Jazz jerks and cuts out in D but not in S

Hi guys,

This is my first post, please be gentle :).
Last week I bought my missus a 2003 Jazz with CVT, 1300 cc. 180000 km on the odometer. Car is in good nick but is a pain to drive.
When engine is cold the car drives great. Once it starts to warm up the car starts to jerk or even cutting out under light throttle or going slightly uphill.
That doesn't happen when driving on from standstill but happens at the lower speeds (Around 40 to 50 kph).
It comes to the point that sometimes the engine cuts out alltogether. My missus is on her P's and it freaks her out! No MIL showing up when it happens or no "D"-flashing.
I've been reading up on the forums (I shouldn't have bought this car to start with, but now it's too late) and everything points to the EGR, coil packs or the transmission.

I removed the EGR and noticed it was in a closed position (Which it should be) and it sealed off properly. I resealed it and left the EGR disconnected. No improvement or change in driving the car.

I checked the gearbox oil and it was clean. Still I replaced the ATF (But no Honda ATF). No metal filings on the sump plug. Still no improvement, although it seems to run a bit smoother.

I also checked the XYZ-switch (Switch that determines the gearbox position) but all good (Opened it up and checked for corrosion, discontinuity, etc).

Next thing I did was to disconnect the battery and went throught the gearbox reset procedure. Still no improvement.

Coil packs can be eliminated as well because under WOT the car accellerates properly.

The funny thing is that when I drive the car is S-mode (Sports), the car seems to be running great just with the occasional hickup.
My theory is that when driving in S-mode the engine shifts at slightly higher RPM and therefore avoids shifting in the critical zone.

Could somebody give me an idea what could be the case?

I know, before you react, I should only use genuine Honda ATF and I will do that once I can find the time to visit a Honda dealer (The nearest one is 40 km away).
I have been reading up on the forums but most problems seems to be related to the starter clutch. This is not the case in our Jazz as it takes off from standstill smoothly.
I am mechanicaly minded but haven't got experience with Honda Jazz (Although that starts to improve by the minute).
Thank you for your time!

ur jazz is being a jerk



hehe

Ummm something is not right

Can someone help?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LRAT

I know, before you react, I should only use genuine Honda ATF and I will do that once I can find the time to visit a Honda dealer (The nearest one is 40 km away).
I have been reading up on the forums but most problems seems to be related to the starter clutch. This is not the case in our Jazz as it takes off from standstill smoothly.
I am mechanicaly minded but haven't got experience with Honda Jazz (Although that starts to improve by the minute).
Thank you for your time!

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You should be using CVT fluid, not ATF.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LRAT

"D"-flashing.

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lol had a little snicker there

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LRAT

Coil packs can be eliminated as well because under WOT the car accellerates properly.

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When the coilpacks on the missus' jazz fried, I was getting jerks at initial acceleration, with no problems after the first initial jerks, even in WOT. So personally I won't rule out the packs yet. But I know how costly the mofo'ing coilpacks can be.

What about dirty injectors? plugs? leads?

other than that I can only think of more sinister things happening in your gbox, clutch.

sorry am of not much help

Do you have this problem?

If so, Im sorry to advise. We havn't figured it out here.

Hey if you figure it out, please come back and let us know.

Even the dealers were no help.

on a side note, the throttle bodie has a bump on it, which i believe is the cause of that slight jerk when going from no accelerator to some accelerator. not so slight some times. perhaps the jazz just needs to be reflashed or something. your dealership can set it back to standard, who knows it may make a difference.

Yeah using atf in a cvt
thats your problem

try running some Injector cleaner and try running 95 octane for a while

But it could be anything.

But use honda CVT fluid in a honda CVT.

ATF in a CVT will cause all sorts of issues.
We had my sister-in-laws 2003 Jazz have its CVT replaced under warranty.
Honda dealership used ATF also in the car also. Box lasted 50k under normal girly driving conditions.
Since i got it back its been good with CVT oil in it.

Thanks for all your advice!
We haven't driven the car anymore since my last posting. Currently we are moving house and the works on the Honda Jazz have been postponed.
I managed to go to a Honda dealer and bought 8 liters of the Honda CVT fluid for $204.00.
I will drive the car for a 100 km with the new CVT fluid and then change it again with fresh CVT fluid.
Hopefully it will sort out our problem and I will keep you updated.
Cheers,

Luc

Update:
We've gone through two complete flushes of the CVT with Honda CVT fluid and have about done another 1000 km
The gearbox has been reset.
We are using the premium unleaded fuel (95 RON) and have replaced airfilter.
The problem is still there. The car is basically undriveable in "D"-position but drives rather well in "S"-position, although the occasionally cutout happens. When the momentarily loss of power or jerking happens I can't see the speedo or tacho dropping, so, that indicates there is no problem with the power supply to the electronics.
Once again the jerking only happens when driving on a staright around 40 to 60 km/h and applying light throttle or going uphill and try to compensate for speed by pushing the throttle.
I think I will replace coil packs and spark plugs next. it seems this is a common problem with the Jazz as well.
Whilst I'm doing this I might also replace the rear wheel bearings as they seem to make a humming noice at speed.
We are rather dissapointed with our purchase. I always had Honda motorbikes and found them the most reliable on the market. I have to reconsider my thoughts about their cars.
Thanks for all your advice so far.
Can anybody recommend a good OBD2 scanner for this car?

