Kizashi Club

Anyone experience low CVT Tranny Fluid? 56,000 km or 35,000km

hyper gear wrote:Anyone experience low CVT Tranny Fluid? 56,000 km or 35,000km

No trouble here, though I have far fewer miles. Did you follow the proper procedure for checking the CVT fluid level? It can be finicky to get right, even using the procedure described in the manual, since it is supposed to be checked within a very specific temperature range.

The quick home version taken from the manual: Drive until the temperature gauge is at the normal level, then drive 10 more minutes (much more than this may leave the fluid too hot to check properly, much less than this too cold). Park the car on level ground, and let it idle for 2 minutes. Press the brake pedal, move the gear shift lever through all of the gears, and then back to 'Park'. Leave the car running in 'Park', open the hood, and check the transmission dipstick. The "distance" between the high and low marks on the dipstick is stated as just over 20oz of fluid (0.6L)

If the level is off when checking with that method, then further investigation or a trip to you mechanic may be in order. Personally, if the fluid was found to be low I'd start by topping up with proper CVT fluid, and then do some further investigation.

When you move the gear selector, are you supposed to move it through all the gears really fast, or let it sit in each slot for a sec until you feel the transmission engage?

KansasKid wrote:When you move the gear selector, are you supposed to move it through all the gears really fast, or let it sit in each slot for a sec until you feel the transmission engage?

I'd wait to feel engagement when moving the lever. It only takes a few seconds for each, so no good reason to rush it.

The oil level inspection is virtually identical word for word to the instructions for my 2004 XL-7 with a conventional 5 spd auto. I hate trying to inspect the level in it - you never know if you've got it to just the right temperature or met all the other criteria exactly. Luckily, it's not finicky as the CVT reputedly is.