Common Transmission Issues During Summer and Their Solutions

If you’re bothered by the summer heat, you’re not alone:  your vehicle doesn’t like it, either.

In particular, your automatic transmission is weather-sensitive and is vulnerable to the ravages of extreme hot weather.

What Heat Does To Transmissions?

The lifeblood of your transmission is its fluid.  And when that fluid heats up too much, a couple of things can happen:

One, it can evaporate, leaving an inadequate supply of fluid to circulate.  Two, the heat can affect the fluid’s viscosity, making it too thick to move around well enough to keep the system lubricated.  In either case, the dryness causes friction and overheating, leading to all sorts of problems such as broken seals and gaskets.  Besides all that, when the temperature is extremely high—250 to 275 degrees—your transmission may suffer catastrophic failure.

Signs of Overheating Trouble

A severely overheated transmission won’t be inconspicuous for very long.  Slipping gears, jerky acceleration, and grinding noises all point to a problem, and a burning smell is cause for immediate concern.  Don’t wait for your “check engine” light to come on:  At the first opportunity, pull off the road and take care of it—replacing ruined transmissions is an expensive proposition.

Prevention is the Best Solution

You can’t control the weather, but you can be ready for it. 

The best way to keep heat from doing a number on your transmission is to check the fluid regularly, especially during the summer months.  This will help ensure that you have enough clean fluid flowing to keep everything moving properly.  And if you find out that it’s too low, dirty, or thick, you may want to flush it, then replace the gaskets or seals that may have worn down.  Keeping your auto’s other fluids topped off can be beneficial, as well, to help offset heat build-up in your engine.  Finally, if you live in a consistently hot climate, investing in an external transmission cooler might be an idea worth considering.

Treat Your Transmission Kindly

Regular maintenance goes hand-in-hand with high quality parts and accessories to maintain a healthy vehicle.  Sun Transmissions is an ideal partner in your auto care program.   Whatever you need for your automatic transmission or power steering system, we’re here for you.  We carry only the best in everything, including overhaul and re-build kits, clutches, filters, solenoids, gaskets, and a whole lot more.  Drop by and see us in Miami or place an order online—we’ll gladly ship your merchandise to you!