CVT First service in 100kms (62k miles)

[Oilime3000]

Good morning/afternoon/night folks, heres a little backstory before my request lol (fyi I live in México City, 2,240mts avobe sea level)

My dad bought the car for me as my first car (2014 GLS) on August 2022 with aprox 99,000 kms on it, pretty good overall condition, BUT recently, my uncle (has an auto transmissions shop) checked the trans and said it seemed like previous owners never serviced the poor CVT and the engine mounts were a little worn (car vibrates like crazy at around 600-800rpm). Im at 100,400kms right now, and ive only changed spark plugs myself, not a difference whatsoever.
So, i thought the car was just a little slow, did terrible gas mileage (13mpg, 5.8km/l) and the trans was louder than a standard Automatic (little "weeeee" when accelerating, can barely hear it over the engine, but a loud "WEEE" when letting off the gas suddenly, somewhat like a turbo BOV), but now after DAYS of researching, i know a little more about these cars and i think it might really need a complete service (?).

List of problems:
1. Terrible gas economy (13mpg, 5.8km/l) I do mostly slow, short trips while on traffic, so thats probably the issue
2. Slow acceleration overall compared with other less-powerful cars (probably just the CVT )
3. Car shakes while idling at 600-800rpms (doesnt matter if its cold or hot)
4. Noisy trans (not really thunderous, but definately noisy)
5. Some interior trim parts shake (Door cloth panels and glove box mostly, probably will get fixed with engine mounts)
6. Car doesnt like to go in reverse, it goes really slow and i have to press the gas sometimes. One time i got to reverse on an uphill road and it felt like it almost exploded lol (got the engine up to 5k rpms and barely moving)
7. NO BLUETOOTH WTF SUZUKI? Its a 2014, not a fucking 2003 (jokes aside, im replacing the stock radio with a Teyes CC3, really looking into that)

Now, im planning to do an engine oil change, possibly clean throttle body, change air filter and full CVT service, Ive read that for the CVT i need to flush and refill the oil several times to clean it, is this true? (sorry i really dont know sht about mechanical stuff lol) And i think there is 2 filters i need to change, but when i asked in the Suzuki dealership they told me CVTs only used 1 filter and its better if i used HONDA CVT FLUID, but i dont trust him at all
Oh and i want to add some wheel spacers to the back hehe , cause it seem too narrow compared to the front, will i damage anything? (Nothing crazy or riced stance crap OC)

It would really help me if you guys could list some specs of the oil and parts needed for the CVT service and the engine mounts (ive seen the Eagle mounts are good, but idk).
Because the other stuff I want to do are relatively simple, so i think i can find it by myself

Sorry for the longest post on the planet and thanks in advance, have a good day.

[Woodie]

Welcome Oilime3000 !

Problems 1, 2, 4, and 6 are all due to the horrible choice Suzuki made putting a CVT in the car. Definitely get it serviced, there's a lot on this site about how to go about that, as this is the biggest problem with a Kizashi.

Bluetooth was available with the higher trim level Kizashi's, replacing the radio is probably your best move, there's a lot more available now than there was ten years ago.

6. Car doesnt like to go in reverse, it goes really slow and i have to press the gas sometimes. One time i got to reverse on an uphill road and it felt like it almost exploded lol (got the engine up to 5k rpms and barely moving)

DO NOT DO THIS ! Could be the end of the transmission, which would most likely be the end of the car. Sounds as if it has not gone into gear fully, and if it suddenly does drop into gear with the RPMs that high, that's a huge shock to the entire driveline.

[KuroNekko]

Hi and welcome.
As Woodie already stated, the weakest link with the Kizashi in high mileage is the CVT. Before you spend more money and time on it, and especially since your uncle is a transmission pro, have him inspect the CVT by dropping the pan. The thing to look for is metal shavings in the fluid and pan. If so, you will likely need a CVT rebuild to keep the car going. Old Tech is a member on this forum who is an independent professional mechanic. He's keen on Kizashis and rebuilds CVTs on them. He has posted a lot of helpful info on this topic. I suggest looking into his posts on the CVT to study the options. Your symptoms sound like your CVT is going out.

[Oilime3000]

Hi, its been a while since i came to the forum, so sorry for the late response lol, I just wanna thank you both guys for the info.

