What is the transmission?
Perhaps you already know, but let's cover it quickly so everyone's on the same page. The transmission is what takes the output of your engine and adapts it to the drive wheels. The transmission is similar to a bicycle's gears. Just like a bicycle's gears allow you to accelerate, climb a hill, or shift toward a higher speed more easily, a transmission helps convert power through different gears.
Let’s cover issues that can impact both automatic transmissions and manual transmissions first. Then there'll be another section that notes some further details for manuals:
BOTH AUTOMATICS AND MANUALS
1. Strange Noises in Neutral
Mechanical parts make noise, so any time your car is making a noise it shouldn't, you can feel confident that it's not an electrical issue. This probably doesn't make you feel any better, but it helps you narrow down a cause. Noises when your car is in neutral often point to transmission issues. A small bit of noise may point to a transmission fluid change.
More noise likely means a more serious mechanical issue that may require replacement. It could be a worn reverse idler gear, worn bearings, or worn gear teeth, among other potential issues.
2. Something's Burning
Something in your car smells like it's burning. It's stating the obvious to say that this is always a bad sign and you should proceed carefully. Your transmission can overheat. This can happen when it runs out of transmission fluid, which keeps the mechanical parts lubricated as well as cooling them down.
Now, when your transmission fluid is low, it may mean more than simply needing a change. You could have a leak somewhere as well, which is draining the fluid prematurely.
3. Worn Gears Slipping
What happens if you simply ignore the issue? Nothing good. First off, a minor issue with a simple solution can grow into a major issue with a much more expensive fix if it's not addressed immediately.
Secondly, you may be risking your safety. If a transmission’s gears are slipping, your car may shift gear very suddenly. This can cause you to lose control over your vehicle.
If you find your car slipping gears (on manuals the stick will be forced into neutral), get your vehicle checked out ASAP. Ignored too long, you can be endangering the lives of you and any passengers in your vehicle.
4. Fluid is Leaking
When fluid is leaking, it's a sensible idea to figure out quickly what it is. Transmission fluid is crucial to your transmission operating, as well as preventing wear to your transmission. Transmission fluid is pretty easy to identify: it's clear and bright red. It smells sweet (like any automotive leak: keep pets away from it!)
5. Check Engine Light
The dreaded check engine light is the most obvious sign that something might be wrong with your transmission. New cars usually have sensors that can more precisely articulate where the problem area is, but older cars simply rely on the old-fashioned, heartbreaking check engine light.
A diagnostic scan is needed to tell what the precise issue is. It gives you a code that tells you the precise fault that's in question. Be aware that not all transmission issues will result in the check engine light coming on.
6. Shimmying
When your car shifts gears, you may feel a slight shimmying sensation. A gear shift should be smooth in nature. Ideally, you shouldn't really notice it outside of the familiar high-to-low shift in sound that your engine makes. If there's a shimmy at all noticeable when the car shifts into a new gear, that's the transmission having issues. (Manuals won't shimmy so much as grind – more on that in the manual section after this.)
7. Any Strange Sounds
This is a little broader, but different transmissions will make different sounds when they have issues. It could be a mechanical thud. It could be a whine. You could notice a strange purring sound. It may be a buzz. Different issues represent different sounds in different makes of vehicle. There's no one-size fits all sound that defines every issue that may crop up. But don’t ignore these strange noises!
8. Dull Response or No Response
As mentioned, transmissions should shift smoothly. If they shift with delay, with dullness, with a sound, with a shimmy or a shake, or if they don't shift at all, that points toward a possible transmission issue. If the transmission pauses to think about things before shifting into Park or Drive, that's often the transmission. Those shifts should be immediate.
SPECIFIC TO MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS
1. Failure to Shift into Gear
This one covers manuals – if the transmission refuses to go change when you depress the clutch or move the stick, you have a transmission issue. This may be due to low transmission fluid or the fluid being the wrong viscosity. The cables or clutch linkage may also be at fault.
Furthermore, if you shift into a new gear and the engine revs up without the car really changing behavior and accelerating, that can speak to a worn clutch or a transmission issue.
2. The Dragging Clutch
When you depress the clutch, the clutch disk is supposed to disengage from the flywheel. A dragging clutch is a symptom of a bad transmission, and it fails to do this. It means you won't be able to shift gears – the clutch is still engaged and spinning. Any attempt to shift will result in a grinding sound.
This usually signals a minor issue: the clutch pedal simply has too much slack.
3. Grinding Noises
Your car will make a grinding sound when the transmission isn't synchronizing the way that it should. When you engage the clutch and shift, and this is followed by a grinding sound, that's definitely a transmission issue that needs to be checked out immediately.
In general, the sounds that you'll hear when a manual transmission is having issues will be more clearly mechanical in nature than the sounds you'd hear in an automatic transmission having issues. If you are hearing sounds consistent with transmission issues, or it is just time to have your transmission serviced, bring your car to RetroLube in Goldsboro, NC.