2014- CVT Trans comments/problems

143544 Views 343 Replies 90 Participants Last post by jasper60103, 9 d ago

Mercfh

Discussion Starter · Mar 2, 2014

Im having some buyers remorse worries!

I wouldn't really call it buyers remorse, but more like buyers worry remorse.

Essentially I own a 2014 Civic Sedan, however this is the first model year of the Civic that has a CVT. And i've heard some horror stories. I have owned the car for 7 days....but it's honestly starting to worry me for in the future, since CVT technology isn't exactly "modern" i suppose. Plus I know Nissan had a TON of problems with it.

Im wondering if i've made a mistake? The CVT FEELS nice...but man I dunno. Anyone know anything about the Honda CVTs?

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Teeps

· #301 · Sep 28, 2018

magillaonfire said:
Thought the extended service contract/extended warranties had to be purchased either AT the time of sale or within 30 days.

Service contracts are just another money changing scheme designed to separate you from your money. Their purpose is to be a "profit center" not a "cost center."
And, yes they are typically sold at point of sale.
That is so the (high) cost can be folded into the purchase price and financed.
There's a reason they don't offer monthly payments on the service contract policy...

Service contracts are typically provided by a 3rd party. Not the manufacturer of the product; some of the larger dealer groups had their own contracts. Don't know if that's still true.

Service contracts are always negotiable; be it for parts covered, time or mileage covered and of course price.

Service contracts are like any other insurance policies they can be obtained almost anytime, cost and coverage considered.

H82LOS3

· #302 · Dec 1, 2018

I just bought my car 2015 honda civic lx auto with CVT transmission, so far no strange noises with 3 days driving with radio off. I hope to keep this car for quite awhile

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NightFlyer

· #303 · Jan 1, 2019

Just wanted to post some additional info to see if anyone has seen this or has any ideas. Another thing I occasionally notice is that when I am coasting at low speed, such as approaching a red light, and then lightly tap the gas, for example if the light turns green before I come to a complete stop, I sometimes get a "Clunk" or "Thud" from the transmission. As I am thinking about it, I'm thinking that the lock-up torque converter may be attempting to engage at an inappropriate time (which may be related to my other issue of the occasional jerkiness when going low speeds in a parking lot). Something like this happened with my older car (Ford Escort ZX2), and it turned out to be a bad speed sensor. I guess the transmission was thinking that the car was traveling faster than it was and engaging the lock-up when it shouldn't have.

I'm wondering if the same thing could be going on here, or maybe something similar, such as an issue with the throttle position sensor. Note that this only happens occasionally, there are no warning lights on, and nothing abnormal in the readout of the vehicle's speed (all of which was also the case with my ZX2). Maybe it's just an occasional glitch that is normal, but I'd like to see what everyone else thinks. I'll probably have the dealer run a diagnostic when I bring it in soon for an oil change, but the more information that I have ahead of time, the better.

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pimpmypc

· #304 · Jan 3, 2019

NightFlyer said:
Just wanted to post some additional info to see if anyone has seen this or has any ideas. Another thing I occasionally notice is that when I am coasting at low speed, such as approaching a red light, and then lightly tap the gas, for example if the light turns green before I come to a complete stop, I sometimes get a "Clunk" or "Thud" from the transmission. As I am thinking about it, I'm thinking that the lock-up torque converter may be attempting to engage at an inappropriate time (which may be related to my other issue of the occasional jerkiness when going low speeds in a parking lot). Something like this happened with my older car (Ford Escort ZX2), and it turned out to be a bad speed sensor. I guess the transmission was thinking that the car was traveling faster than it was and engaging the lock-up when it shouldn't have.

I'm wondering if the same thing could be going on here, or maybe something similar, such as an issue with the throttle position sensor. Note that this only happens occasionally, there are no warning lights on, and nothing abnormal in the readout of the vehicle's speed (all of which was also the case with my ZX2). Maybe it's just an occasional glitch that is normal, but I'd like to see what everyone else thinks. I'll probably have the dealer run a diagnostic when I bring it in soon for an oil change, but the more information that I have ahead of time, the better.

I’ve had that problem too. It’s like it bucks in certain speeds.

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Silver2Coupe

· #305 · Jan 4, 2019

NightFlyer said:
Just wanted to post some additional info to see if anyone has seen this or has any ideas. Another thing I occasionally notice is that when I am coasting at low speed, such as approaching a red light, and then lightly tap the gas, for example if the light turns green before I come to a complete stop, I sometimes get a "Clunk" or "Thud" from the transmission. As I am thinking about it, I'm thinking that the lock-up torque converter may be attempting to engage at an inappropriate time (which may be related to my other issue of the occasional jerkiness when going low speeds in a parking lot). Something like this happened with my older car (Ford Escort ZX2), and it turned out to be a bad speed sensor. I guess the transmission was thinking that the car was traveling faster than it was and engaging the lock-up when it shouldn't have.

