Are you seeing any dash indicators (check engine, ESP, "lighting bolt"/ throttle body), etc. or are there any error codes present?

Another thing that might help is getting a scanner that displays/logs live sensor data while you're driving so you can see what changes when the problem occurs.

 

There was no error codes coming out. My dash is free on any indicators. I plugged in the scanner and the computer did not throw any error codes. So I'm very confused as of right now

 

If the trans is slipping there's usually error codes and they tend not to go away or if they do they come right back.

I would look at the throttle body, it's basically an electric motor with plastic gears and if it starts flaking out it can feel like a trans slip.

That's where a live scan tool can help, you can see what's going when there's a problem and the computer isn't setting codes.

 

What's Weird is that there will not be any error codes or anything that popped up, which confused me and the person who is checking on my car.

 

Are you sure it's slipping? It is a CVT after all, no gears, so it's impossible to have a problem in 1st gear or any gear, when it doesn't have those. Continuously variable transmission - Wikipedia

It's gonna rev a bit when accelerating, which isn't bad because these 4-cylinders are designed to rev a bit and work just fine. But when it seems to slip, jerk and catch itself going down the road, then your transmission belt is going bad and you'll need to get it rebuilt. And since it's a 2012, I'd guess it's way past the first and maybe also second fluid change intervals, probably without having had that done, since not everybody knows to do it.

 

Are you sure it's slipping? It is a CVT after all, no gears, so it's impossible to have a problem in 1st gear or any gear, when it doesn't have those. Continuously variable transmission - Wikipedia

It's gonna rev a bit when accelerating, which isn't bad because these 4-cylinders are designed to rev a bit and work just fine. But when it seems to slip, jerk and catch itself going down the road, then your transmission belt is going bad and you'll need to get it rebuilt. And since it's a 2012, I'd guess it's way past the first and maybe also second fluid change intervals, probably without having had that done, since not everybody knows to do it. View attachment 94121

I would say that the initial acceleration of the car from a stop is very slow. The time it takes for the car to get up and running from a stop is long. The RPM will remain at 2500 for maybe 2-3 seconds and the odometer will indicate that the car is slowly inching forward until a certain point when something will catch in the transmission and the car will drive along nicely. Again, the computer did not throw any error codes not did the dash light come on.

 

FWIW when my CVT failed I did not have any error codes.

My symptoms:
1) During acceleration from slow or stop the engine would rev high and then drop back almost immediately even though my pressure on the accelerator was consistent. While it is normal for the engine to rev high under acceleration (see Rosso's post above), the vehicle's progress should be smooth and consistent.

2) I also noticed that my RPMs would jump disproportionately to the load even as I was moving at highway speeds It was almost like I'd punched the pedal. Engine RPMs will normally fluctuate in proportion to the load or pedal pressure, but it should be smooth and consistent. If the tach is jumping up and down under consistent acceleration, you've got a problem.

PS, the CVT fakes a shift feel around 20-25 MPH. After the initial surge to around 2500-3000 RPMs to get moving, the RPMs should drop back down to around 2000 at 20-25 MPH and should remain consistent as the vehicle speed gradually increases to match the RPMs.

PPS, mine was a 2.4 so with the 2.0 your RPMs may be a little higher because of the smaller engine.

PPPS, on the bright side, the smaller engine puts less load on the tranny so optimistically the tranny should last longer.

 

FWIW when my CVT failed I did not have any error codes.

My symptoms:
1) During acceleration from slow or stop the engine would rev high and then drop back almost immediately even though my pressure on the accelerator was consistent. While it is normal for the engine to rev high under acceleration (see Rosso's post above), the vehicle's progress should be smooth and consistent.

2) I also noticed that my RPMs would jump disproportionately to the load even as I was moving at highway speeds It was almost like I'd punched the pedal. Engine RPMs will normally fluctuate in proportion to the load or pedal pressure, but it should be smooth and consistent. If the tach is jumping up and down under consistent acceleration, you've got a problem.

PS, the CVT fakes a shift feel around 20-25 MPH. After the initial surge to around 2500-3000 RPMs to get moving, the RPMs should drop back down to around 2000 at 20-25 MPH and should remain consistent as the vehicle speed gradually increases to match the RPMs.

PPS, mine was a 2.4 so with the 2.0 your RPMs may be a little higher because of the smaller engine.

PPPS, on the bright side, the smaller engine puts less load on the tranny so optimistically the tranny should last longer.

I had the same problem as you in regards to symptom #2, but it was only during acceleration. When I am cruising at higher speeds the rpm would not jump. What did you do to combat the problem of the techometer jumping? Once again, all the symptoms are not consistently showing, that is why it is so hard to diagnose the problem

 

Jeep, not car, lol. But, mine would take a minute to decide to accelerate from a stop sometimes while the CVT was on its way out apparently. Only did it once to me, but friends who had it sort of on loan while they were supposed to be fixing things while I was off trucking reported it doing this regularly. Though, for whatever it's worth, they insisted on exclusively using autostick to get it going, while I almost never use autostick and as often as not forget it's even an option.

