Winter – The Terrible Transmission Turmoil

Your transmission, the gearbox that helps you maintain speed, specifically the automatic breed, can be adversely affected by the winter cold and lead to transmission failure and replacement. Keep an eye on the RPM number with gear shifts and note any changed carefully, if your transmission doesn’t seem to shift as often as it used to, takes longer, goes at higher and higher RPMs to shift or just stays in one gear most of the time you might very well have a problem. The one thing you definitely want to do is make sure your transmission fluid is fresh, and can withstand the cold – old or under rated fluid becomes sluggish in the winter and will eventually lead to further problems as the transmission lacks its much needed lubrication to function properly and efficiently.

If you start to hear whines with gear shifts, notice sluggish shifting or otherwise have concerns, and your transmission has already had the fluid changed take it to a service expert as soon as possible, it could be that you may need a new transmission – and having a blown automatic transmission in the dead of winter on a snowbound road is something you do NOT want to experience, especially if you haven’t followed what I wrote earlier on what you should have in your car during the coldest days of winter when you just have to drive in the blizzards of the century. Manual transmission can also suffer in winter, so you need to be sure you have that lubricated and taken care of as well. The turmoil and price of getting a new transmission can be avoided if you stay on top of the situation by keeping an eye on the changes and the fluids it needs. Finally, if you drive a manual – try not to grind the gears in any situation, but you probably already knew that.