into account cold starts, hot starts, miles driven, engine rpm... but even if it were simply a crude measure of engine revolutions that's still better than mileage. Someone driving all highway mileage turns his engine over, per mile, a LOT less than someone who's in stop-and-go traffic a lot.

People's estimates/experience seem to be, if I remember right, 60k miles for transmission fluid. But it's really a simple maintenance item. If this were when to change the transmission or rebuild the engine I could understand the reticence. But changing transmission fluid is about as complicated as an oil change.

When I asked my service advisor (yeah, I know, they don't do the work), he said CVT fluid change is at 100,000 km.

Thank-you
 

That's as close to reality as we're going to get I'll bet.

Thanks.
 

I do my own maintenance and i am old. Any help is appreciated.

Thank-you for the interval data I politely asked for.
 

I appreciate all the kind and helpful thoughts.

One has to wonder what motivates such while at the same time no helpful data is offered?

If the corporate shills we bankrolled ever used such argumentum ad hominems we fired them for legal reasons.

We a have large and diverse country, and I respect your decision to be
hateful for no apparent reason. Respect my decision to
"At all times and under all circumstances, overcome evil with good."

I won't be addressing this again.

Thread cleaned. Forum rules state no personal attacks on other forum members. Consider involved parties warned. Next will be a ban.

:offtopic:

Partial Transmission Fluid Changes?
 

My Fit had the wrench come on around 50k miles. Dealer told me
I SHOULD HAVE had a "partial change" at 25K miles, then again now.
Even though they would change a portion of the CVT fluid each time
the bill would be $139. They said not to do an "entire change" unless
I am having problems.

Another thing: they did not ask what year the Fit was...mine is a 2015.
Seems to me that might have mattered. I need some advice about these things.

Dealer is full of it. All CVT fluids are partial changes and that's what Honda says is fine. No need to change early. And $139 is damn expensive for what's easier than an oil change (although the fluid is a bit more expensive than oil).

Find another dealer.

Thank-you
 

I was wondering.

The majority of it is going to be labor and they're probably charging at least an hour of shop time even though it takes less. The CVT fluid is about $10 a quart and you need 4 bottles to do the 3.6 quart fluid exchange. I think the shop manual says to remove the intake assembly to gain access to the fill opening, but others have been able to fill using a funnel and the inspection hole.