February 13, 2013 - Have you ever taken off from a red light and it seemed like your car didn’t want go? Or maybe you heard your car kind of hesitating when it was trying to switch gears? Well, no biggy right because it goes ahead and acts normal again?
Not so fast. This could be a major ignoring mistake. If you continue to ignore strange sounds and behaviors from your vehicle, you are very likely going to regret that decision in the future. Behaviors such as hesitation, stalling, jerking when it switches gears or a light on the dashboard that kind of looks like an oval with one end bigger than the other and a fan blade on it, could be early warning signs of a much bigger problem.
This oval and strange behavior could be indicative of transmission issues. If you don’t know what your transmission is, this is a quick and very much over simplified lesson.
Now, since it’s a bunch of gears (metal rotating over metal) it reasons that it would need some type of lubricant to keep it running smoothly, right? Right!! It’s called transmission fluid. This little bottle of fluid will only cost you a few dollars to do it yourself. Or you can pay anywhere from $60 (local guy) to $150 or so (dealer) to have someone else do it. Whichever you choose, be sure someone is checking this critical fluid and keeping it at the correct level.
Why? Because we’ve just hit the nail on the head about one of the most common causes of transmission problems. Either the fluid is not kept full or the fluid is not changed when it should be.
This is one of those vehicle maintenance deals that you do not want to ignore. This is a very costly oops!! A rebuilt transmission could cost you anywhere from $1500 to $3500 or more while a new transmission could run you anywhere from $3000 to $7000.
Seems to me it would be much easier to pay the mechanic a couple hundred a year to make sure your vehicle stays up to par on all its immunizations and checkups. Save yourself a lot of money and even more headache. Take care of your transmission.