There was a recall on the rear wheel bearings for the jazz

Or tsb
one of those

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jasemas

There was a recall on the rear wheel bearings for the jazz

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jasemas

Or tsb
one of those

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Hope yours is ok

My bet is on Gearbox issue op.

S mode just tends to hold the gears for longer. Example, your going uphill and don't want the car to die down easily. Shift into S.

D will cycle through all the gears normally.

If the engine is working fine on a gearbox setting which stress's the engine out, it should work fine on D.

Therefore Something wrong with the gearbox?

Take it to a Honda Specialist instead of blowing money on trail and error at home.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LRAT

Update:
We've gone through two complete flushes of the CVT with Honda CVT fluid and have about done another 1000 km
The gearbox has been reset.
We are using the premium unleaded fuel (95 RON) and have replaced airfilter.
The problem is still there. The car is basically undriveable in "D"-position but drives rather well in "S"-position, although the occasionally cutout happens. When the momentarily loss of power or jerking happens I can't see the speedo or tacho dropping, so, that indicates there is no problem with the power supply to the electronics.
Once again the jerking only happens when driving on a staright around 40 to 60 km/h and applying light throttle or going uphill and try to compensate for speed by pushing the throttle.
I think I will replace coil packs and spark plugs next. it seems this is a common problem with the Jazz as well.
Whilst I'm doing this I might also replace the rear wheel bearings as they seem to make a humming noice at speed.
We are rather dissapointed with our purchase. I always had Honda motorbikes and found them the most reliable on the market. I have to reconsider my thoughts about their cars.
Thanks for all your advice so far.
Can anybody recommend a good OBD2 scanner for this car?

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You can get a cheap obd 2 scanner from eBay that is Bluetooth.

Connect the obd2 scanner to your phone using Bluetooth, and then download an app called torque.

Will clear codes, read codes, gauges for water temp, oil temp ect

My GE is fine
it was the gd chassis that had the rear wheel bearing tsb

I have exactly the same problem. I had bad cvt shudder but resolved with flush and reset (and oil extreme).

I suspect its a misfire and due to faulty coil. In S, the alternator is delivering more charge to electrical system. Will let you know how I go.

Hi all,

Thanks for your input.
I have now the problem solved.
Here's what I did:

I replaced the gearbox with a secondhand but guaranteed good condition gearbox. The problem was exactly the same!

So, this took me to my last option: The coil pack.
I replaced the 4 coils at the back with secondhand ones. Whilst I was doing this I also replaced the spark plugs.
Took it for a road test and the car was driving perfectly! All smooth, better acceleration and most importantly, no jerking anymore.
I bought 4 secondhand coils for $150.00 all in instead of $320.00 per unit as quoted by the Honda stealer.
There was no visible damage to see on the coils. All sparkplugs looked identical, so, I still don't know which coil played up.
I am of the opinion the coils must break down internally once they are warm/and under load.

Hopefully this information will be helpful to Jazz owners.

those damned coilpacks! FYI if you are not into secondhand ones, Repco does them for $90 per hit.

Hey mate,
What's usually found with this style of coil pack is the extension tube fails. Also we found this with both my own jazz and my mums!!

When checking the coil while out of the vehicle all could packs can test and look fine.
What we commonly find is the extension tube fails due to heat and age and the spark will jump to the plug tube bypassing the spark plug.

A quick fix/diag method is the remove the coils and wrap the extension tube very well with good quality electrical tape.

This will insulate the extension tube allow the current to continue to the plug.

Hope this helps!

Glad you got it sorted! See my post above - I replaced all coils - but no change :(.

Was thinking about a new (used) trans but saddened by your failed attempt. Might try the plugs and another flush - I really like the car but might have to get rid of it.

Got a new tranny - fixed.

Would recommend anyone with judder do the following:

Change trans fluid; ~$90
Clean EGR valve; ~$10
Replace spark plugs; ~$120
Replace coilpacks (ebay ones are ok) ~$150

And if all this fails your tranny is screwed. I beleive that it was not just transmission problems for me originally so dont feel I have wasted anything but some cvtf.

i had the same issue, i replaced spark plugs and it was fine from then onwards.

One spark plug was noticeably stained vs the others looking good.