5 of the Most Common Transmission Problems

April 25, 2018 | By Mister Transmission

Most Common Transmission Problems

Are you worried that there is something wrong with your transmission? Are you worried that something might happen to your transmission? It’s not always easy to tell when your transmission is acting up. With some parts of your vehicle, a problem can be plain to see, but with the transmission? This is not always so. But don’t worry, we’re here to help. Here are five of the most common transmission problems.

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We begin our list of the top five most common transmission problems with one of the easiest ones to notice. When you shift gears in your vehicle, you expect your vehicle to, you know, shift gears. But sadly, this does not always happen. From the moment you put the key in the ignition and shift from park into drive, your vehicle should immediately go into the correct gear. For automatic transmissions, there is sometimes a delay before you feel the gear engage when trying to shift gears. This is usually a transmission problem.

What’s that smell?

Unless you’re sitting by a crackling campfire or fireplace, the smell of burning is rarely a good thing. And so too is this true for transmissions. If you smell burning coming from your transmission, you have a problem. This is often caused by low quality or quantity of transmission fluid. When transmission fluid breaks down, this causes increased friction the transmission will overheat.

Noise in neutral

Vehicles make noise. That’s what they do. When your vehicle is in neutral, however, it shouldn’t be making too much noise. If your transmission makes a great deal of noise while in neutral, you could have an issue. Luckily, this common problem can often be resolved by topping up or changing your transmission fluid.

Dragging Clutch

A manual transmission is more likely to experience a dragging clutch. If the clutch disk doesn’t disengage the flywheel when the clutch pedal is pressed, your clutch is dragging. The clutch still spins with the engine, though, and this makes it much more difficult (and sometimes impossible) to change gears. A dragging clutch will also often make a grinding noise when you try to change gears.

Obviously, you don’t want to experience any of these five most common transmission problems. But, luckily, a dragging clutch is often one of the more inexpensive transmission problems to get repaired. Frequently, the cause of a dragging clutch is an overabundance of slack in the clutch pedal. When there is too much slack, the linkage between the clutch disk and pedal it can’t pull  the clutch disk away from the flywheel.

Low fluid

As mentioned before, transmission fluid is vital to the health of your transmission. That is why whenever you see a patch of transmission fluid on the pavement where your car just was, you need to get that leak repaired right away. You should routinely check your transmission fluid levels to make sure you have enough fluid there. Furthermore, you must make sure that your fluid is still of good quality. Discoloured or malodorous transmission fluid is damaged transmission fluid. 

Mister Transmission

If you have been experiencing one (or more) of these dreaded five most common transmission problems, or any other transmission problems for that matter, please do not hesitate to contact us today.

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I had a "check engine" light on my Kia Sportage 2019 Model. I went to Mister Transmission in Maple Ridge on the recommendation of a collegue, From the time I entered the business till I left, they really made me feel cared for.. The manager Kyle is an amazing guy with so much knowledge. He explained me everything step by step. I had the best experience dealing with Mister Transmission. Highly recommend.
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Very thorough and helpful. I thought I had a transmission issue, but they did an exhaustive test drive and diagnostics and reported that there was no issue. There was no charge for this. They suggested I see a mechanic and even recommended one to me. I couldn't be more impressed with the service I received here and would recommend them to anyone.
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Had my check engine light on for a few weeks and finally decided to get it checked out. Since I only have one car, I really couldn’t afford to leave it at a shop for days. After calling around to a few places, no one was willing to even run diagnostics the same day. I called Mister Transmission in Maple Ridge and spoke with the owner, Sunny. After I explained my situation, he was very understanding and offered to at least run a quick diagnostic while I waited, so I could decide whether to leave the car or come back another day. When I arrived, Kyle greeted me and immediately got the car in for testing. He was polite and professional, walked me through the diagnostic results, and showed me the two main error codes — one related to the Mass Air Flow Sensor and another to the Battery Temperature Sensor. They didn’t have the battery temperature sensor in stock for my Nissan Sentra, but Kyle took the time to call around to different parts stores to find pricing and availability. Since the part couldn’t be sourced that same day, he even suggested a simple DIY cleaning of Temperature and Mass Air Flow Sensor so I could try it myself instead of paying for something unnecessary. There was absolutely no pressure to leave the car or agree to any extra repairs. Kyle even topped up the air in all my tires before I left and didn’t charge me for the diagnostics. Overall, both Sunny and Kyle came across as knowledgeable, honest, and respectful of my time. I’ll definitely be returning here when the part comes in or for any future work on my car.
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Thankyou guys for the great service November 5! Dropped the car off,walked down to a restaurant for a nice lunch, walked back and had a nice conversation with one of the guys(sorry bad with names but we solved many problems! Lol). He also let me know the transmission was pretty clean considering what I put on it for KM, it was quite a bit under the quote which is always nice!!! I will go back for the next one.
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