Keep your car on the road with Automatic Transmission Preventive Maintenance
Just as you have other parts of your car serviced, your transmission needs maintenance to ensure a long life and avoid transmission problems. Our transmission service consists of a complete diagnosis of your transmission’s performance and general operation. Several of these procedures will be performed twice; once by the centre manager, and then again by a technician. This method allows double checking of your transmission’s key systems, while providing you with added assurance.
Automatic Transmission Preventive Maintenance: Multi-Check Inspection
The Transmission Multi-Check Inspection includes:
- Fluid Check and Change
- Road Test
- Lift Inspection/Diagnosis
- Pan Examination
- Oil Check and Change
Automatic Transmission Preventive Maintenance: Transmission Fluid Check
The fluid check indicates the first sign of possible wear and damage. A transmission in good condition will have a clear red fluid. If your fluid is discolored or has unpleasant odor, this may be an indication of internal wear and damage which is occurring as you drive your vehicle. An unpleasant odor and discoloration, in combination with other symptoms, may require an internal inspection of your transmission.
We offer a transmission fluid change service to help ensure your transmission continues to operate at its best for years to come.
Automatic Transmission Preventive Maintenance: Road Test
The road test consists of two segments: a stationary test and driving test, which together comprise the most detailed portion of the Multi-Check. Every position of your transmission will be thoroughly tested for slipping, noises, harsh, soft or erratic shifting, as well as late or early shift patterns.
Automatic Transmission Preventive Maintenance: Lift Inspection
During the lift inspection/diagnosis our technician will check the following:
- Neutral Switch
- Engine RPM
- Throttle Linkage
- Modulators
- Transmission Mounts
- U-Joints
- Fluid Retention
- Electronic Controls
This will determine if a minor adjustment will correct the problem of your transmission.
Automatic Transmission Preventive Maintenance: Pan Examination
The pan examination is the most important part of the Transmission Multi-Check. It provides the center manager, technician, and yourself with a partial look inside your transmission.
In all pans, there are some metal particles and friction material present. However, an excessive amount indicates internal wear and damage. If that is the case, and it is determined that a minor adjustment will not correct the problem, we will recommend Transmission’s inspection service. This service will determine exactly what is wrong inside your transmission.
Automatic Transmission Preventive Maintenance: Gearbox Oil: What you need to know
When it comes to car oil maintenance, it’s usually engine oil that gets all of the attention. While engine oil is obviously of great importance, gearbox oil is generally forgotten about, and not enough motorists give sufficient consideration to this vital fluid. As it is rarely visible and is not liable to cause problems over the course of the average car’s life, it’s easy to think that gearbox oil just gets on with its job without the need for regular inspection or maintenance. However, as with most components in your car, if it goes wrong, it can be highly dangerous.
What is gearbox oil?
Without stating the obvious, gearbox oil is a lubricant found in the transmission system to reduce wear and tear on the internal mechanism. It has a strong sulfur-like smell, and is usually a hypoid oil that contains extreme pressure additives for higher performance ability.
It has a higher viscosity than engine oil, better protecting the gears and ensuring a smooth transition between them. The viscosity is also essential as there is no pump to push oil around the gearbox, and only the lowest gears are submerged in lubricant.
How do you know if it needs changing?
There is a lot of debate over how often gearbox oil should be changed. Some experts suggest every 60,000 KMs, some say hundreds of thousands, while many car manufacturers claim that the vast majority of new designs will never require a gearbox oil change (although this may just be marketing rhetoric).
If healthy, gearbox oil should be slightly red in color, and should not emit a strange burning smell. A grinding noise from the clutch or slipping gears are common indicators of faulty gearbox oil, and checks should be carried out immediately. Defective fluid can be highly damaging to your car’s transmission and gear operation, resulting in a slow gear shifting response or a corrosion of internal mechanics.
To test if your oil needs changing, your vehicle will first need to be raised using either a lift or appropriate jacks. Ensuring that the car is level, carefully unscrew the fill cap on the transmission system to access the gearbox oil, checking the level with a ruler or screw driver and examining for any irregularities.
(If your car uses an automatic transmission, you should be able to check the oil level and quality using a dipstick, similar to how engine oil is checked).
How is gearbox oil changed?
Changing gearbox oil is a relatively simple process, although it’s highly recommended that it be carried out by a professional. It should cost around few hundreds, so be wary of any garage that charges drastically more than this estimate.
Should you wish to perform the oil change yourself however, start by getting yourself a bucket, or else things could get messy very quickly! Next, locate the drain plug and loosen it until oil begins to spill out, leaving it to drain for around half an hour or until every last drop has emptied into the bucket. Secure the drain plug firmly back into place, and remove the filler plug. Suspend the replacement oil container above the gearbox, and attach a plastic tube between the bottle and the filler hole, after briefly siphoning the oil to initiate the flow. Leave to fill for another half an hour or so, regularly checking the oil level, before removing the tube and screwing the filler plug back into place.
The expert mechanics at Compass Services have the skill and experience to perform gearbox oil checks and replacements on all vehicle types. If your transmission requires more than an oil change, however, we can also carry out full gearbox repairs and replacements in a quick and efficient manner to ensure that your car is back on the road as quickly as possible.
For more than 10 years, Compass Automatic Gear Center has kept UAE motorists on the road by ensuring the transmissions in their vehicles are in tip-top shape. If you have a question about your transmission solenoids or want to book a service appointment, contact Compass Automatic Gear Service Center nearest to you.
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