How to drive CVT

[opus1]

An '03 Solara is a pretty conventional slushbox that could benefit greatly for a fluid change--unless if you are ok with the transmission dying with its "lifetime" fluid in it--thought differently, lots of engines have lifetime oil in them, they will run until they don't, and the oil will have made it to the end of the lifetime of the engine.

When I took my Malibu in for service, the advisor asked if I wanted to change the transmission fluid. I asked something along the lines of "isn't it supposed to be lifetime? and he answered along the lines of what you said.

 

[50yr Street Mech]

Yeah, I hate that car. It was a family hand me down. Has the turning radius of a cruise ship. LOL Doesn't even have a cabin air filter. But, was I a rough patch, and needed some wheels. Healing up from back surgery, again. Once that's healed, I'll change the fluid and filter, then do some spill and fills to get he muck out. Useless car, 2 door with 4 bucket seats. Runs well though. I'll give it some TLC when I get better. Don't use it much, I'm retired. Gonna need it to get back and forth to Physical Therapy. Easy to work on. Has that 4cyl in it. Plenty of room under the hood

 

[ripcord]

On a Prius, the throttle isn't directly connected to the engine. It's more like a suggestion from the the driver about how fast you want the car to go. The computer makes all the decisions regarding the throttle body position, as the engine load varies relative to the amount of acceleration depending on how much energy the ECU decides to take from the traction battery at any particular time.

As was mentioned before, the CVT in a Prius operates entirely differently than "normal" CVT transmissions and has no chains or or belts. They are very robust and rarely wear out before the car does.

To prevent excess engine wear, treat it the same as any ICE vehicle and drive it gently at first when the engine is cold to give it a chance to warm up before doing any heavy accelerating.

 

[Speedy3861]

That's fantastic news ! 2 Toyo trannys that don't need service. Somebody tell Honda how to build a tranny

They do, have had at least 9 Honda CVTs, always serviced by a Honda Certified Master Technician who has consistently reccomended driving them normally, NEVER shifting from forward to reverse (or the opposite) unless COMPLETELY stopped and a spill-n-fill using ONLY genuine Honda fluid at 30k intervals. Have never had an issue following this advice.

 

[KevinMalone]

Double clutching like you should and no granny shifting. If you live your life a quarter mile at a time, that is