CVT Recall??

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Marcov71
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Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:32 pm
Location: Orange County NY

Not sure if this was previously posted.

https://www.valerolaw.com/news/2018/6/1 ... ion-recall
2012 Kizashi CVT AWD/ w paint chips :shock:
Orange County/Brooklyn NY
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Ronzuki
Posts: 2382
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:33 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

OK, they're replacing the root cause of the problem. Of course, they're not offering to replace the now heat-stressed transmissions, or at the very least the $200 worth of cooked fluid, caused by said whoops! the East Aisians at Jatco forgot to solder the boards.
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
Zeid_Nasser
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:35 pm

Drove my Kizashi on the NYS Thruway yesterday for the first time in a long time. Above 80 MPH and accelerating, I noticed rpms fluctuating a few hundred and the car lurching back and forth a bit. Had the trans and diff fluids changed at 80k. Car now has 88k. Is my trans going or is it something else? Only does it at high speeds and not showing any other symptoms.

I’m also the original owner of this 2010 GTS AWD and have babied it.
2010 Kizashi GTS AWD
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Ronzuki
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Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:33 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

Zeid_Nasser wrote: Had the trans and diff fluids changed at 80k. Car now has 88k. Is my trans going or is it something else? Only does it at high speeds and not showing any other symptoms.

I’m also the original owner of this 2010 GTS AWD and have babied it.
You and your car are nearly my identical twin from an age, mileage, and CVT service perspective. I sure hope this isn't the case with mine in another few thousand miles. I swapped out my fluid and filters last fall at around 81k.

So far so good and was just buzzing along this morning at a not so legal speed for about 10 miles, smooth as silk (rpms and driving feel). The past week or so I've also been throwing it around pretty hard on the hilly twisties and it's been very quite and responsive. The weather's been fairly mild after all so I wasn't expecting anything different...see what the mid-summer brings. Not so sure babying these transmissions is going to buy us anything. Changing the fluid out regularly every 30k from day one would have though, I'm convinced. My wifes SX4's CVT is whinning now at 54,000 miles and she drives like a true grandma. Just picked up another cooler return cover O-Ring from Mitsubishi and a cooler return filter from Advanced Auto last week. Bought a boat-load of Suzuki OE CVT fluid last fall when I did the Kizashi. So I now have everything I need to service the SX4's CVT. That will happen here very soon.

Hard to say if your trans is going to hell, or, there's still issues w/ the fluid. There was some kind of TSB issued way back when for 2010 CVT cars based upon the VIN. A TCM re-flash. When I had them check mine, it wasn't affected. This is not something you would have been notified about as the owner via a mailing. It was not a safety recall, which is a different animal.

I would suggest two things:
- contact Suzuki or a Suzuki Service center and check on that TSB for the TCM re-flash.
- get the car on level ground and double check the fluid level is set correctly, at operating temperature, per the latest TSB that's floating around which addresses this issue.

I'm also curious to know a few things:
- who did the service.
- how many drain/fills were completed.
- what fluid, exactly, was used (Suzuki or other).
- was the pan filter replaced and with what, exactly (OE or after market).
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
Zeid_Nasser
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:35 pm

Interesting. Also, now it’s doing it at 60 MPH on the NYS Thruway, but only when I’ve been driving for a bit/engine is at temp for more than 30 min. It doesn’t happen when I go 60-80 on my short commute (10 miles) to work in the AM and PM.

Called the original dealer last week and they said they never heard of something like this. Seemed pretty uninterested. I’ll ask about the TSB but they’re a Mazda dealer now and I hope they still have access to that stuff.

Checked the fluid last night and it’s right where it should be. Seems thin and almost clear. Had that same dealer do the change last May, told them to use the Suzuki stuff only. Service order says drained and flushed, and refilled to proper level.

Don’t believe the pan filter was replaced, service order doesn’t say so, so I assume now.
2010 Kizashi GTS AWD
Zeid_Nasser
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:35 pm

Also read a lot about this happening on the new Civic. Honda owners and dealers are disconnecting the battery and reconnecting and it’s solving the problem. I hope it’s all software related for me too, I disconnected the battery last night; we’ll see again this evening when I take that drive to Geneva on the Thruway.
2010 Kizashi GTS AWD
Zeid_Nasser
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:35 pm

Just got to my destination an hour from home and what a difference that battery disconnect had. First, it didn’t do it at all unless I was using cruise control, and when it did exhibit the issue, it was much less noticeable and less of an RPM jump. Very strange. The past 2 days it did it regardless of whether I was using cruise or not.

So now I’m wondering if it’s related to the cruise system somehow...
2010 Kizashi GTS AWD
Zeid_Nasser
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:35 pm

2010 Kizashi GTS AWD
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Ronzuki
Posts: 2382
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:33 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

Zeid_Nasser wrote: Called the original dealer last week and they said they never heard of something like this. Seemed pretty uninterested. I’ll ask about the TSB but they’re a Mazda dealer now and I hope they still have access to that stuff.

Checked the fluid last night and it’s right where it should be. Seems thin and almost clear. Had that same dealer do the change last May, told them to use the Suzuki stuff only. Service order says drained and flushed, and refilled to proper level.

Don’t believe the pan filter was replaced, service order doesn’t say so, so I assume now.
Not all ex-dealers became authorized Suzuki service centers since their departure. I realize they're few and far between. Per the TSB, a single drain and fill is nowhere near enough, especially at 80k+ miles. I did 3 drain/fills and the fluid was still not very clear coming out on the last drain. I have a thread on here of the process and what the spent fluid looked like in the pan. On the stick/rag it looked as you say, clear, but I can tell you mine was anything but.

Drained and flushed are two very different procedures. They claim both were done. Only reason to drain is change filter(s). Flushing does not require draining. Fluid is pushed pulled out via a closed loop process. I'm not sure our CVTs can be 'flushed' as that process may cause harm to the cooler return filter element, which I assume was also not replaced since Suzuki's parts diagrams don't acknowledge the thing is even in there and the servicing dealer wouldn't know what they needed to replace it. I am a huge fan of flushing conventional ATs, but would never try flushing a CVT.

I'd say try following the TSB's process and change that cooler return filter element when you do the final drain.
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
Zeid_Nasser
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:35 pm

Where’s the TSB? I’d like to do it myself. I’m a mech engr so I can figure it out, but guidance is good. And thank you for all this good info. I’ve been away because I haven’t driven my car much and thankfully haven’t had any issues until now
2010 Kizashi GTS AWD
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