Dodge Caliber Forum banner

CVT Issues Thread

115K views 355 replies 85 participants last post by  relative4 
#1 ·
Hi folks...new to the forum....I thought I would tell you about my recent CVT issue. Driving home from work last week, my Transmission fluid overheat light came on. I immediately pulled over. The light went off so I decided to try and make it home...I made it to within 2 miles of home when the light again came on and it went into limp mode (25 Mph max). I had it towed to the dealer, I am now told the CVT is fried..needs total replacement, I have 49,347 miles on it...thank god for extended warranty!!
 
#92 ·
I have had my Caliber a few months and have a little over 1k miles on it. I am trying to decide if the CVT has an issue or it is normal. If I take off easy, RPM 2000-2200, when the car gets to 18 MPH the RPM drops to 1500 most of the time. I assume this is the torque converter locking. A lot of times though the engine RPM will drop all the way down to 800-1000 and the engine shudders. The car stops accelerating for about 2 seconds until the RPM gets back up to 1500. The whole time I am holding the accelerator steady trying to accelerate. If I try to accelerate harder just before the converter locks, it just seems to make matters worse. It gets worse if it sits outside at work (around 40 F). If it sits in my garage over night it works better. However; the best it ever worked was when it sat outside when temp got below freezing. The torque converter doesn't lock for a few miles.:)

So basically, the RPM drops over 1k RPM in about 1 second.

95% of my driving is stop-n-go. Locks-n-unlocks average of 2.5 times per mile.

Is this normal for a CVT? It is really annoying me.
2010 Mainstreet, CVT2 (no auto-stick)
 
#93 ·
Either there is a bad sensor, a communication issue, or the software is corrupted. This doesn't sound mechanical.
 
#94 ·
I talked to the local dealer about the issue. They said that unless the Caliber has a check engine light on there isn't anything they can do. I asked if that is how the CVT is supposed to work and the service guy acted like he didn't know. Maybe I need to try another dealership.
 
#95 ·
Any mechanic that relies strictly on DTCs to dx a car is one to steer clear of. Many issues never create a DTC.
 
#96 ·
I took the Caliber to another dealer. They didn't find any problem. They say it is normal for it drop RPM and have to correct itself. They tell me the controller will adjust. It hasn't so far! This is only a problem when it sits outside in cold weather. After fully warming up, the problem goes away. Or, if it is in the garage over night I don't have a problem.

Does anyone else have this issue?
 
#97 ·
CVT needs to be replaced

Just turned 63k on my 2007 R/T.

Last week began to hear a clunking sound on suspension rebound, this week a friction-type of sound began to appear at 40+MPH.

Brought it into dealer yesterday;
  • CVT needs complete replacment
  • Lower Control Arms need replacment
  • Outer Tie Rods need replacment
Good thing I had the extended 7/100 warrenty
 
#98 ·
well with 49,000 miles on my rt i had to bring in my caliber with possible cvt issues. i started hearing a whining sound around 20,000 miles and had the dealer check the car over and they said that with my type of trans its normal, bs. well brought the car to the dealer wednesday morning now with a growling or grinding sound at low speeds around 20-30 you can start to hear that noise but now the whining is alot worse and the growling/grinding sound is still there. the whining gets worse with the more speed. had dealer have a tech ride with me and didn't make it 1 block when the tech said turn back around and he was gonna put it on the rack. 2 1/2 hrs later they told me they need the car and to bring it back when i had a few days to leave it with them. im now driving a loaner while my car is in the shop. does this noise sound like the typical cvt issues i've been reading about. i really like my car but all these cvt issues are scaring me.
 
#260 ·
well just about 1 1/2 years later and im thinking im having the same problem or atleast the beginnings of the same problem. i noticed this tonight when i was driving home and hit the gas and rpms shot way up like a slipping trans and kept going until the trans jerked and caught back up with my speed. my car now has over 80,000 miles and im really hoping that i don't have to replace the trans again. granted it will only cost me 100 bucks if i need to cause of my ext warranty but this is pretty ridiculous that the transmissions don't last at all. lets see how the next few weeks go and hope for the best maybe it was just a fluke but im really doubting that.
 
#99 ·
Could be a CVT problem, please keep us posted.
Since your's is an '09, it should be covered by the lifetime powertrain warranty, if you are the original owner.
I know it's no consolation, but even Consumer Reports gives the JATCO CVT high reliability ratings (then again, they have to, it is their policy to praise anything designed in Japan and "dis" everything else)
 
#100 ·
i am the second owner of my vehicle i have a ext warranty that this should be covered under. but in my defense to the dealer i reported a noise under manufacturer warranty so if they ask me to pay anything they should say they will pay it since i did report it under manufacturer warranty but told me it was a normal noise cause they hadn't seen nor heard of any problems with my type of trans thru there dealership. this dealer is normally pretty good with me so we'll see this week. i'll keep everyone posted of what the result is.
 
#101 ·
update update update

car is ready to be picked up. getting it in the morning, dealer told me so far they have replaced the transmission. now lets see what the paperwork says is the reason for the replacement. luckily my dealer is not charging me not even my deductible they covered everything 100 percent. i will post on here tomorrow after work with how the car is any improvements or any further questions.
 
#103 ·
Good to hear that the trans has been replaced free of charge.
Due to the fact that a defective transmission is replaced as a unit, you may not get a detailed report. It wil likely say "replace noisy transmission"
 
#108 ·
Alot of people get hyped up about not getting "New" parts, but the vast majority of the time its all hype. I've used plenty of remaufacured parts on my 1990 Bronco II and my Dad's 2001 F-150. Yet the "new" Motocraft alternator I got for my Dad's pick-up a few years back didn't put out specified amperage.

Then again the reman didn't do that much better once we put it in. Turns out we missed a corroded wire what was causing a current drop...
 
#109 ·
well got the car back from the dealer all previous sounds i've been hearing are gone with. trans is shifting normal. dealer's notes says they found metal debris in the trans fluid and service manager also told me the problem was with the output drive not the actually trans. thats what he said tho so not really sure about that. but it was replaced and didn't have to pay anything. im just glad to have my car back
 
#110 ·
There have been isolated failures of the output shaft bearings, which led to noise, which led (in your case anyway) to possible differential gearset damage, which led to debris in the fluid.
Glad they gave you a detailed report.
 
#112 ·
Question about audio attachment

One technical question for the group... I want to attach an MP3 file of a recording from what I think is a transmission noise. I followed the directions on the how to thread about attachments, but the file won't upload (reads invalid file). I divided the file to make it smaller but that still didn't work. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
 
#114 ·
One technical question for the group... I want to attach an MP3 file of a recording from what I think is a transmission noise. I followed the directions on the how to thread about attachments, but the file won't upload (reads invalid file). I divided the file to make it smaller but that still didn't work. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
You need to save it to some other site and then link to it. Directly posting mp3 or videos do not work.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dodge owner
#119 ·
Anyone have an issue with a slight grinding noise when first accelerating? 08 r/t awd cvt2. It also has the "slack" feeling in the trans lately, and i just hit 28,000 miles. I have had an issue also since car was new where it would almost lock itself in "low" or first gear when first pulling out and wouldn't really move
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top