Don’t forget the Tranny

If you’re like most of the people,  you would worry a lot about your car’s engine oil. This makes sense as essentially  oil lubricates and cools the heart of the car. But most of us forget about the drivetrain that transmit power to the wheels.  The car transmission or “gearbox”  has its own periodic demands and one critical need is transmission oil/fluid. The gears inside this very intricate piece of engineering needs as much attention as the engine.  

A transmission is a complex piece of machinery, and many different factors can accelerate its  “wear and tear.”   The wearing out of the internal parts are mainly due to the heat produced by the gears.   As heat takes its toll on the individual parts, the oil that lubricates and cools down these parts degrade. The most effective thing  to limit the heat on a transmission is to keep it lubricated with the “proper” oil.  When I say “proper”,  this mean making sure the fluids in the gearbox are up to manufacturer’s specification and healthy.

 Commonly, most of us believe that any transmission fluid will do. But what most of us don’t know is that specific transmissions are built to perform optimally under particular conditions, using transmission fluid that works best for them. So while there are numerous transmission fluids available in the market, one should always go back to the manufacturer’s manual  for specifications.

You should also follow the manufacturer’s instructions on regular fluid change to maximize transmission longevity. Your car manufacturer’s maintenance schedule will tell you how often the transmission fluid.  Experts recommended the interval for changing the transmission fluid at every 40,000 kilometers.

Be sure to factor in how often and how hard you drive your car.  Severe use is defined as accelerating  hard and changing gears at high rpm(revolutions per minute). Driving in traffic can also build up heat in the transmission and therefore shorten the life of the oil.  

Most cars on the road today have automatic transmissions and hence automatic transmission fluid, or  ATF should be used. The Automatic transmission works by changing hydraulic pressures within the transmission to switch gears. This means that the oil in an Automatic Transmission works harder and heats up faster than the oil in a Manual Transmission.   Even on a relatively simple drive, from your house to the office, the transmission and the fluid inside will do quite a bit of work.  Numerous driving conditions — stop-and-go traffic, driving long distances or up and down mountains can heat automatic transmission fluid beyond acceptable limits.  At these higher temperatures, ATF begins to break down, and your transmission begins to shift gears roughly, slowly or both.

This is why most manufacturers recommend that you change your ATF and filter every 25,000 to 30,000 kilometers.  CVT or Continuous Variable Transmission are harder on transmission fluids and should be changed at a shorter interval of about 20,000 kilometers.

If you don’t change the transmission fluid on schedule, you’ll be lubricating your transmission with other contaminants produce by the unsuitable oil and metal shavings that come from too much gear banging. This will considerably shorten the life of your gearbox. The result could be a bill half the value of your car. In other words, changing your transmission fluid at the correct interval is a good investment.