Honda Jazz 2009 - 2015 CV-T worrying gearbox problem

[johnda]

Hi fellow Jazzers. I just thought I would let Jazz MK 2 facelift automatic owners know about a problem I had with my 2012 ES CVT at 47,000 miles. I encountered an unusual whirring/ scraping noise from the gearbox while in Drive. The gearbox was working OK otherwise. The cost of repair for this turned out to be frighteningly expensive. What was very annoying was at its previous service, six months ago, I thought it wise to ask for the CVT fluid to be routinely changed. When the noise appeared I checked the CVT oil level and the dipstick was dry (services always done by the main Honda dealer in the south side of Glasgow). I took it back to them and they claimed that the oil level was ‘just a bit low’, - worrying!! After some days of the main dealer and Honda UK not being able to identify the source of the noise Honda UK suggested replacing all the gearbox bearings. Expensive I hear you cry. (£800) Honda offered to pay for the parts if I paid for labour. Once parts were fitted and the car road tested the noise was still there. The next suggestion was to replace the Clutch Drive Intermediate Plate Assembly which contains yet another bearing. The cost of this part, wait for it, £4,500. Yes, but after almost heart failure Honda again offered to pay for parts but this time their good will limit was reached – they said and only part of the costs would be paid leaving me with a very large bill (half the value of the car) and no assurance that this would be the final fix.  At this point I called a halt and traded the car in as it stood for a newer manual model. My not-well car was rather unscrupulously sent off to the car auction after the usual wash and brush up. The moral to this long winded story is not to ask for CVT fluid to be changed. If it’s working – leave it.  Also, if you have a similar car, get rid of it before it gets to 47,000 miles. Disturbingly many Honda models are fitted with this same strange gearbox. A local independent garage might not know how to Identify and fix a Honda CVT gearbox –would you? You would expect a main dealer and Honda themselves to be able to fix one.

[John Ratsey]

My initial thought is whoever did the CVT gearbox oil change didn't refill the gearbox properly (or at all ). Insufficient fluid could cause substantial damage. Had it been refilled properly and then slowly leaked out you would have noticed a puddle on the ground wherever you parked the car overnight. Did you ask the Honda dealer to explain where the fluid had gone which resulted in the dipstick becoming dry?

Forum member Ozzie has a Jazz hybrid with the same CVT gearbox and he's a few miles short of 200k miles without any gearbox problems.

[mikebore]

Have look at my CVT saga here:

http://clubjazz.org/forum/index.php?topic=7805.msg38161#msg38161

It doesn't sound like the same problem, and there was no question in my case about low CVT oil.

Skip to last post for the summary.

Bottom line, car was effectively written off at 60,000 miles. I don't know what they did with the car, but they said they couldn't send it to auction.

[chrisv]

Hi,
Honda service is only as good as your local agent, obviously the damage to your car was caused by lack of oil but its now to late to do anything about it. I have had problems with both of my cars which originated from the same garage, my local agent has always been ok so I continue to use them. I eventually contacted honda uk and had a definitive answer to the problem which was then sorted but all garages are not the same quality,
Chris

[Jazzdriver]

In another thread I mentioned that an autobox specialist told me that CVT auto boxes are extremely expensive to fix.  He said: don't touch one with a barge pole.  He then revised what he said and said only buy a CVT car with a warranty and don't keep it beyond the warranty period.  Of course, many Jazz CVT owners keep them well beyond the warranty period with no problems.  But it's a risk.

[Eddie Honda]

an autobox specialist told me that CVT auto boxes are extremely expensive to fix.

Given that conventional auto boxes are expensive to fix too, I'd disagree. More the usual don't know nothing about them / won't touch them attitude.

[mikebore]

an autobox specialist told me that CVT auto boxes are extremely expensive to fix.

Given that conventional auto boxes are expensive to fix too, I'd disagree. More the usual don't know nothing about them / won't touch them attitude.

I agree that amongst independent auto transmission specialists there maybe a "don't know nothing about them / won't touch them attitude", but mine and JohnDa's experience was all with Honda main dealers, and seems to support that when they go seriously wrong they are much more expensive to fix. That was certainly the impression I got from the Service Manager (not the front desk jockeys) I dealt with.

I did find one independent who was very confident and was going to charge £2,500, but the offer I eventually got from Honda was more attractive.

Although lighting doesn't strike twice at same spot, it will cause me to think about what to do when the warranty on my Mk3 runs out, but by that time there might be a hybrid or turbo Mk3 to tempt me.

[madasafish]

When you can buy used Jazz CVT boxes with under 40k miles for a post 2011 car for less than £500...http://tinyurl.com/h2cgvk5


I would ignore anyone who advises not to buy one due to repair costs...

[mikebore]

When you can buy used Jazz CVT boxes with under 40k miles for a post 2011 car for less than £500...http://tinyurl.com/h2cgvk5


I would ignore anyone who advises not to buy one due to repair costs...

I didn't find anything as clean, convincing or cheap on eBay when I needed it. But I would still have hesitated. Not everyone is willing to go down the eBay route to keeping a car on the road.

In my case I would have had to pay Honda to put my Jazz back together then find another garage willing to remove and replace the box with the eBay one. After doing all that you have probably spent around £1000 to achieve a situation with dubious warranty cover. Sure you could take out the gearbox and return it within 14 days if faulty, at further cost, since the garage are not going to guarantee it, and the eBay seller is not going to pay labour costs.

But I agree, I would still recommend the CVT models to anyone as I think these horror stories are very rare.