Back to all

The Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Pickerington Guide to Caring for Your Transmission

June 3, 2018

Most vehicles have automatic transmissions, yet a lot of Pickerington drivers only have a fuzzy understanding about what a transmission does. Think back to the last time you rode a bike in Pickerington. 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 Pickerington 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 Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Pickerington, 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 Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Pickerington see far too many transmissions that needlessly failed due to neglect.

And, as you can imagine, repairing one of these new transmissions at any Pickerington 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 Pickerington area drivers to carefully follow the manufacturer's transmission service schedule.

At Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Pickerington in Pickerington, we hope you never become shiftless in Pickerington because you didn't take care of your transmission.

Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Pickerington
1223 Hill Road N.
Pickerington, Ohio 43147
614-751-0111
http://www.tuffypickerington.com

 

Need Service?

Request a Quote

More articles from Tuffy Pickerington

I Had No Idea! (Four Things You Didn't Know About Vehicles)

January 4, 2026

Bet you didn't know: Some of the earliest rearview mirrors were marketed as "Cop Spotters" so drivers would know when police were following them. Who wants a ticket, anyway? According to eBay Motors, Elmer Berger first patented a rearview mirror that was mounted on the front fenders, on the spare... More

The Right Oil for the Season (Engine Oil Viscosity)

December 28, 2025

As the temperatures plunge, certain types of engine oil may not flow as easily as they did when it was warmer. Makes sense, doesn't it? Just like molasses gets thicker as the temperature goes down, engine oil does the same thing. So, maybe you're wondering if you have to change your oil as the s... More

In the Red (Why a Vehicle Overheats)

December 21, 2025

Heat is one thing that can damage a vehicle, especially if a problem isnt taken care of soon. Be on the lookout for signs that its getting too hot in some parts of your vehicle, starting with the most obvious one: the heat gauge/warning light on your instrument panel. When you see that heat gaug... More