Welcome to my blog. My name is Ken. One day, I was driving home from work when the engine in my car failed. While I waited for the recovery truck to arrive, I realised I didn’t have a clue what went on underneath the bonnet of my car. I signed up for an auto service course at my local community college, so I could gain the skills I needed to properly maintain my car and repair it if something when wrong while I was on the road. I wanted to start a blog to pass on these skills to other people so that they can look after their automobiles.
Your car's automatic transmission may last for many years without ever failing or seizing up. However, the transmission will need some maintenance and repairs over time, and getting these done quickly and as soon as you notice a problem will help ensure that it does last as long as possible. Note a few common problems you might experience with your car's automatic transmission so you know what to expect when it begins acting up.
Won't go into gear
If the car won't shift out of park, this may actually be a cable between the brake pedal and the transmission; your car may have a failsafe system that won't allow it to shift out of park unless your foot is on the brake pedal. If the chain connecting these two pieces is broken, the car won't sense that you're pressing that pedal, and it won't shift. However, if the transmission moves out of park but not into any other gears, this may mean that the linkage to the cables connecting the gears needs adjusting so that they line up properly. Your car's transmission fluid may also be overly thick and burnt and need replacing, so it can easily move through those chains and gears and allow them to move as well.
Noisy in neutral
The car's transmission should never be noisy, but if it seems to bump or whine when it is in neutral, this often means that the gear teeth need adjusting, as mentioned above. If they're not gripping each other as they should, air will pass through them as they stay still in neutral. In turn, you'll hear those teeth bump or will hear the whine of passing air. The chain linkage may need a simple adjusting in this case.
Check engine light
The check engine light should never be ignored, as this light comes on when the computer senses something is wrong with the car, and very often it can be the transmission that's the problem. The computer may sense vibrations from teeth that are beginning to slip or may note when fluid levels are getting low, problems that you may be oblivious to until the transmission actually fails or begins to grind. While the check engine light can come on for a number of problems, it's best to take the car to a mechanic, and have him or her hook it up to a diagnostic machine to note if it's the transmission that needs repair.
Share17 March 2017
