As car technology evolves, more and more features are being added towards the modern automobile, in particular the automatic transmission system, however it has an associated problem such as the transmission slipping which become more common.
It is consider as one of the most common trouble among automatic transmissions. If ignored and left unfixed for a longer period of time, it may complicate the damage on the vehicle and may cause accidents.
Should you experience any symptoms of a slipping transmission, take action to identify the cause as early as possible, as this could lead to a more severe transmission-related problems.
Symptoms and Causes
For this reason, if the car owner has no knowledge about fixing the problem, it is highly recommended to have a car maintenance and bring it to an auto or car repair shop. Doing such will avoid a more costly transmission repair cost which could lead to a transmission replacement.
Although transmission slipping usually arises on older automatic cars, new ones are not exempted. It may also occur in cars with manual transmissions but such trouble commonly exist in automatic transmissions which mainly uses the transmission fluid used to execute the commands like drive, reverse and park, in other words it is responsible for switching and managing gear ratios.
It has several causes such as insufficient transmission fluid, low fluid pressure and leaky transmission filter. Because of the complexity of an automatic transmission, many car owners prefer to replace a part that is damaged, while others prefer to rebuild through the use of transmission rebuild kits which are now widely available.
Moreover, take note that remanufactured transmissions are now available as well as a cheaper alternative to a brand new one.
However, there are car owners with DIY skills who decide and try to learn repairing it by themselves or with the aid of an experienced auto technician, since replacement of the car transmission system is expensive. While others are happy to simply study tips on preventing such problem to avoid expensive automotive repairs while taking the advantage of learning in troubleshooting car problems.
Knowing what causes the transmission to slip is vital in prevention of this problem. Inadequate amount of transmission fluid is one of the main reasons. It causes delay and misbehavior in commands being executed. Damaged and worn out transmission bands also affect the execution negatively because it leads the gear to slip out of its proper position and thus, poor transmission shifting occurs.
Meanwhile, faults in fluid pressure may result in error in transmission converter torque that reduces the efficiency of the transmission system. Also, extreme temperature and transmission fluid leaks can be considered as among the primary reasons why an automatic transmission slips.
Usually, the slipping is manifested by excessive noise and unusual gear shifting patterns. Other signs include extremely high RPM (revolutions per minute) exceeding 3500, power engine loss and delayed acceleration. However, to further understand the kind of fault which exist within the, it is advisable to diagnose the symptoms with these few steps.
Slipping On Automatic Transmissions
The first step is to set the gear position to parking before starting the engine. Next step
is to hold down the break and then put the shifter in the drive position. If there is 1 to 2 seconds of delay in the transmission engage, it is a sign of slipping. Another way to determine if there is slipping is to switch the car to a superior gear while observing the RPM indicator. It there is a bit of drop in the indicator, it is another sign of slipping issues.
Lastly, it is best to prevent transmission slipping before it occurs. This can be done by making sure that appropriate level of transmission fluid is available, regular maintenance and immediate action for early signs of transmission slipping, bring the it to your trusted auto repair shop.
Additionally, take caution when acquiring those automatic used transmissions for sale, before purchasing such type, make sure you inspect well that it’s well-conditioned as transmission slipping could like occur later. Come up with a list questions and answers based on your research about that specific transmission system. This way, you can ask an in-depth information to uncover hidden defects, if there is one. Or, better, ask an expert auto-mechanic to do it for you.
Quick Fixes
- Checking the fluid’s level. If the transmission fluid level is low, add enough fresh transmission fluid to it or you can replace all fluid with a new one.
- Make sure there is no transmission fluid leak. If you happen to have just recently replaced the transmission fluid and still keeping it a low level, check it for any leaks. There shouldn’t be any leaks on it. If it has leaks, bring the vehicle to service to get it fix.
- Make sure the fluid does not exceed the required level, this should only be enough as recommended by your car’s manufacturer. This is indicated in the manual and can be determine through the dipstick.
- Some cars (specially older Ford vehicles) have a kick down cable which sometimes is not in its proper adjustment. Adjustment can vary from car to car, so, better bring it to service to have it properly adjusted.
Should you still having a hard time figuring out the cause of your car’s transmission slipping issue, it’s highly recommended you bring it to transmission repair services so it can be diagnose and fix as early as possible, before it can do further problems or damage to the car’s transmission system.