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Maintaining Your Car’s Transmission to Avoid Troubles on the Road


— August 17, 2018

While driving, very few people bother about the maintenance as long as their vehicles are running. Suddenly, one day their car, bike, truck or tractor might break down, and it might cause heavy damage both financially and socially. However, with a little care and maintenance, any vehicle can run smoothly for years without showing signs of any significant problems, particularly those with the transmission. Are you aware of what it is and how to maintain it?


While driving, very few people bother about the maintenance as long as their vehicles are running. Suddenly, one day their car, bike, truck or tractor might break down, and it might cause heavy damage both financially and socially. However, with a little care and maintenance, any vehicle can run smoothly for years without showing signs of any significant problems, particularly those with the transmission. Are you aware of what it is and how to maintain it?

Some Working Principles

The transmission of any vehicle is the area through which the gears are changed in the car, thus changing the actual driving speed. They are synchronized with the clutch and the accelerator so that the desired speed can be maintained without putting too much pressure on the engine and also making the car much more fuel efficient. This section is mainly a cluster of gears & pinions that function differently in accordance to the shifting of the gear handle. The torque of the vehicle is balanced by the gears. The gears are immersed in fluids so that they work smoothly and without any hiccups.

BMW 2009 8 speed automatic transmission; image by SOCIALisBETTER, via Flickr, CC BY 2.0, no changes.
BMW 2009 8 speed automatic transmission; image by SOCIALisBETTER, via Flickr, CC BY 2.0, no changes.

Maintaining Your Transmission

One of the primary duties of the vehicle owner is to support and maintain the transmission section in such a way that a smooth drive is always possible.

  • Changing the fluid is one of the fundamental measures one could take. The fluid needs to be replaced after driving the vehicle for specific miles as per the manufacturer’s manual.
  • One should regularly check on the level of the fluids. The change in quality of the fluid also needs to be observed.
  • As soon as the fluid turns darker or thicker, it needs to be changed so that the life of the vehicle can be extended. Cars with manual transmissions need the fluid replaced at quite a few regular intervals. Vehicles with automatic transmissions do not require fluid changes that frequently.
  • If you detect a burning odor while driving the car, it could be that the fluid needs to be changed or there is some other problem with the gearbox.
  • Another aspect that indicates that there is some problem is the slipping of the gears while shifting. If this happens, it is to be assumed that the teeth of the gearbox have decayed and they need to be changed otherwise a serious accident may occur.
  • The lifetime of the engine depends upon many things, including the gears and the torque they produce. If any disturbance is overlooked, it may make the engine seize, requiring expensive repairs or even a new engine.
  • Most vehicle owners believe that time is money and speed is the need, forgetting regular maintenance of their vehicles. But this should be avoided, and proper upkeep of the vehicle needs to be done.

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