[HRVSummoner]

Hey everybody, I have a rat problem. I don't seem to have rat(s) present now, but the rubber plug on top of my transmission case has been removed. Ok, no big deal because the plug is still right there next to the hole, but that's how I knew it was removed.

The actual problem is this: I took a hose and sprayed down everything in the engine bay thoroughly to get rid of the rat droppings and nesting before I noticed that plug was out, so a bunch of water definitely went through that hole.

So my question is this: Exactly how screwed am I? I'm not entirely familiar with the breakdown of the CVT, so I'm not sure where exactly that leads.

 

[CalgaryHRV]

I would never recommend to spray water into any engine bay. Not even with the battery disconnected.
It's too risky for water to get into an engine bay mounted ECU or module or wiring harness, etc.

As for water getting into your CVT transmission, I would not even start the engine until you have drained and refilled the trans.
Push it into your garage, jack it up and drain and refill the CVT fluid.
Or get it towed to a Honda dealer. Tell them not to start it up until the CVT fluid is changed.

If your HRV has over 50 000 miles or more on it and you have never changed the CVT fluid before,
I recommend to change both CVT trans filters also.

The HRV CVT trans fluid should be changed at 20-25000 miles (30-40000 km) anyway.

If you haven't started up the engine, the CVT trans should be fine. If you have started up the engine, good luck.

 

[HRVSummoner]

I hadn't started it up yet, and I can thank the lockdowns for that. But those other points are good as well. Having previously noted that my ECU and relay boxes are well sealed, I felt fairly comfortable with that, but in my frustration (and much to my shame) I didn't think much about the battery.

I'm at about 76k miles now on my 2016 EX 2WD, and I think my dealer had me on a 30k schedule for that, but I'll check, not that I seem to have much choice. Unfortunately, I'm also sort of between dealers at the moment, because the one I bought from and have been doing service with for the last few years damaged my car's exterior (including multiple custom parts) and refuses to do anything about it.

I guess I have some thinking to do, because I don't have the cash for that right now. Besides, I think I would ultimately have been in the same boat even if I hadn't sprayed it because of how rainy it's been here, and even though it's under cover, the hood's been up so rats wouldn't consider it a good shelter.

 

[Dammit]

At 76k miles think about a local independent certified mechanic. Especially in these times, those small shops can use the business. Maybe you can even do some bartering depending on what skills you have?

 

[HRVSummoner]

I did a LOT of research and determined that damage, if there was any, would be covered under my insurance, so I did the stupidest possible thing: I drove it. I wanted to know if it was actually damaged before submitting a claim, paying a deductible, and watching my premiums go up. It drove fine in the brief test I gave it, so on Thursday I'm taking it in (driving as gently as possible, of course) for a full transmission flush along with some other maintenance items.

 

[CalgaryHRV]

I did a LOT of research and determined that damage, if there was any, would be covered under my insurance, so I did the stupidest possible thing: I drove it. I wanted to know if it was actually damaged before submitting a claim, paying a deductible, and watching my premiums go up. It drove fine in the brief test I gave it, so on Thursday I'm taking it in (driving as gently as possible, of course) for a full transmission flush along with some other maintenance items.

Wow, I'm dumb-founded... I hope you are joking..

 

[HRVSummoner]

Wow, I'm dumb-founded... I hope you are joking..

About which part? The part where I studied over my insurance contract to confirm any damages found as a result of the rodent infestation would be covered under my policy? The part where I consulted an insurance agent to confirm my findings? The part where I studied the components of the transmission to verify that corrosion shouldn't be an issue over this time frame? Or the part where I devised a test to determine if it was worth wasting money on an insurance claim vs taking my car in for a full transmission flush (as opposed to the normal fluid change)?

Sorry, I thought "what would appear to be" before "the stupidest thing" was both implied and obvious given the immediately prior assertion that I had done my research.

We have an alley-entry driveway, and reaching my car there with a tow truck is not possible. Filing an insurance claim would have technicians start by seeing if there were any error codes (there aren't) and if it drives (subject of my test), followed by a transmission flush if they didn't find anything wrong. They aren't going to disassemble a transmission without symptoms, and a transmission flush would clear contaminants.

My plan was simple: Start it up and drive it to the front of the house (i.e. where a tow truck could reach it); if anything feels or sounds out of the ordinary, call in a claim and describe those symptoms in detail to convince them to disassemble my transmission and replace any affected parts. If there are no symptoms, continue carefully around the neighborhood, checking into the usual driving RPM. If there are still no symptoms, return home and schedule an appointment to do what the repair techs would do with that information. I'm not going to qualify my confidence in my ability to notice symptoms, because that would take several more paragraphs in an already long response.

If I were planning to keep the car for another 50k+ miles, the more obvious choices would be (a) practice an overabundance of caution, or (b) actively try to break the transmission so insurance would pay for it... but I'm not. I'm planning to drive this car until the next generation of HR-V comes out late this year/early next year (I'm expecting a hybrid option - hoping for plug-in but not counting on it) or until I can afford a plug-in hybrid in roughly this size class, in which time I don't expect to drive more than about 20k miles (I'm expecting to hit around 10k for 2020 due to reduction for lockdowns), and, given the otherwise impeccable service history, I fully expect this transmission to last that long without issue.

So, all of that being said, if I have missed something obvious please feel free to let me know and we can talk it through. Otherwise, vaguely insulting disbelief is not necessary, although I appreciate your clear concern for my car.