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FAQ / Symptoms

1. Delayed engagement in drive or reverse when the vehicle is cold. Also called "Morning Sickness". Vehicle won't move or shifts late during the first few minutes of operation.

2. Doesn't go in drive or reverse. You place the shift lever in drive or reverse and nothing happens. 

3. Doesn't go in any shift lever position. Even racing the engine won't move the vehicle.

4. Slippage. Engine races but vehicle moves slowly or won't accelerate as it should.

5. Fresh fluid stains under the vehicle.

6. Shifting at improper speed levels. Any noticeable early or late shifting.

7. Passing gear won't engage. You get no surge of power when you press the pedal to the floor.

8. Rough shifting, clunking into gear. Noise or harsh feeling when transmission is placed in gear or while shifting from one gear to another.

9. Erratic shifting. Shifts are sometimes unexpected. Speed at which shifts occur keeps changing.

10. Vehicle moves forward or backward in neutral (N).

11. Vehicle tries to move in park (P).

12. Vehicle labors or stalls on take off.

13. Engine braking (a function that uses the transmission to slow the car on long down hill
slopes or in snow or icy conditions) does not work in one or more shifter positions.

14. A "Check Engine" or "Service Engine Soon" light is shining on your dashboard.

15. The shift handle is hard to move in or out of any position.

16. The shift indicator must be slightly off P or N to start car.

17. The shift indicator doesn't point to the proper range.

18. Strange noises of any kind. 

19. A burnt or rancid odor coming from under the hood or underneath the vehicle.

20. Excessive amounts of debris found in the transmission pan during an inspection.

Are you having transmission problems?

In some cases with internal transmission failure, hard part damage occurs.

Hard parts include pump assembly, planetary assembly, valve body assembly, drums, shells, shafts, supports, sprag assembly, steel plates, sun gears, torque converter and case. In most cases, when your vehicle has a rebuilt transmission the transmission cooler lines are power flushed to remove contaminated material from the previous transmission in the lines, including hard part material that becomes trapped in the cooler lines. In many cases cooler flow is blocked or restricted, causing the transmission to overheat, which damages internal hard parts.

Did you know that transmission fluid flows through a section of the radiator?

Because the transmission cooler lines flow through a separate section of the radiator many times the motor shows no signs of overheating. However, the transmission section may be blocked or restricted, which can overheat and damage the transmission. To correct this problem you must replace the entire radiator or add an external transmission cooler.

Why do transmission repairs cost so much?

Transmission repairs can be expensive. Today's automatic transmissions consist of thousands of individual components. During a major repair, each one is removed, cleaned, and inspected to exacting standards. Any worn or damaged parts are repaired or replaced. After that, each part is put together into one of many sub-assemblies. Each sub-assembly must be adjusted and tested for proper operation. When this is done, the sub-assemblies are assembled into the transmission case, where the adjustment and testing procedure begin all over again. Finally, when the transmission is completely assembled, it has to be reinstalled.

If this isn't enough to justify the cost, there's something else to consider: Virtually all of today's automatic transmissions are computer controlled. This means the transmission's ability to operate depends on much more than the condition of the transmission itself. Today, engine problems can have a dramatic effect on how the transmission operates.

Why can't you give me a price over the phone?

A little more than twenty years ago, there were only about a dozen different transmissions on the road. Every transmission repair shop had a good stock of rebuilt units on hand. No updates were necessary; so even if something unusual failed, most shops had a good supply of used parts on hand to replace it.

Today, however, there are more than ten times that many transmissions in use with new ones showing up all the time. Many of those transmissions have several different variations or calibrations and can have more than a dozen modifications. In addition, today's transmissions are computer controlled. This means that even though your transmission may not be working properly, there's a chance that the root cause of the problem doesn't have anything to do with the transmission itself. In order to provide you with an accurate assessment of your transmission's condition and give you an honest estimate for repairs, one of our certified technicians must perform a series of rigorous tests. They will need to identify what type of transmission is in your car, and which version of that transmission it is. After that they have to identify the specific problem and isolate whether it's in the transmission or in the computer system. In the end, they will need to determine the most likely causes for the problem based on a logical diagnostic process.

Once that information is obtained, we will be able to give you a more accurate explanation of your car's condition and put together an accurate estimate of the costs to repair it.

Symptoms