Kings Transmission

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’ve always driven automatic cars, rather than ones with manual transmission. I just was always afraid of screwing up when it came to driving a stick-shift so automatic cars just seemed easier for me. Considering how dangerous the general act of driving is, I didn’t want to add something additionally to it that could make me more unfocused.

As someone who’s driven automatic all his life (and who doesn’t have much interest in cars), I’m often at a complete loss when something goes wrong with my car. Recently, I discovered that I needed some Renton automatic transmission repair for my car. I drove it over to the best place in the area and got them to fix it for me because I had no idea what I was doing.

Sometimes you can tell that you have an issue with your manual transmission because your car is emitting an odd smell or your acceleration seems more limited than usual. If these are both happening, it’s likely that you should probably take your car in to get looked at, if you don’t know how to work on your transmission yourself and don’t want to inadvertently mess something up with your car.

If you live in Renton or the Seattle area, there are certainly options for who you want working on your car. When looking for the best manual transmission repair Renton could offer, it’s always important to compare prices and take a look at track records to find the best suitable mechanic to work on your car.

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.

Last weekend I took a long road trip out to Mount Rainier. The roads to the national park were clear, but the mountain itself was covered in several feet of snow. I must commend the park staff and maintenance crews who did a good job of clearing the park roads. Unfortunately, I hit the one patch of slush and ice and spun out a tiny bit.

I managed to get the car under control and proceeded with more caution the rest of the way up. On the way back down I started hearing some odd sounds, so I immediately called my mechanic at the automatic transmission repair Renton to schedule an appointment. I brought my car in the next day and they found the source of the noise and got my car all fixed up.