Tips on How to Maintain Your Car’s Automatic Transmission

A vehicle’s automatic transmission is one of the most expensive components to replace and one of the most complicated to repair. To avoid shelling out a substantial amount of cash or pulling your hair out trying to conduct challenging repairs, it’s best to prevent issues from occurring in the first place. Here are some tips on how to maintain your car’s automatic transmission.

Regularly check and change your transmission fluid

Low or contaminated transmission fluid is a common cause of many transmission issues. If there are issues with your transmission fluid, your automatic transmission may start to overheat, grind gears, or wear down prematurely.

To avoid such negative repercussions, it’s important to check your transmission fluid levels at least once a year. In addition, you should also replace your transmission fluid if it is too low, is dark in color, or if you have driven between 30,000 and 50,000 miles since you last changed it.

Only shift gears when your vehicle is completely stopped

To avoid weakening or stripping the gears in your automatic transmission, you should avoid shifting in and out of gear while driving. Always come to a complete stop before shifting between forward and reverse gears.

Don’t ride the brake

If you find yourself contently putting pressure on your brake pedal or frequently slamming down on it, you should try to break such habits for the sake of your automatic transmission.

Riding the brake puts more stress on your vehicle’s transmission and engine. While braking is obviously a necessity, making an effort to reduce the intensity or frequency of how much you use the brake pedal can extend your transmission’s lifespan.

Give your vehicle a moment to warm up

Hopping in your vehicle and immediately zipping off to your destination can put extra stress on your transmission. Instead of turning your vehicle on and instantly putting it in gear, give it a few minutes to warm up. While this tip on how to maintain your car’s automatic transmission is especially important during the colder months of the year, it also applies to warm weather days as well.

If your automatic transmission has a filter, change it

Depending on the make and model, some vehicles’ automatic transmissions are equipped with a filter—especially older models. To prevent transmission fluid from becoming contaminated, it’s important to change this filter periodically.