ALT-1 How to know when your Transmission needs Maintenance
When an automatic transmission needs to be serviced it will not always let you know until it is too late. That is why you need to pay close attention to the condition of the transmission fluid. It is a special blend of chemicals that is used as a hydraulic fluid (pressures over 1,000 p.s.i.), a lubricant, and a detergent with soap in it to keep everything clean. An automatic transmission's life depends solely on the condition of the fluid. You will learn how to check the transmission fluid in most cars, and what to look for in the fluid. Knowing these things will help you know when your transmission needs maintenance.
To start out always check the fluid level with the vehicle fully warmed up and running, with the transmission in park or neutral. If it is low, then there is a leak that will need to be fixed immediately. Another thing to look at is the condition of the fluid. Transmission fluid does not get contaminated like engine oil does. So it should always be the exact same color and consistency as the day it was poured out of the bottle. If the fluid looks clear or has any black muddy looking chunks of stuff, then that is going to be clutches and bands that are burned and damaged. The only thing that can cause this is overheated transmission fluid.
How can your transmission overheat?
The main thing that destroys transmissions is excessive heat. In fact, transmissions are designed to never wear out. So, a transmission that goes bad will be related to excessive heat, almost every time. See, transmission fluid begins breaking down somewhere around 150 degrees (Give or take 20 degrees either way, depending on the quality of the fluid). Even though the automotive manufacturers are aware of this, they still decide to cool the transmission fluid in the radiator, where the average temperature is over 200 degrees. Instead of cooling the transmission fluid, they are actually super heating it.
This breaks the automatic transmission fluid down and thins it out. This translates to more heat and friction inside the transmission. When you let it go for an extended period of time, the transmission will suffer major damage to the clutches and bands. If your engine ever overheats, or even runs a little warmer than it is supposed to, then that can also put your transmission in a very bad situation. That is why it is especially important to keep your engine's cooling system in proper working order, at all times. The best thing you can do is get the automatic transmission fluid out of the radiator and install an external transmission cooler.
The normal interval for the fluid is about once a year or about 30,000 miles. This is not just a simple matter of changing the fluid and filter either. A transmission holds around 15 quarts of fluid. When you change the filter you will only be changing 1/3 of that (5 quarts), and the rest of the fluid is still in the torque converter. The best thing to do is take it to a shop and have them flush the system until the fluid comes out clean.
Now, if the check engine light is on and indicates a transmission problem this would most likely be an electrical fault that requires the use of a special scan tool that only a shop would have in order to properly diagnose and repair the problem. Sometimes the problem is only a shift solenoid, or a torque converter solenoid. Solenoids (just like the one on your starter), only fail when they are placed in excessive heat. So the main thing to take from this bit of information is to keep your transmission cool! Hope this helps, and thanks for reading.
