8 Signs Of Car Transmission Problem

Transmission repair of most cars are expensive. You should try and pay much attention to it especially when anything unusual comes up.

Depending on the car and maintenance culture, over the years, the transmission is bound to start having problems.

These are some signs that say your transmission is having some issues and should be attended to.

1. The gear refuses to engage when you depress the clutch pedal and attempt to change gear.
This may happen when you want to engage the first gear from stop or even at any point up or down the various gears.

Low transmission fluid, wrong fluid viscosity (thickness) can all cause this as well.

2. You always perceive burning smell
This smell can come up when your transmission is overheating.
Just like the engine oil, transmission oil keeps things cool down there and prevents them from burning itself up.

Dirty transmission fluid, low transmission fluid can give rise to this.

3. Weird noise even when the transmission is in neutral position.
When you want to shift from one gear to another and you hear weird noise, something is wrong somewhere.
This can be simple to fix most of the times; replacing the transmission fluid will do the magic.

On a more serious note, lots of noises from the transmission while it’s in neutral could signal something more serious, like mechanical wear that will need the replacement of parts. In this case, common culprits are a worn reverse idler gear or worn bearings, possibly coupled with worn gear teeth.

4. Some gears slip
In a normal working condition, your transmission stays in the designated gear for a given RPM until it is shifted (manually or automatically).

If a gear in your transmission slips, the car will spontaneously pop out of the already engaged gear while you’re driving (in a manual car) and shift back to the neutral position.

If you experience this, it’s time to get your transmission examined.

5. Dragging clutch.
This trouble haunts the manual transmission. A dragging clutch is one that fails to disengage the clutch disk from the flywheel when the driver pushes in the clutch pedal.

When the driver attempts to shift gears, he or she can’t because the still-engaged clutch is still spinning along with the engine. The driver is abruptly made aware of this by the grinding noise that then ensues with each attempt to shift.

6. Leaking Transmission fluid.
This is one certainly one of the easiest way to tell your transmission is problematic and needs attntion.

Automatic transmission fluid is bright red, clear and a little sweet-smelling when everything’s working correctly.

When you check your automatic transmission fluid, make sure it’s not a dark color and that it doesn’t have a burnt smell. If it is, you’ll need to take it to a mechanic and have it replaced.

7. Check engine light comes on.
Check engine light does not point out any specific car problem. The check engine light can be a great early indicator that something is starting to go wrong with your transmission.

You can use diagnostic scan tool to know what the actual problem really is. If it’s transmission problem, it would be indicated by the scan tool.

8. Grinding or Shaking and lack of response.
When you notice something other than a smooth transition between gears for an automatic transmission, it means something is wrong. The shifting supposes to be almost unnoticeable.

When your transmission hesitates or refuses to go, it means something is wrong. Your automatic transmission will hesitate to move in to “park” or “Drive” position