Whether you drive an automatic or manual shift, you need to take good care of your transmission. Without regular fluid flushing and inspections, gearbox problems quickly develop. Some driving habits and conditions also take a greater toll on transmissions than others. Let’s take a look at four signs of trouble that should prompt you to visit your local Ford dealer right away for transmission repair.
Your Gears Are Grinding
An early indication of gear problems is often pained grinding sounds when you shift. Here, something is causing the moving parts to struggle and scrape against each other. Most often, this stems from low transmission fluid, so check your fluid levels and also have a technician take a look.
Your Gears Are Slipping
Slipping gears is a worrying experience when you’re out on the road. When gears are no longer working properly in tandem with each other, you might find your car shifting gears independently. You might also find your gears sticking and refusing to shift. Your engine might also start revving loudly whenever you try to change gears.
Your Clutch Is Dragging
Inadequate fluid, overheating, and other faults can cause a clutch to fail. The two sides of the clutch may stop engaging or disengaging as they should. When a clutch refuses to disengage properly, this is called clutch drag. It will cause a great deal of noise and sudden jolting in your car when you try to shift gears.
Your Fluid Is Leaking
With insufficient fluid, your gearbox won’t have enough lubrication to keep everything working smoothly. It will also overheat rapidly. A fluid leak will drain away the fluid and cause these problems to develop in no time. Never ignore any reddish liquid puddling under your car, which might point to a transmission fluid leak.
Severe Driving Habits and Conditions
Some driving conditions put much more strain on a transmission than usual. These conditions include prolonged periods of idling and regular short trips that don’t give the transmission time to warm up properly. Driving over rough, dusty terrain also takes its toll on a gearbox. As does driving in excessively hot or cold environments.
If your car undergoes any of these severe conditions, you may need more frequent inspections at your local dealership to compensate. The recommended servicing interval for transmissions is usually every 30,000 miles for manual shifts and every 60,000 miles for automatic shifts. But severe driving conditions require you to have more frequent visits than this.
How a Ford Dealer Inspects Your Transmission
Firstly, a technician needs to diagnose the problem. They’ll use a diagnostic tool to interface with your car’s onboard computers to gather useful data about your gearbox performance.
They’ll then carry out a long list of manual checks and tests, including searching for leaks and corrosion, measuring upshift and downshift timing, testing performance in neutral and reverse, and many more. Any faults they find, they’ll quickly repair.
Have your transmission inspected today at Zeigler Ford of Plainwell. We have one of the region’s largest vehicle inventories and courteous, helpful staff.
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