Common Reasons Why A Transmission Struggles To Shift Gears

When operating your vehicle, you become used to the idea of your transmission operating as it should. You never expect the transmission to struggle to shift gears. This can be alarming because you might need to put your car in park but you now have no way to stop your vehicle. However, once you are able to identify what is causing problems, you may be able to fix your transmission.

Cold Weather Can Affect Your Transmission

Sometimes, it's normal for a car’s transmission to struggle to shift gears. When the weather is very cold, the transmission might operate more roughly than normal. Therefore, you should sit in your car and wait for it to warm up.

Check the Transmission Fluid

Usually, the first place you'll want to look is your transmission fluid. When the transmission fluid is too low, this will cause the gears and clutch to grind because you will not have enough lubrication. If the fluid is low, not only will you need to replace the missing fluid but you'll also need to find out why the fluid is leaking in the first place. There might be a leaking seal or a leaking gasket.

Your Transmission Fluid Might Be Contaminated

Even if the fluid is not leaking out, it might become contaminated. Impurities can build up in your system over time and can prevent the fluid from lubricating your system. The lack of lubrication causes the transmission to struggle to shift gears. It's also important to make sure you use the right type of transmission fluid for your system or your vehicle will not be lubricated correctly.

When Your Transmission Fails

If the problem isn't the result of your transmission fluid, there might be a component of your transmission that is causing the problem. This is a problem you will usually not be able to solve on your own and it's better to contact auto services to ask what you should do and whether you should bring your car down to the shop.

The auto shop might inspect your transmission to find a bad shifter cable. They might be able to simply replace the shifter cable and everything will be fine. Otherwise, they might need to replace the cable.

Your transmission relies on gears that work very hard to transmit power to your engine. However, given how hard the gears work, they can wear out over time. The only way to have the gears fixed is to have a repair technician take the gears apart and replace them with new gears.

To have your car's transmission inspected, visit an auto shop in your area such as Hillside Imports


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