How your CVT works

[Daox]

I think there is a lot of misinformation out there about CVT transmissions in general. They're a newish technology for cars and most probably don't really know how they work. This thread will hopefully help deal with that by providing information on CVTs in general. For more information pertaining specifically to the Mirage's Jatco CVT7 JF015E, see this thread which has specifications and features of the JF015E.

There is obviously a bad stigma from years ago when Nissan, Chrysler and other companies first started using CVTs. They were not that reliable over time. However, it remains to be seen how these newer CVT transmissions will hold up. Thus far (it is 1/25/17) I haven't heard of any CVT failures, and there are some CVT owners with a fair amount of miles on their car.

So, rather than me typing a ton of stuff, I found a couple of videos that show how a CVT works, and how it is made. This is not the transmission from the Mirage, but it is similar in operation.





This video shows the details of the metal belt. It explains how it is made, assembled, and a little about how it is used. For example, did you know the metal belt actually pushes the driven pulley instead of pulling it? I did not.





As I find more info on CVTs, it will be posted.