Heres some follow up of what ive done to the car.

-I serviced the CVT and now its functioning perfectly fine, it didnt have any damage nor serious wearing, so now its making no noises whatsoever, the only problem its that it stayed just as slow and sluggish as i remember, so its probably CVTs natural state XD, and the car really doesnt like accelerating fast, its kinda (very) SLOOOW for 185hp. Not that I take the car for drag racing or anything, but I certainly enjoy more a somewhat "fast" car, you guys now what I mean.

-I changed all 4 (or 5, cant remember) engine mounts and CVT mounts, i put "Eagle" brand mounts and the car still shakes when iddling, it got reduced a bit but its still very noticeable and annoying. I just try to not pay attention and live with it lol. (I couldve put the VERY expensive Original mounts, but they take like 3-4 months to arrive from factory and i already did got some broken mounts, so i had to hurry xd)

-Cleaned throttle body and changed all possible engine fluids expecting to decrease fuel consumption, but it stayed exactly the same :/, I even intalled a High-er flowing air filter from K&N and it did absolutely nothing lol. But i recently discovered that by driving the car between 3000-3500rpm all the time, it reduces fuel consumption, so idk what could be the problem here.

Thats basically what Ive done to the kizzy, not that much, but my dad is paying mostly all of this (apart from his other 3 cars problems lol) so i dont want to be too demanding or anything, and its still HIS car so...

And speaking about my interior parts shaking, my driver seat broke about 2 months ago and now its like a freaking "rocking chair" whenever i accelerate, break or turn the seat moves and makes LOUD squeaks. Im pretty shure it was my dads ""fault"" cause he weights 140kg/308lb and he has a kinda agressive driving style, so that probably broke the seat, i dont want to tell him cause im not a fucking douchebag and dont want him to feel bad lol.
I obviously know this is really dangerous so i dont drive the car that much anymore, cause i havent found a solution for this that doesnt mean changing the whole seat. My cloth seats are in very good condition and all seats I could fine online are teared appart or dirty AF, so I preffer to fix mine, somehow.
So is it possible to exchange the complete "rails" from one seat to another? i mean basically the whole mount and possition adjusment rails of the seat (dont know how its called lol).

Oh and i almost forgot that just yesterday the "Hill Hold Disable" warning started to show up on the cluster screen with a flasing hazard symbol, but no ESP or Check Engine warnings accompanying it.
I asked on some Facebok groups and they told me its the alternator thats starting to fail, so im gonna check it as soon as possible.

Thanks again and sorry for the long long texts lol , I like to express myself with much detail.
Have a great day/night/whatever

[Woodie]

The CVT is designed to deliver good fuel economy when driven the exact way that the government fuel economy test is driven. Sounds as if you've found that sweet spot driving 3000-3500 rpm. IN EVERY other way, a CVT is a disaster. They rob performance, mileage, and reliability. The entire first half of this post leads me to think that this car has been driven violently, and that's a bad idea. A Kizashi is not going to get particularly good mileage, nor is it very fast. Add in the CVT and both of those traits get worse. The single most important factor having to do with fuel economy is your right foot, especially if you have a CVT.

Driver's seat absolutely needs to be fixed, that's dangerous. Getting a Kizashi seat of any color or upholstery type and changing the rails sounds like the best bet. Or, the upholstery from yours could be moved to a different seat that's been torn up.

Going from Hill Hold Disable to replacing the alternator is a huge leap, maybe one hundred on the list of things I would guess. I would like to hear an explanation of the logic behind that one. A weak battery can cause a lot of weird warnings and minor failures on a Kizashi, but I wouldn't just blindly replace that either.

[Oilime3000]

The CVT is designed to deliver good fuel economy when driven the exact way that the government fuel economy test is driven. Sounds as if you've found that sweet spot driving 3000-3500 rpm. IN EVERY other way, a CVT is a disaster. They rob performance, mileage, and reliability. The entire first half of this post leads me to think that this car has been driven violently, and that's a bad idea. A Kizashi is not going to get particularly good mileage, nor is it very fast. Add in the CVT and both of those traits get worse. The single most important factor having to do with fuel economy is your right foot, especially if you have a CVT.

Driver's seat absolutely needs to be fixed, that's dangerous. Getting a Kizashi seat of any color or upholstery type and changing the rails sounds like the best bet. Or, the upholstery from yours could be moved to a different seat that's been torn up.