I'm wondering if the same thing could be going on here, or maybe something similar, such as an issue with the throttle position sensor. Note that this only happens occasionally, there are no warning lights on, and nothing abnormal in the readout of the vehicle's speed (all of which was also the case with my ZX2). Maybe it's just an occasional glitch that is normal, but I'd like to see what everyone else thinks. I'll probably have the dealer run a diagnostic when I bring it in soon for an oil change, but the more information that I have ahead of time, the better.

This exact thing happened to me today. I have changed the trans and 4wd oil in my HRV. It's been cold and rainy that changed to snow. I had a full car and drove the same route from the airport to my house. Today zero issues going to work but on the way home I noticed the bucking at slow speeds and driveline clunking. It was 25 degrees warmer so I am sure it's because of high loads when it was cold and the ecu was adjusting because it was warmer since last shut down. I just went full throttle when getting on the hwy and no more issues. MPG went up too.

If it continues I will reset the ecu. Winter gas might have something to do with this. I use premium so some of the stations I go to might not have winter gas yet. Just make sure the tank is full when resetting the ecu.

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fear24

· #306 · Jan 4, 2019

around here silver, they start changing over to winter blend in early october. i'd think all your stations would have the full winter blend in their storage tanks by now.

i've experienced similar clunking, and it happens at low speeds and when i 'tap' the gas pedal. i chalk it up to the throttle position sensor gets a signal that i have 'floored' it and it starts to send the signal to the driveline, then in 1/1000th of a second later, the signal is not that i'm flooring it, so the CVT is confused. i've got 103,xxx miles on my car....and the CVT is working fine. now that i say that......

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Coastie05

· #307 · Jan 4, 2019

fear24 said:
around here silver, they start changing over to winter blend in early october. i'd think all your stations would have the full winter blend in their storage tanks by now.

i've experienced similar clunking, and it happens at low speeds and when i 'tap' the gas pedal. i chalk it up to the throttle position sensor gets a signal that i have 'floored' it and it starts to send the signal to the driveline, then in 1/1000th of a second later, the signal is not that i'm flooring it, so the CVT is confused. i've got 103,xxx miles on my car....and the CVT is working fine. now that i say that......

That's exactly when I experience it too. I'm almost at 66,000 miles with no problems so far.

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Silver2Coupe

· #308 · Jan 5, 2019

fear24 said:
around here silver, they start changing over to winter blend in early october. i'd think all your stations would have the full winter blend in their storage tanks by now.

i've experienced similar clunking, and it happens at low speeds and when i 'tap' the gas pedal. i chalk it up to the throttle position sensor gets a signal that i have 'floored' it and it starts to send the signal to the driveline, then in 1/1000th of a second later, the signal is not that i'm flooring it, so the CVT is confused. i've got 103,xxx miles on my car....and the CVT is working fine. now that i say that......

Around here there is a 2 step progress to winter gas. Premium takes longer because they might not get winter gas till late January. I don't think they go full winter gas with premium because it's already vaporizes better than regular and is part of the reason I get great mpg. I did not have any issues and power after the other day and mpg has never been better with my R18. It was actually the first time that happened since driving the HRV so I know it's can be an issue.

I agree it's a throttle control issue but it's also a tune problem based on temperature and barometric conditions.

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NightFlyer

· #309 · Jan 8, 2019

Went for a pretty long drive around town today, with quite a bit of slow-speed driving. I started noticing the sort of bucking sensation notated above. So, after stopping at one of my destinations and then getting back on the road, I switched off the Econ mode (I have usually been driving with it on), and that solved it, at least, so far. It's still a little touchy at low speeds, but not like before. I had noticed that the Econ mode seems to make a difference before, and now, I have tested it again.

It seems like our Econ mode is more like an "economy-sport" mode, because the CVT really does seem more responsive with it on, which is one of the reasons I usually drive with it on. But at low speeds, it's too responsive, and I guess it's doing whatever it can with the pulley ratios and the lock-up torque converter to squeeze every mile out of a gallon of gas. I guess there could still be a sensor issue, and if not the throttle position sensor, then I'd guess a speed sensor -- specifically (as I've read that the transmission has an input and an output speed sensor) the input speed sensor, as I would think that if the output one was bad, then my speedometer would give erratic readings -- unless there's another dedicated speed sensor just for the speedometer.

