When starting your vehicle each morning, or after it has been parked for several hours (especially in cold weather), allow the engine idle speed to come down before shifting your car into any gear. This warm-up should take two to three minutes, so stay in your car. Don’t let it idle longer – excessive idling can cause internal transmission damage. If you feel a jolt or a jerk when you put the transmission in gear, your engine idle speed should be checked.
What Can I Do to Ensure Trouble Free Driving?
First of all, if you have any questions about the repairs or the Agreement, please ask us. We are small business owners that repair and rebuild transmissions. We know that they can be difficult to understand, but we are very knowledgeable when it comes to transmissions and want you to feel comfortable to ask us any question(s) you may have.
All automatic transmissions are made up of hundreds of parts, closely machined to function so smoothly that you can leave the “thinking” to the transmission.
Its purpose is to transfer power from the engine to the drive line. It does this with no more effort than the move of a lever. Properly maintained, your transmission can give you many miles and years of trouble free driving. Failure to maintain the transmission can cause inconvenient and costly problems, so we suggest:
A well tuned engine is extremely important to the proper operation of your transmission. No automatic transmission will perform properly with a rough-running engine. Often the engine idle speed increases to compensate for a poor running engine. This can be directly responsible for internal transmission damage as well as engine damage. Thousands of transmission complaints are solved with a simple engine tune up.
It’s usually not necessary to add transmission fluid. If you see any leaks on the garage floor or where you park your vehicle find out why! If you are adding transmission fluid find out why! Stop the leak before serious damage occurs.
Excessive heat is the #1 enemy of your transmission. It is a major cause of automatic transmission failure, and it is a problem in summer and in winter. Rocking a stuck vehicle out of snow or ice causes excessive friction and overheating of transmission components. Summer heat combined with boat and trailer towing can CAUSE fluid burning and shorten transmission life. Heat causes oxidation of the fluid and varnishing of internal transmission parts. The transmission fluid is cooled by the radiator, so proper maintenance of your cooling system is also important to keep the transmission and the engine happy.
No noise is good noise. If you hear any weird noises or feel vibrations or slippage, it may indicate that something is wrong with your transmission. At the first sign of trouble, or if you think there may be a problem, please come and see us. We’ll check it out free of charge.
