Hey everyone. So I decided to do a complete flush of the CVT ATF in my 2007. Previously I've been using Honda ATF-DW1, but i've been getting mixed input on whether that is okay or not. Some sources said ATF-DW1 is recommended for this model, but others said that ATF-DW1 is not a cvt oil and should not be used. Anyway, Honda CVT-F is discontinued too, so I decided to buy 2x4 litres of Eneos CVT fluid.
I wanted to remove as much as possible so that the two kinds of oil don't mix.
This is a CVT equipped 2007 EU model, so the steering wheel is on the left, I'm not sure if the gearbox location would be any diffenet on a right hand wheel model.
There was no guide, no pics or videos of the procedure for this particular car, so I decided to document what I find. As you will see in the pic, I unplugged both cooler hoses to find out which one is the outlet, but you only need to unplug one.
The procedure needs two people.
I've done this from under the car, the hoses are are down at the very bottom so I think this is the only way to go. There is a black plastic cover that needs to be taken off. It is held by two screws and some plastic clips. The plastic cover has some vertical parts going up at the sides (beside the wheels), there are two clips on each side up there, those are a bit tricky to see, I found a little mirror helpful. There are also a few more obvious ones.
Once you got the cover off you will see the hoses that come from the gearbox and plug into the ATF cooling radiator.
But before you disconnect those, the first thing to do is a regular drain and fill. Take the gearbox dipstick out, loosen the bolt (this was the most troublesome part, it took a long makeshit lever). After it's drained, refill the appropriate amount with new CVT oil. According to the service manual it's 3.2 L. Worked out well for me. It's worth mentioning the the washer is supposed to be replaced with every drain. If not a genuine Honda, then a generic soft-metal washer should do, inside diameter 18mm, outside is 25,5. I used a bronze-ish copper one.
Now comes the fun part. Disconnect the ATF radiator outlet hose. It has to be the outlet, otherwise the oil in the radiator would remain unflushed. I used two idenctical glass jars for measure (must be clean and dry!), and put a short clear vinyl tube on the radiator outlet (the metal part that the hose was taken off) to guide the oil into one of the jars.
And this is why it needs two people. Someone has to start the engine and operate the shifter, while the other one watches how the jar is filling. The engine should only run for a few seconds like this.
I filled a regular 0,5 L jar almost full before shutting off each time. I also found that only small amount of oil came out in neutral, and then it just stopped coming. Shifting to R didn't pump it out either. Shifting to D got the flow going, so that's what needs to be used (of coure you need to shift to P to shut off).
So a jar of the old oil comes out. You put the other jar beside it and fill it with new oil to the same level, and pour it in the dipstick hole. You get the idea.
I repeated this until only 0,5 L was left of the new oil, for the final level correction.
I put everything back together and checked the oil levels with the dipstick. It only needed a little bit more. Went for a little drive, came home, checked the level, right in the middle of the hot markings.
So that's it.
You might ask if I felt a change after all this. Well, fortunately I didn't have any particular problems before, so no dramatic changes. It got a bit quiter. Previously, there was a little... chirping, noticable when enaging D after N. It's not as audible now. I guess for some jazz's with starting clutch problems this procedure could make a world of difference.