 

Jeep, my bad lol. But does this mean that my jeep's CVT is more than likely on its way out?

 

Ryan, if you have an android phone/tablet you can try using the CVTz50 app to monitor and log what the CVT is doing.

CVTz50 - CVT diagnostics with ELM327

 

Would this work with jeeps? and how intuitive is the app? I am a beginner so I don't have much knowledge on what a CVT should function like.

 

It's possible, unfortunately. You could always try replacing the spark plugs and throttle body first, which are cheaper fixes if it's jerking and need replaced eventually anyway(and you'd then know when they were last changed, as well as the mileage). But of course, if it's the CVT as I suspect at the moment, that'd just be extra expenses when a new, rebuilt, or gently used transmission is soon needed.

 

Cracked throd body just replaced mine in 2012 Patriot.. would not move above 2000 rpm and slow drive until gear shifts.... works fine after replacing

 

Either learn how to replace the transmission or sell the thing, my wifes '13 2.0l cvt transmission went out the window at 130k miles. I maintained the crap out of it, even had the trans fluid drained and filled twice. Hell even the bolts holding the trans pan get so hot and if they are too tight they strip like butter. Got $2500 at a dealer last year with the transmission humming very loudly at cold startup. Managed to mask it by getting it up to temp before arriving at the dealer. Transmission shop wanted $4k for a reman to be put in.

 

Did you experience the same symptoms as me? and did you have metal shavings when you change the transmission fluid?

 

Hello,
I had almost the same issue. I did change the spark plugs. It did help for a short term. After that, I changed all my ignition coils. Now, my Jeep is running like a brand new Jeep. This problem got nothing to do with the transmission. Just buy brand new spark plugs and ignition coils, and you problem will be fixed. Let me know if that works for you too.
Pémon

 

Did your jeep also experience little to no acceleration from a stationary position? Its funny because I would expect it to be the transmission if the jeep is not accelerating

 

Hey, try pulling back on the shifter. If it goes into drive, then it's just the shift cable linkage out of adjustment. Let me know if this helped, if so I'll explain where you adjust it at on the trans... Auto trans I'm talking about...

 

Could you expand on that? My transmission is an auto CVT trans. What do you mean by pulling back on the shifter?

 

Ryan, Step 1: *While you're sitting in the drivers seat, just hold the ''Shifter'' ''Shift Handle'' & pull it back to the D / Drive Position. Just hold the shifter back & see if it'll travel back just a tad further than when you normally just pull it back into the drive position. See if it will drive without getting that slip thing. That extra amount of ''Pull-Back'' pressure may be all it needs to sync the Transmission Shift Cable correctly. If it does help, sounds like the Shift Cable needs an adjustment.
Now before I get into adjusting the cable,
Step 2: *Try driving your vehicle using the Manual Forward Shifting Option. If it doesn't slip, that means the Shift Cable isn't completely out of position yet. At any rate, go down to step 3 below because you do probably need to adjust the Shift Cable.
Step 3: Pop the hood and remove the Air Cleaner Canister so you can see the top of the Transmission. Once you have it removed, (being careful not to pull the MAF Sensor Plug out of the Air Tube that goes into the Throttle Control).
Next, have someone sit in the vehicle. Once they start the vehicle, have them keep their foot on the Brake Pedal, next have them pull back on the Shifter to the Drive Position. Your job will be to see where the Cable connects to the top of the Transmission. You'll see the ''Adjustment Nut'' at the end of the Cable. You Shift Cable is probably stretched just enough that it's causing that issue.
Step 4: You need to ''Loosen the Adjustment Nut & Slide it Forward'', maybe like 1/4 inch. It doesn't need much of an adjustment to get into the proper position.
Now, I couldn't find this information anywhere on YouTube. Plus I had no one to help me. I've just spent so much time trying to keep my 2010 Patriot ''Right'' enough so it could be considered a ''Good Daily Driver'' vehicle.
Please Note: If you want, you can skip ''Step 2'' The only reason I listed it was for a while my Patriot wouldn't slip when I was at a slow speed & it wasn't slipping out at higher speeds till it was too far out of adjustment...
Good luck to you & please let me know if I was able to help ya out there.... Take care Ryan, Dan

 

Ryan, I did post how to adjust the Transmission Shift Cable. I just now read this post. When the Shift Cable starts to get out of Adjustment, it's usually worse when you're at low speeds & with cold/cooler Trans Fluid. I just remember Everything was fine, then one day it seemed to slip whenever I pulled out of the driveway but once i was driving on any secondary road, it would work just fine. But as time went on, it would keep popping out of Drive, instead of just that damn slipping-feeling... Like others are saying, CVT's have no Forward Gears & Bands like a regular Trans would have. It's setup so the More Acceleration the Engine gets, the faster the Trans Spins''. We're the ones that just can't wrap our heads around it till we go through CVT issues.... Read that last Post. I made it as simple as I could. Dan

 

Put in in Drive like you would if you were going to drive forward