No drain plug? Have you consulted the Honda forums and clicked on a few vidoes to see what the job entails, i know some gearboxes need the oil to be pumped in from underneath (some Mercs apparently) but can't imagine there being such much faff involved with a Jazz....Glory be a transmission dipstick, the bloke who did away with such things needs a good kick up the back side.

Some of these garages are not doing themselves any favours, all they want to do is profitable routine servicing and the usual brake etc replacements, which is fine when there's a glut of that work around but when times get hard (as they will again soon) lots of people can service and reline their own brakes.

Refusing what proved to be a simple rear springs and shocks replacement saw us never darkening our previous indies door again, i did the job myself easily.

Been here and ended up doing the change myself.

If it isn't the fluid then its the well documented start / first gear clutch issue on these UK GD (2001 to 2007) CVT models. There was a recall for it but yours will be well beyond the qualification for that now (as was my daughters)

The issue with a garage is that you go in saying juddering, they change the fluid and it doesn't fix it, you kick up a fuss and want you rmoney back. It's just not worth it for them unless they categorically say we will do it as a requested fluid change rather than a gearbox fix, but even then they don't like to do it.

The change can be done by using a "sucky pump" as you suggest and is how I did it using a sucky pump from Lidl. There is a drain plug but its a right faff, so I chose sucky pump for ease. Remember to measure what you take out and put the same amount back in. It may take around 20 miles to notice any difference. I managed to get 3.2 litres out with the pump.

You MUST use proper Honda CVT fluid but make sure you get the correct one.
The later fluid named HCF is not correct for a Jazz GD. You need the CVT-F.
I got mine from Cox as suggested by Gordon Bennet.
Don't be tempted by cheaper "compatible" oils.
The Honda forums are full of people who have tried and failed and had to revert to genuine oil. Whatever they put in it, seems to be the only thing suited to these CVT-7 boxes.

If the oil change doesn't work (it didn't for us) there is a product called XADO Revitalizant EX120. I ended up trying this and it worked for my daughter and also has for numerous others on Honda Forums. You might get different results, but this is just a note to say, this product worked for many other owners. However, the success of this product depends entirely on how bad the judder is. If the gearbox is totally stuffed, no amount of this will cure it.

For my daughters 2007, EX120 has cured it for 3 years now but sadly hers has succumbed to the infamous Honda rear subframe / rear suspension mount rust issues and will need about £1k at garage rates of welding to get it through the next MOT according to my friendly MOT chap, which as its a 2007, isn't worth doing, so when its MOT time again we will be getting rid and looking for something else. Might even look for another Jazz but one after the ishift boxes (which were notoriously bad). She's even looking at import Hybrid Jazzes as well.
If this is a long term car for your daughter , do check the rear subframe / rear suspension inner and outer mounting points as they are a well known weak spot as it turns out.

Edited by VengaPete on 02/06/2025 at 18:28