Transmission slipping is enough to make any vehicle owner break into a cold sweat. Your transmission’s job is to reliably and effectively move your vehicle – it converts your engine’s power into motion. If your vehicle seems to ‘slip’ when engaging a gear, shifting, or changing gears without warning, this not only creates a serious safety risk but can also mean bad news for your vehicle, as transmission replacement or repair can be extremely expensive.
But does transmission slipping mean the end? While there’s no quick fix for transmission slipping, not all transmission slipping problems mean your transmission is defective. Before we can talk about how to prevent transmission slipping, we should examine the various reasons why your transmission might slip.
Is Your Transmission Slipping?
Before considering a solution to transmission slipping, you should make sure the problem is actually transmission slipping. With a manual transmission, slipping is obvious. When shifting gears, you’ll hear grinding, and the vehicle will either not engage the gear at all or drop out of it without warning. Often, when your manual transmission slips, your first instinct is that you need to replace the clutch. This can certainly be true, as clutch discs have a limited lifespan and are responsible for transmission slipping in a standard transmission vehicle about nine out of 10 times, but it’s not necessarily the cause.
In an automatic transmission, you might notice other signs of transmission slipping, such as inability to shift into reverse, difficulty shifting gears, or inability to upshift at all. Other signs include being able to upshift but then downshifting without warning, increased RPMs without significant speed increase, the Check Engine light coming on, or strange noises or smells while driving. If you’re experiencing some of these issues, the cause is often transmission slipping.
Why Do Transmissions Slip?
While transmission slipping might lead to disaster for your vehicle, it doesn’t necessarily have to end that way. Just because a transmission is slipping doesn’t mean the entire mechanism has failed. There are several explanations worth exploring that might lead to a less expensive fix, including:
Fluid levels: A very likely explanation for transmission slipping is a transmission fluid issue. Your transmission is a hydraulic system. It uses transmission fluid pressure to shift gears. If you’re low on transmission fluid, gears will shift poorly, and your vehicle might even overheat. The first thing you should do is check the transmission fluid. If it’s low, you’ll want to top it off, but you should also try to figure out why it’s low. If the fluid is at the right level but has a very dark reddish or brownish color, it may be burned. Drain and replace with fresh transmission fluid.
Transmission bands: Metal bands connect the transmission gears. Check if one of these bands is broken or worn. This can happen over time, especially if you’re operating at high power, particularly if it has ever overheated. If one of your bands is worn or broken, you’ll have problems engaging the mechanism connected to that particular band.
Is It Worth Fixing the Transmission?
First step: determine if repair costs exceed the car’s resale value. Recommended steps:
- Get professional diagnostics for clear damage assessment
- Evaluate your car’s current market value
- Make repair vs. sell decision
If your vehicle isn’t completely immobile and the engine runs well, repairs may be worthwhile. Visit a nearby service center to estimate repair costs. Transmission restoration may be less effective than full replacement, but it’s cheaper and will keep the car running.