An interesting article on our CVT transmission.

[Frank_A05]

Don't know if this had been posted before, but I just wanted to share. Just an interesting read. A great explanation of idle neutral control and when it is utilized. Seems like a little engineering marvel. I'm impressed.

https://www.atsg.us/atsg/blog/alookatthecvt-7/

[Eggman]

Thanks for posting this, it's a good read. How did you find it?

[Frank_A05]

Thanks for posting this, it's a good read. How did you find it?

Google mining. Lol. It was a slow day at work and I was curious about the idle neutral control because I noticed it didn't always seem to kick in.

[Alex1a1f]

Awesome read. Thanks for this!!

[MiMi]

From the article, it says "a full complete apply of the converter clutch taking place at approximately 11 mph (10 km/h)" I'm wondering which speed it actually is. 11 mph is about 18 km/hr and 10 km/hr is about 6 mph.

[inuvik]

From the article, it says "a full complete apply of the converter clutch taking place at approximately 11 mph (10 km/h)" I'm wondering which speed it actually is. 11 mph is about 18 km/hr and 10 km/hr is about 6 mph.

That sounds about right with what I feel while driving. I use "B" quite a bit to manually hold it in the lower range and manually upshift around 20 mph because Mitsubishi has definitely programmed this CVT for maximum efficiency (at least the 14 & 15's anyway). Some owners of the 17's have reported lower fuel economy. I wonder if there was reprogramming to make the CVT a little more responsive but less efficient?

[Eggman]

Keep in mind the idle neutral control description is from Nissan. I'm sure it's at least somewhat similar to how Mitsubishi uses it, but it's worth noting.

Also, I found this article refers to the original version at Motorage, in small print. Same text, as far as I can tell.
A LOOK AT THE CVT-7

[Daox]

Very interesting. Specifically I like that they outlined the requirement for idle neutral logic to kick in:

Idle neutral control is started when all of the following conditions are fulfilled. However, during idle neutral control, idle neutral control is stopped when any of the following conditions is not met.

Driving environment: Flat road or road with mild grade

Selector lever position: *D* position

Vehicle speed: 0 km/h (0 MPH)

Accelerator pedal position: 0.0/8

Brake pedal: Depressed

Engine speed: Idle

Turn signal lamp/hazard signal lamp: Not activated

Idle neutral control stops or is prohibited when the TCM and ECM detect that the vehicle is in one of the following conditions.

- Engine coolant temperature and CVT fluid temperature are the specified temperature or more, or the specified temperature or less.

- When a transaxle malfunction occurs.

- When the vehicle detects DTC and is in the fail-safe mode.

- When idle speed increases due to heavy electric load*.

*: When any one of rear window defogger switch, A/C switch, headlamp, fog lamp is turned ON or when the steering wheel is operated.