How did your car, truck or SUV transmission make out with the Wonder Lake winter that, hopefully, is past in fact, not just in name? Why would we ask such a question? After all, in terms of your transmission, what’s the difference between summer and winter?

Not surprisingly, the biggest difference is the cold we experience here in Wonder Lake during the winter. It gets cold – darn cold – during the winter months. And those chilly temperatures do have an effect on your transmission. In fact, the cold specifically changes things in two ways that make life difficult within your transmission during those cold winter months.

1. Transmission fluid thickens: They call it a change in viscosity. When the transmission fluid is thicker, it does not flow as readily through the passageways designed to carry it to needed areas of the transmission. In other words, the transmission may not receive the intended degree of lubrication.
2. Parts contract: When parts are cold, they contract. This creates additional space between parts. Those parts, which include a lot of gears, are designed to mesh with certain tolerances. When the tolerances change, the parts don’t mesh correctly, and increased wear and tear is likely. Contraction of parts can also result in leaks.

Some of the problem winter poses for your transmission is external – it relates to factors that are outside of the transmission, though they cause a problem for parts inside the transmission. For instance:

1. Slippery conditions: If you’ve ever found your drive wheel on an icy surface and then felt the jarring reaction when the tire hits dry pavement, you have an idea of how the changing conditions of surfaces can effect your transmission. That sudden change in traction can be like hitting your transmission parts with a hammer.
2. Stuck conditions: Hopefully you haven’t been stuck in snow and/or mud in a long time. But you probably remember what it was like when you were. The tires just spun and spun but you didn’t go anywhere. It’s likely that you tried rocking the car, truck or SUV to break free. You might even have taken to shifting from Drive to Reverse rapidly to increase the level that you were rocking the vehicle. These kinds of actions are hard on a transmission.

The Wonder Lake winter of 2021-22 is passing into the record books, good, bad or just normal. But, whether it’s ready to go or plans to stick around for a little while yet, it has posed challenges for your car, truck or SUV and the transmission that you depend on to keep you moving.

This is a good time of year to have your transmission checked out, along with other parts of the vehicle, to make sure that they all survived winter in good condition.