You cannot afford to have your automatic transmission fail. This is an expensive auto repair. Preventative maintenance is the best way to extend the life of your vehicle’s automatic transmission and prevent failure. LP & Sons Auto Care can service your transmission and repair it if you notice any of the seven following signs that the automatic transmission is going bad.
1. Grinding or Shaking
If your automatic transmission grinds between gears or shakes as it’s going into gear or once it’s in gear, you’ve got a problem. This could be a sign of something simple, such as low transmission oil, or something serious. Grinding, jarring, shaking, or slipping can also mean worn transmission gears.
2. Unresponsive Vehicle
Your vehicle should respond smoothly the minute you put it into reverse or drive. If it doesn’t, you might have dirty transmission fluid or a problem with the computer system. You shouldn’t feel a jolt nor should your automobile delay going into gear. Any unresponsiveness needs to be checked out.
3. Noises in Neutral
Clunking noises as your vehicle goes into gear or when it’s in neutral are signs of transmission problems. You shouldn’t hear humming or whining, either. Humming or whining is a sign that the internal transmission parts are not lubricated properly. Clunking suggests that the parts have broken down.
4. Burning Smells
You should never smell anything burning from your automobile. The minute you do, drive to safety, park your vehicle, and turn it off. If the burning smell is coming from the transmission, the fluid is likely overheating. Hot fluid is unable to prevent damaging friction between the transmission parts.
5. Slipping Gears
We briefly mentioned transmission gears slipping above but let’s talk about this further. Once your vehicle is in gear, it shouldn’t slip out of it until the automatic transmission shifts to the next gear. Signs your vehicle has slipped out of gear is your engine revving loudly and sudden power loss.
6. Leaking Fluid
Transmission fluid leaks are a sign of parts breaking down. Transmission fluid is bright red and will leak from the center of your car. It could be leaking from the transmission pan, the pan gasket, the drain plug, the hoses, or the torque converter, which converts torque into power and turns your wheels.
7. Check Engine Warning
Finally, your check engine light will come on if the sensors in the automatic transmission send a warning to your vehicle’s main computer chip. The transmission does not have a dashboard warning light of its own, so the chip will turn on the check engine light to alert you of automatic transmission trouble.
Call LP & Sons Auto Care in DeLand, FL, at the first sign of transmission problems. Keep in mind, the longer you wait the more damage you’ll do to your vehicle’s transmission.