Maybe it's best to use Econ mode for general cruising and highway driving, and to turn it off for city driving. Is there any harm in switching the Econ mode on or off while driving? Or should it only be done right after starting the vehicle or when the vehicle is stopped?

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fear24

· #310 · Jan 8, 2019

mines off and on depending if i'm in the city, highway or hilly area.

never an issue so far with the 103,XXX miles.

magillaonfire

· #311 · Jan 9, 2019

fear24 said:
mines off and on depending if i'm in the city, highway or hilly area.

never an issue so far with the 103,XXX miles.

I'm in Pittsburgh and they just switched over 1/2019. Just filled up and noticed that with ECON OFF, my iMid display was reading around 22mpg & holding steady. Switched ECON to ON and almost immediately, the figure started to rise (it's up to 26.9 now). Intermittent cold weather here.

Coastie05

· #312 · Mar 3, 2019

Getting close to 70k miles and no problems so far.

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jasper60103

· #313 · Nov 21, 2019 (Edited)

2015 Civic #1, I bought brand new off the truck now has 50K miles.
2015 Civic #2, I bought used, and I added 8K miles to it.
No CVT issues. Some random quirks as mentioned above. I did a CVT fluid drain/fill twice on both cars. Overall, I'm happy with it. Great car for my driving style and commute.

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ampm1678

· #314 · Nov 22, 2019

2015 Civic bought brand new with 9 miles on 2/1/15, now has 70k miles on it, only done one CVT fluid/drain 35k miles ago and literally no CVT issues...I'll most likely have another CVT fluid change coming up in a couple months.

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patruns

· #315 · Nov 24, 2019

2014 Civic - I did a fluid change at 19,000 miles as I do a lot of stop and go miles (only have a little over 21,000 now). No issues here.

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SiJake

· #316 · Nov 26, 2019 (Edited)

mlvc816 said:
This transmission is the worst! Already had a recall and its still no good! Car stalls or studders in traffic like conditions on hills and flat surfaces. Thank goodness its a lease, two more years and its out of my life unless the lemon law takes it first!

As a performance car enthusiast I'm not a fan of CVT transmissions. Not a Honda but my wife had a 2014 Nissan Murano which seemed to slipping issues at around 30k miles.
CVT mostly go in lower end cars with a few exceptions (wrx, maxima..). CVT's make the car sound horrible buzzing around at high rpm at wot which I can't see being very good for engine longevity either.
I guess its a fine transmission for those that don't even know they have a CVT... or just want a basic A to B car.

Sorry if my response isn't helpful for this thread. ?

Ron_2015_Civic

· #317 · Dec 10, 2019

You will be fine. Change the transmission fluid earlier than required. Cheap money to avoid problems. Same for the motor oil, do it no more than 5000 miles.

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jasper60103

· #318 · Dec 24, 2019 (Edited)

SiJake said:
As a performance car enthusiast I'm not a fan of CVT transmissions. Not a Honda but my wife had a 2014 Nissan Murano which seemed to slipping issues at around 30k miles.
CVT mostly go in lower end cars with a few exceptions (wrx, maxima..). CVT's make the car sound horrible buzzing around at high rpm at wot which I can't see being very good for engine longevity either.
I guess its a fine transmission for those that don't even know they have a CVT... or just want a basic A to B car.

Sorry if my response isn't helpful for this thread.

Nissan especially has given CVTs a bad rep. Aside from that, most of the haters have little, or no experience driving a CVT.
I agree, if you're a spirited driver, this car is not for you. Or any compact fuel efficient car for that matter.

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Lilvipa

· #319 · Jan 4, 2020

pimpmypc said:
I’ve had that problem too. It’s like it bucks in certain speeds.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have had the exact same issue and came up with a solution so I wouldn't get that weird awkward clunky feedback that even my girlfriend noticed. all I do is avoid hitting the gas at the fake shift points which I believe is causing the uncomfortable feedback. So far I've noticed the car will clunk if I'm coasting and hit the gas at 27, 36-37, 46-47, and 56 kilometres per hour so what I do is I hit the gas at 25 30 35 40 45 km/h etc and haven't had a problem.

Lilvipa

· #320 · Jan 4, 2020

cerebro22 said:
Also, when making a slow right turn lets say, the you surges a few times before finally getting up in rpms to accelerate... Annoying, and I don't know what to really do about it... Maybe Honda will release a software update? Doesn't seem like its a mechanical issue.

This drives me nuts. Going to try and find a 5 speed coupe and trade it in.

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