Going from Hill Hold Disable to replacing the alternator is a huge leap, maybe one hundred on the list of things I would guess. I would like to hear an explanation of the logic behind that one. A weak battery can cause a lot of weird warnings and minor failures on a Kizashi, but I wouldn't just blindly replace that either.

Hi, after a good diagnostic I changed my water pump and thermostat, now I get aproximately 20mpg on City and the engine is dead silent now (it was noisy AF before), so it appears my driving style wasnt the problem at all lol.
And yes, the car has been driven "violently" (not really, but we dont drive like an old lady either), but we have a VW Jetta and a Toyota Camry, both with more than twice the mileage, and have been driven the exact same way, and those arent as delicate or fragile as the Kizashi has proven to be.
I recently figured out he "Hill Hold Disable" issue started because I put fucking LEDs on my tailights, thats just silly IMO. The car started to freaking kill itself just because i changed some bulbs... Absurd if you ask me.

Now, after all of this the car functions perfectly and I just learned to love it, cause now i see it more like a "luxury" saloon than a sporty car, which is clearly not .
My seat is fixed now btw, and it made a fucking WORLD of a difference when driving the car, it feels much more comfortable and "planted", and no more annoying squeaks. Now i can push more on turns and its VERY fun, so Thanks for the advise on that.

(I tried to upload a picture of my Zashi, dont know if it worked lol) Thanks again.

[KuroNekko]

The CVT is designed to deliver good fuel economy when driven the exact way that the government fuel economy test is driven. Sounds as if you've found that sweet spot driving 3000-3500 rpm. IN EVERY other way, a CVT is a disaster. They rob performance, mileage, and reliability. The entire first half of this post leads me to think that this car has been driven violently, and that's a bad idea. A Kizashi is not going to get particularly good mileage, nor is it very fast. Add in the CVT and both of those traits get worse. The single most important factor having to do with fuel economy is your right foot, especially if you have a CVT.

Driver's seat absolutely needs to be fixed, that's dangerous. Getting a Kizashi seat of any color or upholstery type and changing the rails sounds like the best bet. Or, the upholstery from yours could be moved to a different seat that's been torn up.

Going from Hill Hold Disable to replacing the alternator is a huge leap, maybe one hundred on the list of things I would guess. I would like to hear an explanation of the logic behind that one. A weak battery can cause a lot of weird warnings and minor failures on a Kizashi, but I wouldn't just blindly replace that either.

Hi, after a good diagnostic I changed my water pump and thermostat, now I get aproximately 20mpg on City and the engine is dead silent now (it was noisy AF before), so it appears my driving style wasnt the problem at all lol.
And yes, the car has been driven "violently" (not really, but we dont drive like an old lady either), but we have a VW Jetta and a Toyota Camry, both with more than twice the mileage, and have been driven the exact same way, and those arent as delicate or fragile as the Kizashi has proven to be.
I recently figured out he "Hill Hold Disable" issue started because I put fucking LEDs on my tailights, thats just silly IMO. The car started to freaking kill itself just because i changed some bulbs... Absurd if you ask me.

Now, after all of this the car functions perfectly and I just learned to love it, cause now i see it more like a "luxury" saloon than a sporty car, which is clearly not .
My seat is fixed now btw, and it made a fucking WORLD of a difference when driving the car, it feels much more comfortable and "planted", and no more annoying squeaks. Now i can push more on turns and its VERY fun, so Thanks for the advise on that.

(I tried to upload a picture of my Zashi, dont know if it worked lol) Thanks again.

Nice car. Was your thermostat stuck open? That would seem to explain poor fuel efficiency. As for the Jetta and Camry, what model years are they? I ask because the Kizashi is really a vehicle running mid-2000s powertrain technology thus would be significantly less efficient than newer models with direct injection and such.

I've never heard of LED bulbs causing issues with Hill Hold Disable or anything else. While I can't speak for all LED bulbs, reputable ones should not cause issues. I have Sylvania Zevo Red LED taillights in my Kizashi that I installed several years ago. They are still working perfectly and have not caused any issues while being brighter than stock incandescent bulbs.

Regardless, I'm glad to hear your Kizashi is running well and you can finally enjoy it.