2009 Fit Sport (Auto). First off... I know I'm an idiot. I'd like to blame this on something more reasonable, but I was just exhausted and having a distracting conversation while I was giving my son directions on changing the oil... long story short, he put a ton of motor oil in the transmission case.

I came back out the next morning, checked the levels, noticed that there was no oil, and filled the crankcase. Started the car up and drove it off the ramps and to the store, and noticed it felt a little weird. Came back and found out about all the oil in the transmission case. So the end result was, essentially, about 3-4 quarts of fresh motor oil in the transmission case, and then about 10 minutes of driving like that.

I drained ALL of the fluid, and have been doing the tranny flush for a few weeks (fresh fluid, drive for about 100 miles, then drain and refill again), so i've changed the fluid with fresh fluid about 3 times now. This last time, the fluid seemed to be coming out as basically fresh fluid—it was nice and red, and I couldn't see any traces of oil in it. I've also read that putting oil in your transmission is fine, in a pinch... everything I've been reading online says that it doesn't do damage, especially if it's just over a few miles.

But, I'm definitely having car problems. The big thing that makes me think that its not in my head is my MPG. My MPG was hovering around 27-28 mpg, and now it's down to about 23 MPG. And it just feels different. It feels like I need to press the pedal down much further to get power, but I can't tell if it's because the RPMs are the same but the power isn't translating to the transmission, or if the transmission is exactly fine but the engine isn't as efficient for some reason. Like, if the oil in the transmission were the problem, I'd expect the engine to be as responsive as it usually is (in terms of RPMs).... press the pedal down, and the RPMs should shoot up. Maybe the MPG would be worse, and it would feel like acceleration is weak, but this would be because the RPMs aren't translating into power because of a transmission issue. But if I guess if I had to choose one, it feels like the engine just isn't hitting as high of RPMs anymore. When I go uphill, I feel like I used to be able to hit a pretty high RPM, but now I feel like the RPMs stay lower. So I guess it feels like the engine just isn't as efficient?

Could this be a transmission issue caused by oil in the transmission, or is this a separate issue? In other words... I assume that a transmission problem would manifest by the engine performing as it normally would (ie. it would sound and feel like normal) but then the car itself would feel sluggish due to the transmission.... Here, it feels like the engine itself is sluggish (reacting slower to the pedal, peak RPMs seem lower, slower acceleration), but could that be caused by oil in the transmission, or is this some other, new issue.

One other thing I noticed: I couldn't remember what it sounded like before, but after I changed the transmission fluid, I noticed a ticking in the engine that I couldn't tell if it was there before or not. I read that this could be valve lash, so I just went in and readjusted the valves, and the noise is still there. Took a video of it, does this sound normal?
Would appreciate any help figuring out what's wrong. Is there some way to tell whether my engine is running efficiently, or if the transmission is the issue? Like, what RPM should I be at when going 65 mph on flat ground (ballpark)?

Thanks!

 

Engine oil would not be great for an auto but only 10 mins of driving shouldn't have damaged it, that would be the 5sp auto not the CVT?
Apart from the slight sluggish response does it feel fine?

 

Is that video of the engine after you set the valve clearance to spec?
How far was the valve clearance off factory spec before you set them?

I just got a GE Fit and my engine sounds just like yours, almost like a diesel engine!!
All the Ivtec engines seem to be noisy like that, I even found a video of a brand new 2015 engine that also had the mad noisy ticking tractor sound.

 

Here's a near brand new 2015, also noisy as heck:

 

And a 2012, same noise:

 

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, it's the 5-sp auto. It feels mostly fine, but the response is SO sluggish. It almost feels like... almost like the motor goes in steps. Like, the pedal can push down maybe 5 inches. It used to feel like, whenever I pushed down even a little, the engine would respond. If the pedal was down 18%, I'd be at 18% power. If the pedal was down 52%, I'd be at 52% power it feels like it goes in steps. As I push down the first inch, nothing happens. And then all of a sudden it's like I cross a threshold and then the engine revs up, but only a little. And then I can push it down like another full inch, and nothing happens no matter where I am within that inch range. And then all of a sudden it's like I cross another threshold and it has more power.

