With the advancements in automotive technology, we have all been guilty of taking our automobile for granted. Engine tune-ups that had to be performed every 6,000 miles can now be stretched to 50,000 miles and even more, synthetic fluids are more durable and can go longer between changes, new car manufacturers are advertising 100,000-mile service intervals. All of these milestones have been developed to make our lives easier and more carefree. That is what we expect from our carmakers. But there is one thing that hasn’t changed. Car owners are responsible for the proper up keep of their vehicle.

The most important thing you can do to extend the life of your transmission is to keep it cool and clean, and have it serviced regularly.   Many people add coolers to their transmissions to help extend their life.

If you find yourself adding transmission fluid to your car, you should take it to a transmission shop and have it checked out, as transmission fluid does not evaporate.

Your transmission should be serviced every 20-25,000 miles, or when the fluid starts to change from a bright red color to a darker, or duller color. The reason for this is there is a red dye in the fluid, which is heat related, and when the transmission is beginning to overheat due to slippage, or hot road conditions the dye will change color.

At the first sign of a problem with your transmission it is a good idea to take it to a quality transmission shop, and have it checked out. This may save you a much more expensive repair a few months later.

Those of you with standard transmissions that develop a noise, should have it looked at as soon as possible. Waiting to have the transmission repaired, will surely result in more damage and a higher repair bill. The same holds true for automatic transmissions.

When using your vehicle to tow a heavy load, it is important to start off from a dead stop in manual one, in order to get the dead weight moving.... then at 15-20 miles an hour you can resume shifting back to normal.

As cooler weather approaches and you begin to think about checking the anti-freeze in your car, it would be a good time to remember to check the transmission fluid in your car also.   Make sure it is a nice clean red or pink color.  Remember preventive maintenance is an important part of your car care.

The number one cause of severe damage to manual transmissions is the lack of lubrication because of a leak that was not caught early on and corrected. Have your transmission checked for leaks and the fluid level checked regularly.

Some automatic transmissions can actually benefit from overfilling. Call to find out if your transmission model might be one of these. For instance, the General Motors Turbo Hydramatic 200-4R transmission found in the high horsepower applications such as the Buick T-Type, Grand National, GNX and the Pontiac Turbo Trans-Am, is one of these. Under high G force acceleration the filter in this transmission will uncover and allow air to be picked up instead of fluid. This results in a drop of the transmissions main working pressure or commonly called line pressure. When this drop in line pressure occurs, the band and clutch packs do not have the necessary pressure to keep from slipping and the result is a burned band and/or clutch packs. The slipping will often be very slight, almost not felt by the driver, but enough to cause irreparable damage to the friction elements. The correction is to overfill this model transmission by no more than one quart when fully warmed. On highly modified vehicles that are into the 11 seconds in the quarter mile, an aftermarket deep pan or modified stock pan that will accommodate a late style Turbo Hydramatic 700-R4 (4L60) filter is a must. Our shop has done tests to confirm these recommendations. Before filter modifications, pressure would drop as much as 60-70 psi. Sometimes for up to 5 seconds. This would result in certain death for the band and clutches. A change in the filter and a deep pan brought about a steady pressure reading.

The problem with trying to increase the stall on a large diameter torque converter is you lose torque transferring efficiency. The fins in a torque converter that channel the flow of fluid must have certain clearances and angles of attack between them to maintain good torque multiplying efficiency. The industry norm to increase stall on a large diameter torque converter is to simply increase clearances between certain elements and/or bend the fins to change angle of attack. A comparison would be grinding the fins back on the compressor wheel of the turbocharger to open up the clearance between the wheels fin tips and its housing. Basically, you kill the efficiency of the turbo or torque converter, hence you get more slippage (high stall). To keep your efficiency and have the high stall desired, you need to go to a smaller diameter. The smaller the diameter, the higher the stall while maintaining efficiency. The more efficient a torque converter is, the better reaction time.