When something goes wrong with your vehicle, it can create a sense of worry, panic, and fear. You feel it deep inside your stomach. How much will the auto repairs cost? Can I afford the work? How will I pay my bills? How long will I be without my vehicle? Natural to think… but most people aren’t doing enough preventative maintenance to prevent major breakdowns including transmission problems.
The moment you start to see, hear, feel or smell something wrong with your vehicle, come see us at one of our repair shop locations here in Mesa or Tempe. We’ll diagnose and fix any of your vehicle’s issues, but we 
thought the best thing we could do for you is to provide a list of some things you can do NOW to avoid transmission failure– and we all know how expensive THAT repair or replacement can be!
- Start by checking your transmission fluid level, color and smell more often. Experts say that your fluid should be checked roughly every 1,600 kilometers. The fluid should also be changed every 80,000 kilometers or every other year, depending on which comes first.
- Use the correct fluid. This sounds silly, but we see people use the wrong type of transmission fluid for their vehicle. Don’t use something because it’s cheap.
- Don’t overfill. Follow your manual carefully or let your trusted repair shop handle the job. Overfilling can cause the fluid to foam, which can lead to erratic shifting, loss of internal lubrication and potential transmission damage.
- Avoid excess heat in your transmission. 90% of transmission failures are due to heat.
- Never tow when your vehicle is in overdrive. Check beforehand and know how to tell if your vehicle is in overdrive.
- Install an auxiliary cooler which can keep your transmission 30 to 50% cooler when towing.
- Don’t overload your vehicle with excess weight and make it overheat.
- Give your vehicle more time to warm up on cold mornings.
- If your vehicle gets stuck in ice or mud, avoid rocking between gears. Stopping your tires between each gear change drastically reduces the strain placed on your transmission.
- Never spin your tires in a startup unless in an emergency.
- When parked on an incline, use your emergency brake.
- At the first sign of a transmission issue, get your vehicle inspected by a professional mechanic at a trusted repair shop.
Being proactive about your transmission will help it last longer and maintain a better condition. If you need transmission work, our repair technicians are ready to assist!
