Kings Transmission

My mind can get a little bit frazzled sometimes and occasionally this can mess up my plans, because I’ll make too many plans for things all at once and then everything falls apart. I do this with friends on accident all the time; I’ll make plans with one group of friends and another group of friends and realize at the last moment that I’ve double-booked myself.

The other week I got myself stuck in one of these types of scenarios, which was completely my own fault. I realized that I had a Lynnwood transmission repair appointment scheduled at the same time as my dentist appointment in Redmond. There was no way that I could make it to both, so I had to reschedule my dentist appointment for the next week.

Next to the engine itself, the most important of internal car systems is the transmission. Transmission problems have a direct impact on your car engine’s efficiency and smoothness of operation. To diagnose any problems with this crucial car system, one needs to be aware of transmission problem symptoms. That is the primary subject of discussion in this article. A glance through this Buzzle article will acquaint you with all the signs that indicate an impending transmission failure.

Without the transmission, your car would run only at a single speed. It is the transmission that makes speed variation possible using torque generated by the car engine. Now there are two types of transmission systems available. Most of modern cars have a built in automatic transmission system, where the gear changing is managed by the car itself. Otherwise, most older cars have a manual transmission.

Symptoms Indicating Transmission Issues

If you don’t want to be ripped off by car repair shops, you need to know how to carry out transmission problem diagnosis. An accurate diagnosis requires knowledge of the inner workings of the transmission. It would be a good idea to get hold of a Hayne’s manual, specific to your car model. It will provide you with an overview of automatic transmission working and also provide some maintenance tips. Here are the most common symptoms that one needs to watch out for.

Rough Shifting of Gears
One of the prime symptoms is rough shifting of gears. Instead of a smooth gear transmission, you will find that the transmission is bumpy. If you notice this happening repeatedly, it is time to get the transmission checked.

Delayed Engaging
If you notice that the gears are delayed in getting engaged and there is a latent response from the transmission, the reason might indicate a problem with the gear box. This condition may be a result of multitude of causes. One of the most likely causes might be low transmission fluid.

Murky Transmission Fluid
If you notice that the transmission fluid is looking murky, it means that a lubrication fluid replacement is on the cards. An immediate transmission fluid change is recommended.

Transmission Slipping
One of the most common problems with car transmission is recurrent slipping when changing gears. Transmission slipping can result from low levels of lubrication fluid or structural failure. This is one of the prime problems that plague an automatic transmission. This car problem needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

Transmission Fluid Leak
Checking transmission fluid should be a part if your regular car maintenance schedule. A leaking of the transmission fluid is one of the major indicators of imminent automatic and manual transmission problems. Make sure that you get the fluid replaced, as without it, the system will eventually break down. Lubrication is an essential need of every working machine part and the most essential necessity of the transmission.

Transmission Noise
Due to prolonged wear and tear of gears due to low transmission fluid levels, knocking noise may be heard. This noise is indicative of imminent transmission failure. A transmission fluid refill may take care of the problem quite easily.

At the slightest indication of any of these signs of impending transmission failure presenting themselves, you should visit Transmission Repair Seattle, as soon as possible. Delay in doing so, will ultimately result in costly car repairs. Make it a point to include car transmission checkup, in your regular car maintenance schedule.  Call us at 206-624-1859.

I used to go on walks all the time, but since I moved into my new apartment, the neighborhood isn’t really as nice and there aren’t really any good places to take walks, at least that I’ve been able to find. Because of that lack of convenience, I’ve really been slacking off with my exercise regimen and haven’t gone jogging or for any walks in longer than I’m proud of.

While my car was in the shop for some Lynnwood manual transmission repair, I decided that it was finally time that I go for a walk and find a good place to walk around. I actually wound up stumbling on a park, which I think it’ll be worth driving to (once my car’s back in tip-top shape) so that I can walk around and jog there.

Building a strong transmission starts with internal gear train. The weakest link in the 4L60 transmission gear train is the sun gear shell. We recommend you upgrade this shell even if you are doing a simple stock overhaul. The sun gear shell has a tendency to strip out or completely break off at the splinted area. The factory recognized a problem with this shell and attempted to correct the issue by heat treating the splinted area of the shell and replacing the thrust washer with a thrust bearing. As many factory technicians have discovered this did not work. The aftermarket company SPX offers a replacement shell nicknamed “the beast”. This shell has a much thicker splinted area and can be used with either the thrust washer or the updated thrust bearing hub. The SPX “beast” shell is an excellent choice for stock to moderately modified applications. Recently, the aftermarket company Sonnax put on the market an improved beast type sun gear shell. Sonnax named this shell system “The Smart Shell”. Sonnax determined that by controlling the height of the low roller support inner race, reinforcing the spline area of the beast type shell with a precision steel collar and adding a thrust bearing between the low roller race and shell, the thrust load can be directed away from the captive planet bearing and sun gear. This rerouted thrust load is directed to the rear planet carrier protecting the more vulnerable captive bearing and sun gear. This design also benefits by preventing thrust load flexing which causes breakage at the spline area of the shell. We recommend this shell system in any 4L60 transmission applications but especially in applications where engine torque can exceed 400 ft lbs.

