Transmission Services in Winterville, North Carolina

An Overview of Transmission Maintenance

Every car has a transmission—most of them automatic, some manual—and all of them do basically the same thing: The job of the vehicle transmission is to regulate the amount of power that goes to your wheels, always relative to the speed at which you’re traveling. The transmission actively shifts gears, much like on a multi-speed bike. Of course, there are some key distinctions between automatic and manual transmission, but what’s the same across every vehicle is that attending to regular transmission maintenance is vitally important.

What Makes Transmission Fluid Necessary?

Your transmission system itself works a bit like a bike. When pedaling a multi-speed bike in a low gear, it’s easy to get acceleration, but hard to work up much speed. By shifting into a higher gear—once the bike is on level ground and moving at a decent clip—higher speed can be achieved. That’s essentially the same function that transmission serves within a car—regulating the power relative to speed. And that requires the use of transmission fluid, which serves a critical function—lubricating your gears and minimizing the effect of daily wear and tear. All of this points to a basic point about vehicle maintenance: You should have transmission fluid inspection—and yes, transmission flush—as part of your regular preventative maintenance schedule.

How Often Should Your Car Get a Transmission Service?

As for how often you need transmission service, it just depends on the kind of car you’re driving. With some vehicles, it’s every 30,000 miles. The best practice is to simply check transmission fluid whenever you do your other routine vehicle maintenance. Meineke’s service technicians can tell you if you do for transmission repair or for a transmission flush.

The Reason to Check Your Transmission Fluid

Your vehicle’s transmission is essential for optimal performance—and if you allow the transmission to fall into disrepair, you shouldn’t be surprised when you encounter a whole host of other problems; potentially issues that are expensive to repair. Basically, your transmission is responsible for shifting gears, regulating the power generated by your engine. You can think of it sort of like a bicycle: You start pedaling in a low gear, building acceleration but not much speed; then, when you start coasting along a flat surface, you can switch to a higher gear and really ramp up your speed. Your transmission works in much the same way, and it can only do so when you take care of it—and that means being careful to check transmission fluid regularly, and perhaps even schedule a transmission flush.

Transmission Maintenance: Understanding the Basics

Your vehicle’s transmission is among its most important systems; without it, it’s impossible for your automobile to function optimally. Thus, it’s critically important to take care of your transmission, and to make transmission repair part of your routine auto maintenance habit. First and foremost, it’s good to understand what the transmission does. Think of a multi-speed bicycle: you begin by pedaling in a low-gear, which allows you to quickly accelerate, but not really reach a high top speed. Then, once you start coasting, you can switch into a higher gear, and thus achieve higher speed. Your automobile’s transmission works in a similar fashion, helping to regulate the power generated by your engine as relative to your current speed. It can only do this when it’s well taken care of, though, and that encompasses a regular check of the transmission fluid as well as the occasional transmission flush.

How Frequently is Transmission Maintenance Needed?

Some auto manufacturers recommend that you get a transmission flush every 30,000 miles. For other cars, it’s just once every 100,000 miles. You can check your owner’s manual for a general estimate, but really what we recommend is just asking a Meineke service professional to check transmission fluid levels every time you get an oil change or tire rotation. Just make it part of your preventative maintenance routine, and stay on top of all your transmission maintenance requirements!