One way to prevent your automatic transmission from going bad is to have it serviced every 30,000 miles. This allows us to check for fluid leaks and worn parts that need to be replaced. This also gives us a chance to drain the old transmission fluid, flush the system to remove clogs, and poor new fluid into the system. If your transmission is going bad, you may have one or more of the following problems.
It Slips Out of Gear
If the transmission slips out of gear by itself, you will suddenly lose power while you are driving. You will also see the tachometer needle spike upward because the engine’s RPMs will increase. Unfortunately, this means that your transmission is out of gear and in neutral.
It Won’t Shift Gears
The transmission can also start to have problems shifting the gears if it is going bad. For example, it may get stuck in first or another gear and refuse to shift upward. It can also downward. This makes driving your automobile nearly impossible because the transmission is stuck.
It’s Not Responding
The transmission can also refuse to respond if it has gone bad. In other words, you may slide into the driver seat, fire up the engine, and move the gear shift into Drive. The problem is the transmission will not go into Drive or any other gear.
It’s Leaking Fluid
Your transmission is not necessarily completely bad but it does have a serious problem if it is leaking transmission fluid. Transmission fluid is red and will leak from underneath your automobile near the center. It’s important for us to find the transmission leak as soon as possible.
It’s Overheating
The reason why is that the more the transmission fluid leaks out of the transmission the hotter your transmission will get. Consequently, this excess heat can damage the transmission parts.
It’s Making Strange Sounds
A faulty transmission may also start to make strange sounds while you are driving. For example, it may clunk when it shifts gears or it may grind. It may also squeal or hum when it is in neutral. Have any strange transmission noises looked into right away.
It’s Shifting Roughly
As you already know, there is very little motion when the transmission shifts gears. Your vehicle reacts to a change in the engine’s RPMs, but that is about it. If the transmission is shifting roughly in your vehicle shakes, the transmission needs to be serviced at a minimum.
Finally, a faulty transmission may cause the engine control module to turn on the check engine light. Bring your vehicle to our shop if you are having any of the problems discussed in this blog post.
