You don't need to service the transmission as often as you should change the engine oil. But, if you want to pull out of your Wonder Lake drive with confidence, you'll want to service the transmission when it's due.

You start the engine and give it the gas. The engine revs but, otherwise, nothing happens. You sit in your Wonder Lake driveway and go nowhere. Clearly, you need to do something else if you want to begin your trip. And we all know what that is.

You need to put the transmission in gear

When you think about your car sitting out there in your Wonder Lake garage or driveway, you probably think about the maintenance required to keep it operating properly – the engine, the suspension and steering, the tires and brakes and other components. But how many times do you think about the transmission.

Fortunately, transmissions are fairly reliable components. You can drive for 100,000 miles, with some transmissions, before you have to service the transmission. The only thing you really need to look at is the transmission fluid level. (Check your owner’s manual for the recommended mileage when you should have the transmission serviced since some transmissions, for instance, may require service at 30,000 miles).

In some cases, checking the transmission fluid level may require getting under the car. This is one reason you want to have a qualified technician servicing your transmission.

Changing the transmission fluid is essential part of servicing the transmission

Transmission fluid lubricates and keeps the gears and other components in the transmission from getting to hot while reducing the wear associated with friction. The transmission fluid also carries away dirt, particles and fragments that might otherwise cause damage between moving parts of the transmission.

In other words, the transmission is essential to the operation of the transmission. Take the transmission fluid out of the transmission and you won’t go far before the transmission stops working entirely.

Changing the transmission fluid is a simple matter of draining the existing transmission fluid, replacing the drain plug and filling the transmission with new fluid. A more extreme transmission service involves power-flushing the transmission. 

Power-flushing does a more thorough job of cleaning dirty transmission fluid out of the transmission. But you probably don’t want to power-flush a transmission with 100,000 or more miles on it. Power-flushing is likely to break sludge and particles loose that could clog passageways in the transmission. This could cause catastrophic failure of the transmission.

The other common problem to watch out for with transmissions is the leakage of transmission fluid. If you have a leaky transmission, you’ll find puddles of red oil under where the car was parked.

About the only other thing to consider is how you’re treating your transmission. If you get stuck in mud or snow and keep shifting back and forth rapidly while holding the gas pedal down, you’re putting a lot of strain on your transmission. But, if you take care of your transmission, when you put the car in gear, you won’t have any trouble pulling out of your Wonder Lake driveway, at least not from your transmission.