EK1 Civic Advice

[TeeDub]

Hi guys n gals, :wave:
Im a new here and Ive been told that this place is great for advice...
so Ill get straight to the point and maybe save my intro for later

Just a lil background info
My family has a '96 model EK1 VTi Civic (CVT) it has has run up 140k+ kms and has been driven mostly in urban and suburban areas with lots of its time being spent in stop start traffic.
Now... we get our car serviced at my friends dads place (Toyota Specialist :mad: ) and weve been told that he recently changed over a CVT tranny. We have ALSO been told that this COULD be a common problem...
I dont really know enough and have looked anywhere i can ... and he doesnt seem that sure
Naturally... being Chinese... mum and dad are scared as hell (partly coz weve had bad experiences with car ownership)

So what I want to know is

- is CVT failure common / inescapable?
- can the CVT failure happen without warning?

if the former holds true
- would it be worth riding out and replacing the tranny with a conventional auto?
(we have 2 cars that are nearing the end of their lives... but I will be :( if the civic has 2 leave... I have big plans for it :D)

Your help would be very appreciated
Terence

PS ive searched already and cant find a relevant thread... but if someone can point me in the right diretion... i would be very appreciative and apologetic for this repost

[TeeDub]

Someone... Please??
*sigh... first reply in my own thread

[ECU-MAN]

there has been issues with the CVT on some HRV's, not sure about Civic, the start clutch craps itself and a couple of solenoids. Honda dealers are charging around $600 to fix for cars out of warranty inc labour ( special price )

other than that CVT is pretty reliable and good tranny, as long as you dont trash it to much and only use honda ATF. I wouldnt bother ricing up a CVT, sell it and get a manual.

[TeeDub]

Ooh... thanks for that
Can this be done in sydney? is it nation wide?

what do you mean sell it!
One of the rules of rice is that the car must be Auto... XD
yeahhh.... manual tranny definitely... i dunno what i was thinking just then

Anyone else have any advice?

[chameleon]

What are the symptoms of CVT failure? My car has just started to shudder when taking off from a stand still. It has done 170000km

[TeeDub]

Thats the thing... I was told that the failure can happen completely without warning
*envisages a sudden breakdown in the middle of the city*

[ECU-MAN]

not nessasarily, fauly CVT can show signs before it just dies.

things like rpm flairing and bad bad shudder.

chameleon have a Honda dealer look at it. could be shudering from low fluid, or could even be out of tune engine.

[Nodachi]

wats bad shudder? or rpm flairin?

[chameleon]

calling honda now to make appointment!!!

[ECU-MAN]

good idea

- Shuddering is like when you bunny hop a manual car if you get the clutch wrong, - Flaring of RPM's is when you RPM raise higher than normal and you go no where
- Surging is when your driving at a constant speed and the vehicle speeds up and slows down.

these are common signs of CVT failure

[rakfint]

i'm dumb... can someone please explain the CVT... what's it stand for.. what is it.. what's it do etc etc???

just learning.. thanks

[Zdster]

i'm dumb... can someone please explain the CVT... what's it stand for.. what is it.. what's it do etc etc???

just learning.. thanks

Here is some information to get you started:
http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/techcenter/articles/45104/article.html

[ECU-MAN]

Constant Velocity Transmition

this type of automatic transmition employs a steal belt and varable cones ( via hydraulic pressure ) to create gear ratios

[TeeDub]

Isnt it actually "Continuously Variable Transmission"?
And I thought it was a series of rubber belts on cones (or is that specific to the Civic?)...
There was a big hubbub over it when it first came out
Nissan Micra
Mitsubishi Mirage
and of course Honda Civic
hehehe
"Adapts to your driving style"
But... its taken its place in the halls of "Great but not particularly useful technology"
such as 4WS and some things i cant thin of right now... =\

[Nodachi]

Hey TeeDub, That means i'm in the same boat as you..My Civic Shurdder everytime the car changes gear, so now what i have to do is let go off accerlerator at 3k rpm and let the change ... den step on it again.. pretty much like drivin manuel..

[TeeDub]

Hmm... i cant say im having the same problems... but methinks you should heed ECU mans advice on that dealer repair thing
The thing with our case is that there are no signs of unhealthiness watsoever...
Do you pre empt the shifts or do you quickly lift off when you hear the pause to shift... =\
Driving like that must keep you wide awake...
or is urs not CVT? (Wat on earth is LXi???)

[ECU-MAN]

Isnt it actually "Continuously Variable Transmission"?
And I thought it was a series of rubber belts on cones (or is that specific to the Civic?)...
There was a big hubbub over it when it first came out
Nissan Micra
Mitsubishi Mirage
and of course Honda Civic
hehehe
"Adapts to your driving style"
But... its taken its place in the halls of "Great but not particularly useful technology"
such as 4WS and some things i cant thin of right now... =\

yeah it is

I got CV joints stuck in my head... Duh

[chameleon]

What are the symptoms of CVT failure? My car has just started to shudder when taking off from a stand still. It has done 170000km

I just got my car back from local honda service center and they said there is a problem with my start clutch. cost of repair something like $2000!!!!! I said to the guy DAMN!!! he then said to me that he will call honda and ask if they will do anything about it.
What do you guys think? who has had they same problem and how you solved it? cos $2000 sound like a new transmition to me, surly they must be able to just replace the start clutch or something?

[**Ghost**]

i thought cvt only came out with jazz...never heard of EKs with em... is ur car imported?

[ECU-MAN]

EK was the beggining for CVT in AUDM Hondas then HRV then Jazz :)

[KB]

I just got my car back from local honda service center and they said there is a problem with my start clutch. cost of repair something like $2000!!!!! I said to the guy DAMN!!! he then said to me that he will call honda and ask if they will do anything about it.
What do you guys think? who has had they same problem and how you solved it? cos $2000 sound like a new transmition to me, surly they must be able to just replace the start clutch or something?

WTF 2000 could fetch you a 2nd hand engine and gearbox yo.

[Civic Type R]

Our old HRV Sport had the CVT gearbox and it was the weirdest thing. I always imagined what a B18cR mated to that would be like :D