Taking care of your car and inspecting it periodically is a needed task for every vehicle owner. Some of the easier car inspections include a tire pressure check, ensuring your car has the right amount of fluids, and routine general maintenance. But one of the tougher aspects of inspecting your vehicle is a transmission inspection.
As cars continue to get more modern, digitized, and complex, some car elements become more difficult to inspect and fix on your own. This includes the transmission, but there are still ways for you to inspect it. The team at Loper’s Performance Center will explain everything you need to know about a transmission inspection in this article, and where it’s necessary for a professional, such as Loper’s Performance, to take over to inspect and fix your transmission.
What Is a Car Transmission, and Why Is It Important?
First, let’s briefly explain what a car transmission is and why it’s important.
The transmission is a synchronized and intricate array of components that allows a car to shift gears and park. It’s often best to visualize a gear shifter and chain system for a bicycle. On a much larger and motorized scale, that is the transmission for a car. A vehicle’s transmission delivers power to the engine without affecting speed, ensuring the engine does not spin too fast or too slowly.
What Is the Process for a Transmission Inspection?
Because there are a few elements to transmission, there are also a handful of steps to a proper process of inspecting your vehicle’s transmission. The steps of properly inspecting your transmission are fluid check, road test, lift inspection, and multi-check inspection.
Transmission Inspection Step #1: Fluid Check
The first, and easiest, part of a transmission inspection is checking your transmission fluid. A vehicle has many necessary fluids to it, and transmission fluid is right at the top of the list. This fluid lubricates the transmission’s moving parts, including the gear sets, gears, chains, and belts. Without proper lubrication, these will wear and break down.
How to know if your car has enough transmission fluid. You can check the fluid level with a dipstick. Always be careful when looking under the hood and inspecting fluids, because parts or liquid may be hot. Your dipstick should have markings for either “full” or “warm.” If the fluid level does not come up to that marking, you need to add transmission fluid.
Transmission Inspection Step #2: Road Test
If your vehicle passes the transmission fluid check, next is the road test, which is done with both a stationary test and a driving test. Be on the lookout for any trouble shifting into gears, listening for any grinding noises, or a sluggish or decreased performance. These problems often point to something wrong with your transmission.
Transmission Inspection Step #3: Lift Inspection
If your vehicle gets to this stage, it can likely mean that there is significant trouble with your vehicle’s transmission. At this point, it’s the smartest move to have a professional mechanic take a look at your car rather than just yourself.
The lift inspection includes lifting the vehicle and checking several components to the transmission. Some of these parts include the neutral switch, engine RPM, throttle linkage, u-joints, electronic controls, and more. Getting a more in-depth look and tinkering with parts gives a much better perspective for potential transmission issues.
Transmission Inspection Step #4: Multi-Check Inspection
The multi-check, or sometimes referred to as the “pan check,” is examining the pan in the transmission for excess particles or friction material. These materials point to significant wear and tear of the transmission, which is causing it not to perform as well. Unfortunately, a minor repair is often not enough to correct the transmission problem.
It’s Best to Leave a Transmission Inspection to the Experts
With any complicated component to your vehicle, it’s often best to leave it to trusted and experienced car professionals. You can ensure that Loper’s Performance can handle your transmission inspection with efficiency and excellence, along with several other vehicle services we perform.
Get a Free Quote from Loper’s Performance
Loper’s Performance has been a service parts and quality shop trusted in the Phoenix area since 1967. Contact us today for a free quote to improve your vehicle or modify it to your liking.