Shifting Gears

Some people may say that the engine is the heart of your car, but what if I told you the transmission is the true heart of your car? 

Yes, the engine provides energy, but it is the transmission that transfers that power to the ground in an efficient and planned manner. A smooth shifting transmission increases performance, mileage and ride comfort in your vehicle. Many of today's new models are increasing performance and mileage by increasing the gear selection in vehicles, making the transmission even more complex. We are now seeing a mileage improvement of over 5 miles per gallon with adding higher gearing options that not only aid with mileage but also improve towing and driveability.

An automatic transmission is a complex component with solenoids, fluid, torque converter fluid and clutch packs. Fluid pressure is increased or decreased to adjust shifting points, lubrication and even lock up of your torque converter.

As your transmission shifts and goes through this process, it heats up and over time the fluid will break down as well as gather particles as certain components wear down. This in turn changes the properties of the fluid, sometimes going from a smooth fluid to thicker and less smooth fluid, creating a more grooved pattern where smooth fluid used to be. Grooved patterns can cause a slipping with your transmission or a hard shifting between gears. Hard shifting can sometimes be fixed with a transmission service, but when it comes to slippage a service may actually make the problem worse. Slippage in your transmission happens when those grooves that where created with the dirty fluid have now become so big that fresh, smooth fluid, actually won’t catch and move the internal pieces correctly.

Transmission fluid specs and servicing differs with each vehicle, in any case it is better to be ahead of schedule than to wait for symptoms that may not be remedied or fixed at all with a transmission service.

Keep your car’s heart in good working condition, come in to Main Street Mechanic

Whether your car is CVT, auto-manual, or automatic transmission- Main Street Mechanic can provide the service using BG superior wear fluid. Our tech’s are qualified to service your vehicle with a full transmission fluid exchange with transmission filter change (filter changes are not applicable to all vehicles and do have an additional charge), drain and fill or simply check your fluid to see the life on the fluid. Call us, come in or schedule an appointment and keep your vehicle in tip-top shape.