How To Check Transmission Fluid In Your Car

If you are not car savvy, trying to perform any sort of maintenance on your vehicle might be equivalent to asking where the bathroom is in a foreign land. Some of this stuff just isn’t intuitive to the average person. Luckily, the internet is a fabulous place to learn how to do things, like how to do a transmission fluid change in Utah. First thing’ first: how do you check the transmission fluid in your car? And more importantly, how do you know when you should?

When Should You Check Your Car’s Transmission Fluid?

If you have an automatic transmission, which most folks do these days, your gears should shift relatively smoothly. Therefore, if there is any feeling of hesitation during gear shifts, you might have an issue with your transmission. Before jumping to conclusions and running to the nearest mechanic, it would be a good idea to take a look under the hood yourself first. The last thing you want to do is leave your car in the hands of someone whose only concern might be taking as much money from you as possible. Be calm and do your own transmission fluid check before contacting a professional.

How Do You Check Transmission Fluid In Your Car?

1. Checking your car’s transmission fluid is not as scary as it sounds. In fact, it is really quite simple. Follow these steps to get the job done:
2. Find the dipstick for your car. It looks like the oil dipstick, but is colored in order to tell the difference between the two.
3. Put your car’s gearshift in either neutral or park with the parking brake on, with the car still running. Leave it on for a few minutes to warm up the engine.
4. You will want to make sure the engine is warm when pulling out the dipstick.
5. At this point, touch the fluid on the dipstick with your index finger. Rub it between your fingers, taking note of the color tint and smell. The color should have a pinkish or reddish tint, but overall pretty clear. If you feel any particles in the liquid or smell a burning odor, then you will probably want to change the transmission fluid as soon as possible.
6. Take a lint-free rag and wipe the fluid off the dipstick and then reinsert it to check the transmission fluid level once again. If the level is not at the “full” line, then you can add more fluid with the help of a funnel. Be sure to not go above that “full” line.
7. Put the dipstick back where you found it when you finished your fluid check.

When Should You Call a Mechanic?

Though this process seems easy enough, you may run into some snags. If you feel particles in the fluid or smell burning during the fluid check, you probably want to call a professional to do a transmission fluid change in Utah, such as AceAutoUtah.com. The mechanics will be able to take an expert look at your vehicle to see if anything more serious is going on and take care of any necessary repairs.