General Operation

General Operation
The continuously variable transmission (CVT) is an electronically controlled automatic transmission with drive and driven pulleys, and steel belt. The CVT provides non-stage speeds forward and one reverse.

Transmission
Around the outside of the flywheel is a ring gear which meshes with the starter pinion when the engine is being started. The transmission has four parallel shafts: the input shaft, the drive pulley shaft, the driven pulley shaft, and the secondary gear shaft. the input shaft is connected to the flywheel, which is connected to the motor rotor. This is connected to the end of the engine crankshaft. The drive pulley shaft and driven pulley shaft consists of movable and fixed face pulleys. Both pulleys are linked by the steel belt.
The input shaft includes the sun gear and planetary gears with carrier. The drive pulley shaft includes the drive pulley and forward clutch. The driven pulley shaft includes the driven pulley, start clutch, and the secondary drive gear which is integral with the park gear. The secondary gear shaft is positioned between the secondary drive gear and the final driven gear. The secondary gear shaft includes the secondary driven gear and the final drive gear which serves to change the rotation direction, because the drive pulley shaft and driven pulley shaft rotate the same direction. When certain conditions of the planetary gears in the transmission are engaged by the forward clutch and the reverse brake, power is transmitted from the drive pulley shaft to the driven pulley shaft to provide L, D, and R positions.

Electronic Control
The electronic control system consists of the transmission control module (TCM), sensors, and solenoid valves. Shifting is electronically controlled for comfortable driving under all conditions. The TCM is located below the dashboard, behind the kick panel on the passenger's side.

Hydraulic Control
The lower valve body assembly includes the main valve body, the secondary valve body, the CVT driven pulley pressure control valve, the CVT drive pulley pressure control valve, the CVT start clutch pressure control valve, and the inhibitor solenoid valve. These valve bodies are positioned on the lower portion of the transmission housing. The manual valve body is bolted on the intermediate housing.
The main valve body contains the start clutch shift valve, the shift inhibitor valve, and the lubrication valve. The secondary valve body contains the Pressure High (PH) regulator valve, the Pressure High Control (PHC) shift valve B. the start clutch back-up valve, the clutch reducing valve, and the start clutch accumulator. The CVT driven pulley pressure control valve contains the pulley control valve A and the driven pulley control valve with the solenoid. The CVT drive pulley pressure control valve contains the pulley control valve B and the drive pulley control valve with the solenoid. The CVT start clutch pressure control valve consists of the start clutch pressure control valve and the solenoid. These solenoids are controlled by the TCM. The manual valve body contains the manual valve and the reverse inhibitor valve.
The ATF pump is located on the transmission housing, and it is linked with the input shaft by the sprockets and the sprocket chain. The pulleys, forward clutch, and start clutch receive fluid from their respective feed pipes, and the reverse brake receives fluid from internal hydraulic circuit.

Shift Control
The TCM controls the shift pulley ratio through the solenoids, while receiving input signal from the various sensors and switches located throughout the vehicle. The TCM actuates the pulley control solenoids to control the pulley control valves A and B. Drive pulley pressure, regulated at pulley control valve B is applied to the drive pulley, driven pulley pressure, regulated at pulley control valve A is applied to the driven pulley, and the pulley ratio is changed to their directed ratio.

Gear Selection





The shift lever has five positions: P PARK, R REVERSE, N NEUTRAL, D DRIVE, and L LOW.
Starting is possible only in the P and R positions through the use of a slide-type, neutral-safety switch.

Automatic Transaxle (A/T) Gear Position Indicator
The A/T gear position indicator in the instrument panel shows what shift lever position has been selected without looking down at the console.