How to Tell When Your Chevy Needs a Transmission Repair

Your transmission comes under greater continuous pressure than any other part of your car. As such, even a vehicle as reliable and durable as a Chevy can run into transmission trouble. It’s best to catch these potential problems early before they become something expensive or impossible to fix. So here are five solid signs you should visit your local Chevy dealer for transmission repair.

How to Tell When Your Chevy Needs a Transmission Repair

Grinding Sounds

The gears in your transmission should run smoothly, and change smoothly, too. High levels of clean transmission fluid are necessary for this. The fluid lubricates all the mechanical parts and also cools the system while preventing oxidization, rust, and corrosion. If the fluid breaks down too much from the heat or becomes contaminated with too many metal shavings and other debris, then your gears will begin to struggle and you’ll hear them grinding painfully against each other.

To avoid this issue in cars with a manual transmission, you should be changing your fluid every 30,000 or 60,000 miles. With automatic transmissions, this can be every 60,000 to 100,000 miles. When still fresh, this fluid should be clear or pink in hue. If you check your fluid and see that it’s brown, then it’s getting old and contaminated, and should be flushed and replaced at once.

Leaking Fluid

If you ever notice a pool of reddish, sweet-smelling liquid under your car when you pull away from parking, you might have a leaky transmission. Unless the leak is found and fixed promptly, your gearbox is going to run into problems.

Most leaks originate from the transmission pump, which is responsible for pushing the fluid around the system. But it could also be coming from the pan, the hose, or elsewhere, and you’ll most likely need a good technician to find and fix it.

Burning Smells

The relentless heat inside a transmission will slowly begin to burn your transmission fluid. If you allow it to get too burnt, then you’ll begin to smell it from inside your car. If you do, it’s time for new fluid.  

Gear Slippage

Another result of low fluid levels is a reduction of hydraulic pressure inside the system. You’ll experience this as slipping gears and sluggish acceleration even though your RPMs may be high. Other causes for slipping gears include problems with the solenoid, rounded-out gears, worn-down transmission bands, or problems with the torque converter. Again, it will take an experienced technician to identify and solve the problem.

Failing Clutch 

The clutch is another essential part of your transmission, and your clutch can run into problems of its own. When a clutch wears down and loses gripping power, it can no longer engage or disengage as it should. You might experience this as suddenly slipping into another gear, or a struggle to change gears at all. Clutch problems like these will most often become apparent while driving up steep inclines or other moments when your engine comes under more pressure.

How a Chevy Dealer Inspects Your Transmission

A good technician will first check your fluid, then use an onboard diagnostic scanner to examine your entire transmission. This device interfaces with your car’s onboard computers to pinpoint problems.

They’ll test drive your car while monitoring, and then manually carry out a long list of checks. This includes checking upshift timing and quality, downshift timing and quality, neutral and reverse performance, connections in the vacuum and harness, and much more.

To have a certified Chevy technician examine or repair your transmission, head down to Bacon Chevrolet. We’re a trusted local dealership run by friendly, experienced staff who’ve been helping out local East Texan drivers for over 50 years. 

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