It's almost as if it used to have an infinite number of throttle positions, and so wherever I was with the pedal, I'd get a nuanced amount of power. But now, it's like it has maybe 4 throttle positions: 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. And that's it. So it's never at 26% or 27% or 48% or 49%, it's either at 25%, or 50%.

And my MPGs have gone way down, and it also just feels like it's shifting rough. It bumps a little when switching between gears, especially at lower speeds or when I'm traveling pretty fast and let all the way off the pedal so the RPMs drop, but then I step back on the pedal. But it's most noticeable going uphill. It never had GREAT power, but now, it has NO power. I can get up hills by flooring it and getting up to like 5k RPMs, but I used to not have to go past 3k or so. Now, it feels like 3k has just a bit too little power to get me up a hill, but then since there's no nuance in the throttle anymore, I push down slowly from 3k and instead of going through 3.5k and 4k and 4.5k up to 5k, it just shoots from 3k all the way up to 5k.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

Is the video you posted of your engine before or after you set the valve clearances to spec?

 

Oh, sorry... it's after I set them to spec

 

The issues you are mentioning definitely seem to be gearbox related, I'd drive it for a few more weeks and hopefully it will sort itself out. It might just be something software related because the ECU's learn the shift points on the auto gearbox and the short time with engine oil may have screwed with that and it will relearn.

Have you tried removing the battery for an hour and then reconnecting it, that apparently seems to be a way to reset the ECU learning, so it starts off using its base factory curves again.

When in neutral or park how does the engine rev up, does it rev up fast and cleanly and then likewise fall down again quickly?

 

The engine is a little weird, as well. It kind of feels like it starts up idling higher than it used to, but I also can't remember how it used to start up. It's one of those things you never notice and take for granted, you know? But it kind of feels like it starts idling a little high (maybe around 1200-1300 rpms or so), but as it warms up it drops down to maybe 800 rpms. Maybe this is just a startup choke thing, I'm not sure. But the thing is, even after it's warmed up (and definitely before it's warmed up), when I hit the pedal, it revvs up great but when it falls back down it falls down really fast for a while and then it's like it gets "hung up" around 1300 rpms and sits there for a second and then drops all the way back down. Again, not sure if this is normal or not.

Re: the ECU, I think I've reset it a few times. Since dumping the engine oil into the tranny I've taken the battery out to drain the transmission (which took about a day), and reset the valves, which meant taking the battery out for a few hours, and then I had the battery out a few weeks ago for a couple of hours just to vacuum out the engine bay. Since having it out last for a few hours, I've driven about 600 miles and I can't feel a change—it's still bumping and shifting rough. Is there a way to manually reset the ECU somehow? Or is it worth taking the battery out again, for a longer period of time? How long does it take for the ECU to reset by removing the battery?

Thank you for all of your help so far!!

 

If you've removed the battery for those extended periods already then disconnecting it again won't help.
When the engines cold it will rev at a higher point. These engines are bullet proof, you only made a mistake with the gearbox oil so that can't have any effect on the engine.

Once the engine is at operating temps it should rev up and the revs fall down to idle below 1000rpm quickly, the way it gets "hung up" around 1300 rpms doesn't sound normal but it may just be a "feature" of your vehicle, make sure all lights are off, aircon off, all accessories off and then check. But even so the hanging at 1300 rpm shouldn't affect how the vehicle drives.

 

A few videos of the car running and revving.

One is from a completely cold start—sat overnight and started up on a cold morning: The only time I touched the gas pedal was at 17 seconds and 34 seconds. It's pretty clear that I'm hitting the gas because it revvs up. But otherwise, that's just naturally where it idles from a cold start.

And then, the second video is after driving for about 15 minutes:

Same deal: Didn't touch the gas except for the clear revvs.

Does that look normal?

Thanks!!

 

That startup initial high rev looks fine likewise how the revs climb and drop when it's warm.
I can't see any issue there.

Have you tried giving it an Italian tune-up?
Go for a very spirited drive, drive it hard and fast, obviously not dangerously but drive it hard so everything gets nice and hot, maybe that will clear things out or get the ecu to relearn the shifts.
Obviously the above advice is not factory approved and potentially may make it worse but that's what I'd try next.
Maybe someone else reading this thread can chime in with any other steps you can try.