In the event of failure, the automatic transmission in your car can be expensive to repair or replace. Like many things, a little bit of time and money spent on preventative maintenance can save a considerable amount of money in the long run.
The way you operate a car equipped with an automatic transmission can help avoid premature failure just as routine maintenance can. Never put the gear selector into drive or reverse if the vehicle is moving, doing so puts the transmission under unnecessary strain and accelerates wear. The same holds true when you are sitting stationary; don’t leave the transmission engaged, put it in neutral. When you consider how much time you spend stopped at traffic lights, you will avoid early failure.
Check the fluid and automatic transmission filters:
Just because the transmission is a closed system does not mean that there cannot be a fluid leak or contaminates in the fluid.
An automatic transmission is an extremely complex piece of equipment; it is manufactured to very close tolerances. Ensuring that the fluid level is correct is one of the keys to ensure it works as it should.
As the vehicle is operating the transmission wears, not much mind you but enough to produce microscopic particles of metal which of course, contaminate the fluid. Automatic transmission filters are very good at capturing debris as small as 60 microns but even at that, over time the filter will reach the point where it becomes clogged.
Change fluid and filter:
There is no fixed time period for changing automatic transmission fluid and filter; different manufacturers have different takes on this. A great deal has to do with the way you use your vehicle, a car that is just used around the city with longer trips at expressway speed are not near as hard on an automatic transmission as a car that is used to pull a heavy trailer. In one case, automatic transmission filters may be good for two years while in other cases the filter should be changed every year.
