Increase The Life Of Your Transmission

One of the most expensive and inconvenient problems that you can experience with your car would be a transmission failure. It could potentially cost thousands of dollars to replace, rebuild, or repair your transmission. We’d rather see our customers avoid the expense and hassle of a broken transmission. There are various things that you can do to extend the life of your transmission.

Regular Transmission Maintenance: 
Just like you regularly change the oil in your engine, you should change transmission fluid on a regular schedule. Clean Transmission fluid is extremely critical to the proper operation of the transmission and keeps the moving parts inside the transmission working smoothly. Clean and fresh transmission fluid also reduces the heat caused by friction. Old Transmission fluid coats the internal moving parts with gunk and will lead to higher temperatures inside the transmission. Heat is the number one enemy of your transmission and can lead to premature wear and ultimate failure of the internally moving parts. In our experience, the vast majority of failed transmissions are caused by neglect and lack of maintenance.

Always Keep Fluid at the Proper Level: 
While dirty transmission fluid can cause damage to the transmission over a period of time, low fluid can cause instant damage. You should regularly make sure that the automatic transmission fluid (ATF) is at the appropriate level. This will mean regular and routine vehicle check-ups where the transmission is visually inspected for leaks.

Keep Your Transmission Operating Cool: 
As mentioned earlier, a hot transmission is a transmission that will die an early death. Excessive heat in the transmission will break down the fluid, causing gunk to stick to the internal parts. Changing the transmission fluid regularly helps keep the transmission operating cool. If your car isn’t already equipped with one, we highly recommend installing an external transmission cooler. External transmission coolers are pretty inexpensive and are easy to install. In many cases, external transmission coolers can greatly increase the life of your transmission. We recommend an external transmission cooler for anyone who places extra-ordinary demands on his/her transmission, such as regularly driving in temperatures above 90-degrees, driving in continual stop-and-go traffic, and regularly towing.

Catch Transmission Problems Early: 
Some signs of a failing transmission are strange noises, fluid leaks, or smoke. While driving, keep an eye out for any noticeable changes in performance, like harsh shifting, delays in shifting, sudden shifts, higher engine revs when accelerating, or grinding when the transmission shifts. Sometimes when the check engine light comes on that can also be an indication of early transmission problems. You can potentially save hundreds or even thousands of dollars by catching a transmission problem right when it starts. After a transmission problem starts it will likely only get worse with time. We have had instances of customers coming in at the very first sign of transmission problems, where a transmission service or flush fixed the problem. In these cases, continuing to drive and ignoring the problem surely would’ve caused additional transmission damage or would’ve killed the transmission entirely.

With regular maintenance and immediate action when you first notice problems, your transmission can potentially last for a few hundred thousand miles. If you are good to your car, then your car will also be good to you.