Complete Auto Repair
ASE Certified Technicians
All Makes & Models - Foreign & Domestic
Locally Owned & Operated
We Perform A/C Service Work
April 16, 2017
Most vehicles have automatic transmissions, yet a lot of Austin drivers only have a fuzzy understanding about what a transmission does. Think back to the last time you rode a bike in Austin. 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 Texas roads. And it automatically shifts back down to climb Austin 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 Center Austin, 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 Center Austin see far too many transmissions that needlessly failed due to neglect.
And, as you can imagine, repairing one of these new transmissions at any Austin 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 Austin area drivers to carefully follow the manufacturer's transmission service schedule.
At Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Center Austin in Austin, we hope you never become shiftless in Austin because you didn't take care of your transmission.
Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Center Austin
1170 Anderson Mill Rd
Austin, Texas 78750
512-258-3400
http://www.tuffyaustin.com
April 21, 2024
If you're like most people and drive a gasoline-powered vehicle, you need to be up to speed on its fuel-related components. They're pretty basic: the fuel, the fuel filter and the fuel pump. The fuel's the easy part. You probably gas up your vehicle yourself and, if you're like most drivers, pr... More
April 14, 2024
If every road was straight and smooth, we wouldn't have to worry much about wheel alignment. But they're not, so we do. Hitting potholes or driving on rough pavement can knock your vehicle out of alignment and you'll notice it in one of several ways. Your steering wheel may not be centered when ... More
April 7, 2024
All Austin service advisors know that without the alternator, the battery will go dead in a few miles. The serpentine belt may also run the pumps for both the power steering and power brakes. And on many vehicles, the serpentine belt powers the water pump. The water pump circulates coolant thro... More
