Mk1 CVT judder

[guest6253]

Just thought I'd share my experience here:

I have a 2008 MK1 CVT Honda Jazz. Bought 2nd hand this year. Soon after I bought it I noticed that it judders when pulling away, especially if I accelerate fast or up a hill. After reading this thread I put it in at a honda dealer to get the CVT fluid changed. They recommended a flush (change fluid 2x times) which cost £150. They said they did some kind of heating procedure in between the two oil changes (not sure of details). After the flush the judder is gone. Hurray!

Thanks everyone on this thread for sharing your experiences, without which I wouldn't have known what to do about the judder.

[guest6133]

Have a 2002, fitted new pack 2011 at 55,000 km by previous owner. Trace of judder at 85,000 but just drain and fill with CVTF seems to have eliminated. The garage slip routine seemed a bit brutal if avoidable.

[guest7160]

Hi Everyone,

I recently bought a Jazz 1.4 CVT from 2005 with 37000km(sorry 23000miles) and I also have a Civic Hybrid 2010 with CVT as well.

The Jazz had the judder and I flushed the gearbox with Honda CVT fluid.
First I drained the old fluid and refill with new. I did a test drive and the judder fell almost to 30% let's say.
Then I performed the ''stall test'', D+brake+2500revs for 10 sec etc..etc. From that moment judder was gone completely!

Went back home drained the CVT fluid again, and refill with new one. 

[guest8622]

I am amazed no one has read the manual ( when all else fails  ) . I had a shudder in my 2007 Jazz Sport and after putting up with if for a while I found on reading the manual ,that Honda does not recommend starting in D. It recommends starting and staying in S for round town stop/starting up to 50kpm . This effectively keeps the car running one gear lower than normal which means it pulls up faster when you deaccelerate and reacts faster when you accelerate . I changed the oil ( the proper Honda oil ) and using S the shudder is largely gone . I now never pull away from a standing start in D ( like trying to pull away in your manual in second .

[Jocko]

Welcome to the forum. The instructions in your manual are not in the European manual. There is no mention of using Sport other than to boost acceleration. The manual states to use Drive for normal driving. Can you tell us what page number you are referring to, just in case I have missed it? Thanks.

[guest8622]

You are right Jock ,I should have double checked my facts as it is a while ago that I did it  I must have got the initial advice from the mechanic I was dealing with when I bought the oil . However when I got home and checked my manual on p254 was the advice on better acceleration and increased engine breaking . Also the fact that S is good for stop start driving ( is that not around town driving ? ). I guess I put the two things together in my head . One thing for sure is that it works , the car is a lot more responsive , does not charge into roundabouts and no shudder unless under very heavy acceleration .

[Jocko]

Also the fact that S is good for stop start driving ( is that not around town driving ? ).

Certainly sounds like it. Nothing like that in the European manual.
Page 254 says:

Selecting Sport shifts
the transmission into a lower range
of ratios for better acceleration and
increased engine braking. Use Sport
when you are going down a steep hill.

and that's it. I have had a couple of automatics with a Sport mode and loved using it. Only problem I found was doing so almost halved my mpg. I used Sport for spirited overtaking, and that was it,

[Jazzmeister]

Does anyone have long term feedback on how the CVT fluid flush worked out to cure the CVT judder?

[UKjim]

Not sure you call it long term, but our Jazz had a very noticeable judder on every take-off, 2 flushes, a final fill and a dose of Xado EX-120 and 3 months and 1200 miles later and it's still perfect.

[Johnocyprus]

Yep a single CVT flush cured the judder on our MK1.

[Flying Frank]

Interesting post as I appreciate this topic is now quite old.

However, I thought my recent experiences with CVT Mk 1 Jazz 's is worth noting.

I got my first one about 3 years ago, really by default ( long story for another time ) 2003 model with about 100,000 miles on the clock.

It had the dreaded judder and so I took it to my local Honda dealership down here in Truro. They changed the oil and it was fine for about 6,000 miles after which I could just start to detect a hint of the judder coming back.

I searched around for a newer model and ended up buying a 2005 model with 42,000 miles on the clock. Test drove it and it felt fine , but on the drive home I began to sense the judder and sure enough this car also suffered with the judder. Back to the main dealer and an oil FLUSH sorted the problem . Now the car has done 48,000 miles and once again there is a slight hint of the judder.

Being a glutton for punishment, I now have third Jazz Mk 1 with only 33,000 miles on the clock ......and yes this too has the judder, but only noticeable when you start off, the rest of the time it performs just fine. A full gearbox FLUSH ( different to an oil  change ) now has my latest Jazz running as smooth as silk.

Moral of the story.....if you buy one of these old Jazz, be prepared to go through the oil change once every 8-10,000 miles .

Superb cars, but this ( and leaks into the boot area ) are their Achilles heal.

[cyrax.net]

2007 Auto here. Does anyone know if only Honda CVT oil should be used, or is there a suitable after market equivalent, and where to purchase from?
I will contact Honda and see if they will do CVT oil change on this old car.

[Kuruuvi]

Yes, they still service but prices are higher side - £160 for CVT oil change.


Honda Oil should be used. Please don't use anything else to just save £40 or so. You can purchase Honda oil from their service department for about £70

Example
https://www.yeomans.co.uk/honda/servicing-parts-offers/fixed-price-repairs/

[cyrax.net]

The one I see come up here is the one from Westway:
https://www.westwayoils.co.uk/products/cvt-f-fluid-suitable-for-honda-vehicles-honda-hmmf-fluid?variant=41342109515964

https://clubjazz.org/forum/index.php?topic=16546.msg141140#msg141140

Perhaps it's good for a flush, and then use the OEM one for good.