The Courtesy Auto Repair Plus Guide to Caring for Your Transmission
August 18, 2017
Most vehicles have automatic transmissions, yet a lot of Tiffin drivers only have a fuzzy understanding about what a transmission does. Think back to the last time you rode a bike in Tiffin. You started out in a lower gear and shifted to higher gears as you went faster. Down shift for hills, stuff like that. Think of your legs as the engine – there's an ideal speed you can pedal and you change gears to leverage the work you're doing.
Lower gears for power on hills or for starting out. Higher gears for more speed. That's what the automatic transmission does – it automatically starts in lower gears and shifts up to higher gears to go faster on Ohio roads. And it automatically shifts back down to climb Tiffin hills, pass or start up again.
Vehicle automatic transmissions have certainly gotten more sophisticated in recent years. They have more speeds than before: the base is four speeds, five is very common.
At Courtesy Auto Repair Plus, we routinely service transmissions with six speeds and several have seven or even eight speeds. As you can imagine, this means more parts. Any they all have to fit into roughly the same space.
Transmissions are computer controlled these days, with some high end transmissions having two or three computers. Transmissions are engineered to last. But they are also engineered to tighter tolerances. If a portion of the transmission is starved for lubrication, it can lead to failure.
Not enough fluid can starve the transmission, or dirty transmission fluid can clog small passages in the transmission. Then the lubricant is blocked and can't get to all the parts to protect them, so they wear out prematurely. The technicians at Courtesy Auto Repair Plus see far too many transmissions that needlessly failed due to neglect.
And, as you can imagine, repairing one of these new transmissions at any Tiffin service center can be quite costly. That's why owner’s manuals have a schedule for how often you should change the fluid and what type of fluid to use.
It's really important for Tiffin area drivers to carefully follow the manufacturer's transmission service schedule.
At Courtesy Auto Repair Plus in Tiffin, we hope you never become shiftless in Tiffin because you didn't take care of your transmission.
Courtesy Auto Repair Plus
967 Bon Air Ave
Tiffin, Ohio 44883
419-443-0797
http://www.courtesyautorepairplus.com
More articles from Courtesy Auto Repair Plus
A Clean Start (Battery Cleaning)
November 30, 2025
You may be fanatical about keeping the outside of your vehicle clean. But what about what's under the hood? Have you ever thought about how dirt and grime may be affecting your engine's components? One of the most important parts under your hood to keep clean is your vehicle's battery. With a d... More
Getting Off to a Running Start (Starter Replacement)
November 23, 2025
When you start your vehicles engine, theres another motor that makes that whole process possible. Its called the starter, and its a small electric motor that gets your vehicle running. As you can imagine, its quite a chore for a little electric motor to turn over the big engine that powers you... More
Knowledge is Power (Battery Testing)
November 16, 2025
Its likely happened to you once or twice. You head to your vehicle, open the door, turn the key and lo and behold, your battery is dead. Now youre stranded, may have to get a jump or a tow, and youll definitely be late for wherever you were headed. While your vehicle may sometimes give you warni... More