The planetary gear carriers are the next area to be addressed in high performance build applications. The factory 4 pinion gear carriers can withstand up to 400 ft lbs of engine torque. General Motors now manufactures a 5 pinion planetary set that can be retrofitted to the early 4L60E and 700R4 transmissions. The addition of the one extra planet gear increases the torque handling capability. There are aftermarket 5 pinion planet carriers available but we at Seatac Transmissions do not recommend these carriers. It has been our experience a new factory 4 pinion planet set is stronger than the aftermarket 5 pinion sets. The factory 5 pinion carriers are a drop in replacement and can be used with the original ring gears. As standard repair practice, a new ring gear should be used with a new planetary gear carrier. The factory 5 pinion input planetary carrier requires that you update the input hub with the improved bearing type hub. This input hub and bearing are included as a set with the 5 pinion input carrier from ACDelco.

In high torque or nitrous applications the factory input drum can fail. The failure usually occurs at the spline area of the drum where it messes with the input shaft. Under high torque the drum gives way and breaks away from the shaft. The aftermarket company Sonnax offers a reinforcement steel ring that is pressed over the overrun piston seal area of the drum reinforcing this spline area. Sonnax includes a modified aluminum overrun piston to work with this reinforcement ring. Sonnax also offers a reinforced drum kit for transmissions using 300mm converters. This kit starts with a brand new reluctor type input shaft drum and strengthens it with their reinforcement ring kit. These factory reluctor type input shafts were improved by the factory and can withstand higher torque loads than the original 300mm shafts. Sonnax includes a custom stator shaft to retrofit this drum to early 300mm converter transmissions. Sonnax does not offer this drum kit for 298mm converter transmissions. If your engine torque is higher than 400 ft lbs or you have installed a nitrous kit we recommend you use one of these two Sonnax kits.

I sincerely regret buying my car from the dealership I did. The car is decent enough for the price I paid, but I’ll never use the dealership’s mechanics again. Just shy of a month after driving my pre-owned vehicle off the lot, the check engine light came on. The car started shaking so violently I could barely steer myself off the road.

Naturally I took it into the dealership and raised heck. There is no reason a recently bought commuter car should be malfunctioning only a month after it supposedly went through a thorough inspection! The dealership replaced the malfunctioning parts for free, but ever since that experience when I have a problem with my car I take it to King’s Transmission repair Lynnwood, which is conveniently near my office.

When I bought my first car, I had no idea what to do about maintenance. All I knew was to put gas in the car. As far as everything else I was at a total loss for knowledge. I didn’t know where to go or what to do about anything.

So when my car went out on me, on the way to work, I had no idea what to do. I called my dad, explained the noise that it made. He said that it sounded like the transmission went out.  It was a good thing that I was already in Lynnwood; I got it towed to Lynnwood Automatic Transmission Repair Shop. The people there were extremely nice and didn’t make me feel like a complete idiot. I was very lucky.

Were you in town for last month’s extreme Thanksgiving weather? The temperature dropped to a frigid 14 degrees in some areas leaving roads, walkways and cars coated with dangerous ice. In several areas entire streets were blocked off by sideways busses and abandoned vehicles. Navigating roadways in the Seattle Metro area became as treacherous as trying to cross the Arctic Circle.

And now they say more cold is on the way. What can you do to get ready for more frozen roads? Well, most people will tell you to get chains but those won’t even help in areas where the ice is thicker. One thing you can do to keep your vehicle safe is to have the transmission checked and serviced for optimum functionality in extreme weather situations like the one we saw over Thanksgiving. If you’re concerned about getting around for the rest of the winter then give yourself the peace of mind you get when you know your car is operating efficiently and safely. Automatic transmission repair, Lynnwood is ready to help you get your transmission working better than ever for the cold weeks ahead.

With the prevalence of automatic transmissions in the US, it’s no surprise that an increasing number of motorists are leaving the stick shift to behind. But in many European countries, manuals are ubiquitous and automatics are a luxury hard to come by. Spending most of my childhood in Eastern Europe, I learned to drive in a manual; they are the only cars I feel comfortable behind the wheel of.

I recently relocated to Lynnwood, WA, and the brutal traffic on I-5 has begun to take its toll on my transmissions. The other day I noticed it was catching between third and fourth, so I decided to take it in for some Lynnwood manual transmission repair. Typically I don’t have good luck with mechanics, but the staff here was incredibly helpful and even gave me some pointers for keeping the transmission running smoothly.