what is in Honda HCF2

[Jaymie]

I did my first 2019 accord cvt oil change today, came. out totally black at 30,000 miles. not sure if it means I should change it sooner or not.

my main question is what gives the HCF-2 fluid the really strong smell (old and new had the smell), its hard to describe but it is definitely a unique and potent smell. does anyone know what is in this and possibly other cvt fluids. I don't need to know for any reason but as a chemical engineer I'm always curious. I imagine it is crystalline polymers of some sort to resist the incredible shear forces between the metal belt and pulley.

Anyone with info for a discussion please chime in.

on a side note no-one with any mechanic know how should pay the dealer 170 bucks to change the cvt fluid, as easy as servicing a manual trans.

 

[Tjbouwhu]

Interesting, I did my 2016 Accord CVT fluid last summer at 30k miles...I thought the fluid looked good. I used the Honda HCF-2 fluid as well.

 

[Kira]

This is completely immaterial but I changed my friend's 2011 Mitsubishi Outlander CVT at 90,000 using Amalie's multi-CVT fluid and all went well.
There was no smell.
The old fluid was the color of dark (industrial grade) maple syrup.
The stainless steel mesh filter had caught one lone piece of metal the size of a small snot.

I wonder if your blackness is a rust preventative which sloughed off internal parts.

 

[Job]

Maybe Idemitsu has some composition for their specific Honda fluid. If it can be smelled then parts of the fluid are evaporating, seems like that means a certain oil life just as a layman thought.

 

[MolaKule]

Originally Posted by Jaymie
I did my first 2019 accord cvt oil change today, came. out totally black at 30,000 miles. not sure if it means I should change it sooner or not.

my main question is what gives the HCF-2 fluid the really strong smell (old and new had the smell), its hard to describe but it is definitely a unique and potent smell. does anyone know what is in this and possibly other cvt fluids. I don't need to know for any reason but as a chemical engineer I'm always curious. I imagine it is crystalline polymers of some sort to resist the incredible shear forces between the metal belt and pulley.

Anyone with info for a discussion please chime in.

on a side note no-one with any mechanic know how should pay the dealer 170 bucks to change the cvt fluid, as easy as servicing a manual trans.


Certain amines have that strong smell but it is a combination of the AW chemistry and the Amines. Instead of Mu(v) friction modifiers as in Step-Shift ATF's, CVT fluids must have "Traction" modifiers.

 

[meep]

I just did our '15 CRV with CVT at 50k. through the evacuation/suction tube, it was still reddish with light coming through (didn't look bad), but poured into the recycle bottle it looked jet black. Vehicle drives exactly as it did before with new fluid. I just sucked out 4 qts and refilled with the same.

 

[Neaux17]

I just did our '15 CRV with CVT at 50k. through the evacuation/suction tube, it was still reddish with light coming through (didn't look bad), but poured into the recycle bottle it looked jet black. Vehicle drives exactly as it did before with new fluid. I just sucked out 4 qts and refilled with the same.

Where did you put the suction tube in?

I might have to buy one of these evacuation machines.

 

[02zx9r rev2]

I did a drain and fill with hcf-2 at a little over 30K miles on my 2017 Honda Accord sport I bought used in June 2019. Had just over 29K miles on it when I purchased it. I too noticed the old and new fluid had a smell too it. I was reading about different cvt fluids and bought a case of Amsoil cvt fluid and did a 3X drain and fill around 32K miles (yes I know i just did a single drain and fill 2000 miles prior) but wanted to try out the amsoil fluid. I plan on doing another drain/fill around 60-70K miles on the car

 

[Fahrvergnügen]

Maybe Idemitsu has some composition for their specific Honda fluid. If it can be smelled then parts of the fluid are evaporating, seems like that means a certain oil life just as a layman thought.

The HCF-2 factory fill and dealer sold is made by ConocoPhillips not idemitsu. Just an FYI!