So we bought a 2004 HCH about a year ago. For that year it has been a little jerky sometime when accelerating. For instance if you immediately give it gas from a dead stop it jerks. Therefore, I always let it start to move forward on its own after taking my foot off the brake before giving it light gas. This really only takes an extra second or two and is no problem. I have taken the car to the mechanic for unrelated things now on two seperate occasions and both mechanics have told me that it feels like the transmission is going out.

The car only has 90k miles. I baby the hell out of it. Could it really be the tranny or are all older HCH's like this? Is there any kind of extended warranty from Honda for this? A new tranny on a 90k Honda is ridiculous.

I emailed the previous owner and got this reply:
"yes it did jerk some when starting out from a stop just start out easy and it should be good. Also when it seems to be doing it alot its due for a transmission oil change. good luck"

I have yet to get a transmission fluid change. Could that be it?

Thank you

 

I have had the same problem with my 05 HCH1 for awhile now. Changed fluid twice that did nothing. I noticed mine problem more when I accelerate from auto-stop. But my problem is a more of a dip in power, almost as if lost power for a split second (but i never really lose power, radio, light, etc still on). If i easy off the line like you from a stop i could get it not to dip in power. I brought to Honda once and they could not find a problem with it. I currently have 150k miles on it, problem has been there since 110k or so. I had the start clutch replaced on a unrelated problem, and it still dips. But the car is still driving.

One thing I thought it might be is my 12v battery might be going out, I brought the car used at 60k and it is still using the same battery I brought it with. But I have never notice any other power issue, so I haven't replaced it yet.

 

Ditto to the accelerating from auto stop. This sounds like the exact same thing. Did someone ever tell you they thought it was your transmission?

 

Very normal. CVT does not like to be hurried! H

 

Okay great thanks. If the trans fluid was last changed at around 75k and im at 90k when should I get it done?

 

By the sounds of it the HCH1 does not have a M/M system. Mine comes up at around 30,000 kilometers or around 20,000 miles. Drain and fill 3 Quarts. Looks like yours is due! H

 

The 2003-2005 CVT has a really poorly designed start clutch. Both the Hybrid and CNG Civics from that era were saddled with this piece of junk.
The multiplate start clutch is inside the transmission and is incredibly finicky and failure prone, and due to its location, expensive to "fix". (That's in quotes, because there is ample evidence that replacement units fail at a high rate too.) The best case scenario for the OP's car is that the CVT fluid is "old" and changing it might fix the problem. If not, changing it twice with a burnishing procedure (google for it) might clear things up - for a while. It is far from clear what "old" means in this context. The surface properties of that clutch appear to be much more dependent on the state of the transmission fluid than is typical for automatics. Also, it doesn't help that the CVT fluid is expensive, and Honda expects it to be changed about 3X more often than one would for normal automatics.

As for working around the judder, if you can do it, letting the car creep briefly before applying the gas, gently, minimizes the problem for me when I am driving alone. However, put other people in the car, or start going uphill, and it is very hard to avoid.

 

In regards to changing the CVT fluid, Honda recommends draining/filling there times per fluid change as there's considerable fluid that isn't drained out. The CVT holds 5.4 quarts but only 3 will drain. From the manual:

To thoroughly flush the
transmission, the technician
should drain and refill it with
Honda CVT fluid, then drive the
vehicle for a short distance. Do
this three times. Then drain and
refill the transmission a final time.

 

Another part of the CVT's terrible design. This procedure is both expensive and wasteful (2/3 of the CVT fluid "used" is contaminated and then thrown away). Other automatic transmissions are bad enough in terms of retaining fluids, most have no drain plug on the torque converter, but the CVT is the most wasteful of the lot.

 

Yes, I'm shocked about the whole thing. People are saying that fluid changes are critical on the CVT and recommend them more frequently than the spec, but the fluid itself is almost $100 and you have to use Honda as the fluid everybody else uses is thinner. There's a filter but it requires a CVT dis-assembly!

Even if you replace the clutch ($1k-$1.5k?) it's the same as the original part and thus subject to the same failure.