Caring for Your Car: Maintaining the Transmission
Whether you drive a 1962 muscle-rod, a heavy work truck to haul your tools and machinery, a brand new low ride Sportster, or a plain four-door sedan, you’ve got one thing in common with everybody else on the road: your engine will only work according to what your transmission allows to happen. Regardless of how you prime and prep the engine and paint job, you also have to keep your transmission up to date in order for your car to function properly.
Fluid Change
Although it’s not as routine as your regular oil change, your transmission fluid does need to be checked and perhaps changed on at the rate the manufacturer deems necessary. Ideally, you can follow the maintenance schedule as outlined in your owner’s manual, but that’s based on perfect conditions for testing as conducted in the engineer’s office. An experienced transmission specialist understands local weather and altitude in order to give you better advice according to your situation.
Repair or Replace the Clutch
A clutch is vital to the function of your transmission as it disengages the internal gearing of the machine in order to allow the gears to shift between hard and soft power going from the engine to the wheels. Because they wear out over time it’s important to repair, or possibly replace your clutch from time to time.
Typical Transmission Repairs
Even though the clutch handles the bulk of the pressure which occurs when you change gears, there is some wear on the transmission each time you shift. Eventually, the gears inside your transmission will wear down. Although your car will have an expected schedule concerning when you should expect to need transmission repairs, you have to understand such figures are based on averages, whereas your actual need for repairs is going to be based on your personal driving style. As a side note, and to debunk a popular myth, if you live in a mountainous area and use your transmission to slow down instead of overheating your brakes, understand your transmission was designed to conduct such an act and it in no way harms the overall function.
Full Transmission Rebuild
No matter how well you drive and how well you take care of your transmission, eventually, every transmission is going to break down; automobile parts just aren’t made to last a lifetime. The good news is it won’t simply stop working and leave you on the side of the road. If you pay attention to your car’s performance, you’ll notice it isn’t working properly and have time to hire a qualified transmission expert before it completely stops working. If you think you may need to have your transmission or clutch serviced, contact My Transmission Experts today.
