Want A Car Repair Career? Here Are The Most Common Transmission Problems You’ll See

A vehicle’s transmission system is its lifeblood—powering the various gears that engage speed, torque, direction, and more. This means that even the smallest transmission problems can greatly impact a vehicle’s handling and safety. It’s up to professionals to keep this central tank in prime working order.

If you’re interested in a career in car repair, it’s a good idea to brush up on your knowledge of transmissions. Once you earn your certification, clients will come to you with transmission issues on a regular basis, and you will be responsible for diagnosing and solving these problems.

Read on for a run-down of the three most common transmission problems you’ll encounter in a car repair career.

1. Fluid Leaks Can Be Fixed by Professionals in Car Repair Careers

Transmission fluid is essential for keeping a transmission’s parts cool and lubricated so they don’t grind, scrape, and damage each other. Approximately nine out of every ten automatic transmission failures occur as a result of problems with transmission fluid, according to Auto Service Online.

Car repair experts know that low levels of fluid could create a range of transmission issues, such as overheating or transmission slipping. Unlike motor oil, transmission fluid is not consumed by a car, so if its levels have lowered, there must be a leak somewhere in the transmission system.

Transmission fluid doesn’t need to be changed as frequently as other fluids like oil, so this crucial task often slips a car owner’s mind. Car repair career training teaches the skills you need to provide the professional automotive insight the average driver doesn’t have. Professionals know that checking a car’s transmission is an essential part of overall vehicle maintenance.

Finding and fixing transmission leaks by opening up a car’s transmission case—not just checking with a dipstick under the hood—is a central aspect of the transmission check-ups and repairs that professionals execute every day.

2. Experts in Automotive Careers Replace Burnt Transmission Fluid

When drivers have filled their own transmissions with the wrong brand or type of fluid (or if the fluid is old, dirty or otherwise unsuitable) it can get a dark, sludgy texture and circulate debris throughout the transmission system. This can cause dangerous friction and corrosive activity. When this occurs, experts in automotive careers can notice a tell-tale burning smell.

If this is not taken care of, the transmission will eventually damage itself enough to break down completely—needing an expensive replacement that could have been avoided if treated in time by a trained professional.

3. Automotive Training Warns Against Worn-Out Hardware

When clients come in with cars that are noisy (even when in neutral gear), skilled technicians suspect their transmissions need close inspection. Oftentimes, worn out bearings, gear teeth, or reverse idler gears are to blame for noises coming from underneath the car as well as bumpy or draggy handling. These come from general wear and tear and require simple replacements.

For manual transmissions, clutch discs may fail the critical task of disengaging the flywheel when the clutch pedal is pressed. This makes it difficult for a client to smoothly change gears.

For automatic transmissions, the transmission hardware flaws may make it slip in and out of gear—or even pop into neutral—without instruction from the car’s computer system. Losing control over a vehicle’s speed spells major danger for a car’s driver and all other drivers on the road alongside them.

Analyzing each transmission’s hardware integrity and offering reliable replacements help professionals prolong the lifespan of each vehicle they encounter.

With the right training and a familiarity of common transmission issues, you can earn the kind of automotive industry certification that will take you (and the cars you service) far.

Are you interested in pursuing training in automotive industry careers? Visit ATC for more information or to speak with an advisor.