Have Shari Teach You About Cars

Do you have a car with a manual transmission? Have you felt like your transmission hasn't been working properly? There are few components in your car that are more important than your transmission. Without a functioning transmission, your car will be essentially useless. If you suspect that you're having transmission issues, you should get it checked out as soon as possible. Here are three signs of manual transmission problems that shouldn't wait:

Slipping gears. Your manual transmission should only change gears when you do it yourself. You may find, though, that your transmission is slipping back into a lower gear on its own, without any action on your part. At first this may just seem like an annoying problem. Over time, though, it could quickly become very serious.

The problem comes when the transmission doesn't just slip into a lower gear, but actually slips into neutral or even reverse. If you're traveling at a high speed in traffic, that could lead to a very dangerous accident. Your car could stall or it could keep running downhill with you having very little ability to control its speed. The problem could stem from a variety of causes, including low fluid, worn bearings, and more.

Sticky clutch. Your clutch should have enough spring that it automatically pops back up into position whenever you release your foot from the pedal. That allows you to press it again the next time you need to change gears. However, you may find that after you press your clutch, it stays depressed and doesn't spring back into position.

This is obviously a huge problem because it prevents you from shifting gears. Fortunately, the solution is usually pretty easy. The clutch belt likely has too much slack, so there's not enough tension for the pedal to spring back up. A transmission repair service can usually fix this pretty quickly.

Burning smell. A burning smell in a car can be a sign of a lot of issues. However, if you smell the odor when you switch gears, then it's likely due to a lack of transmission fluid or fluid with the wrong viscosity. Without effective fluid in place, your transmission's gears and bearings are running against each other, causing the burning smell.

Resolving the issue is pretty simple. You just get your transmission fluid changed. However, it's important to check that there hasn't been other damage done to the bearings and gears. It's also important that you do this before the problem gets worse.

For more information, visit a transmission service in your area. They can inspect your car and resolve the issue.