Changing gears is a fun and satisfying experience. You can see the smiles on everyone’s faces when you show them how it’s done. That is, if you can do it!
Getting into gear is where most folks start out, except for manual transmissions. The gearshift lever has three positions: left, right, and center. When engaged, the middle position holds the gear in place until the other two are used.
When changing gears in front of a vehicle, there are two things to watch out for. The first is when the shift knob moves from left to right to center. The second is when the gear shifts take place.
When the middle position shifts, look out for a white light on top of the transaxle that changes color.
Contents:
Symptoms of a faulty automatic transmission
When a transmission has a problem, it can affect the operation of the vehicle. Some of these problems can be loud or noticeable, while others can be very subtle.
vibration or interruptions in shifting into a drive position may be the most noticeable. Others may be lack of power on downhill shifts or poor handling on incline shifts.
Because automatic transmissions are designed to work with another type of transmission, if there is an issue with the one used with your vehicle, it may not work with other drives. This can make driving difficult or impossible when it does not go away.
Unfortunately, this can happen more than once to someone, as they change vehicles every few years to get a new automatic.
What causes the light to come on?
When a light out signal is signaled, the transaxle’s computer determines that the vehicle is rolling and moving. This system ensures the vehicle is in park and set for drive mode by monitoring transmission operation.
If a light out signal is not received for a short period of time, then the computer becomes confused and assumes that the vehicle is not in park and set for drive mode. This can happen when switching between automatic and manual transmissions, or when driving on roads with variable lighting such as toll roads or highway runningways.
If this happens, it may turn off your remaining lights to prevent you from hitting your brakes because you thought you were safe from any brake wear due to no warning light. However, this can be corrected by using a dedicated brake pedal switch to turn off all the brakes except those related to emergency situations.
Is the transmission broken?
If the key is in the car and you have an automatic transmission, you should check your warning light. The automatic transaxle can break if it is not being used.
If you have a manual transaxle, it should be in use when checking the light. Even if your transaxle is not working properly, this warning light could indicate a problem with the transmission.
Checking the light can be done by using a Transaxle Tapper, which can be found on most diagnostic tools such as Amazon and eBay. If it is bad, it will turn off or come on when you shift into Park or Park mode respectively.
If it is just out of service, check that it isn’t too hot by putting some water in it to make sure it stays cool.
Take it to a mechanic
If the automatic transmission shift indicator light comes on frequently, you can buy a new light. It is located inside the transmission shift indicator on the front of the car.
This can happen if you drive too hard or in snow, since the heavy tires transfer some of their power to the car’s transmission.
If your car has a warning light for oversteer or underspeedometer bars, then you have oversteerage bar warning light. If your car has a warning for poor handling, then you have understeerage pointer warning light.
You can determine which one your car has by looking at it and thinking of different things that happened to it. If there are letters or symbols attached to it, then that is an oversteer/understeer alert light.
They will check the transmission fluid
If the transmission fluid looks and smells right, then your car has an automatic transaxle warning light. This can be scary as it reminds you to check your car!
Checking your transmission can be a hassle, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. There are many places in the US and UK that will check your transmission for you free of charge. If yourTransaxle Warning Light is yellow, red, or blue, it means the fluid is healthy.
If you see flakes of white material in the oil or hear clunking sounds when driving, then you need to bring your Transaxle Warning Light up to code quickly.
They will check the shift pressure
If your car has an automatic transaxle, you should change the warning light out to a new one. The automatic transaxle can overshift when the shift pressure is high.
If your car has a manual transaxle, you do not need to upgrade the warning light. The shift pressure must be down to zero before the transaxle can move, and if it overshifts, this will break this process.
The new Automatic Transaxle Warning Light features a digital display that changes from orange to green when the shift pressure is low. The new light will only display this when activated!
This will help prevent damage to the transmission by checking that it is not overriding the shift pressure required.
Cycle the ignition on and off several times
This can be done to check the transaxle warning light is on, or to test it if it turns off after the car is started.
When the transaxle warning light turns on, first try turning the car off and then back on. If that works, then you must have a loose connection or bad part in the system.
If this works, try unplugging and re-plugging the battery several times to make sure it is working. If that works, then you must have a bad solenoid or wire in the system.
If your transaxle has a solenoid, try gently pulling on one end of it before tying off any loose connections. If that works, then you must have poor wiring from the transaxle to theSolenoid.
Check for an error code
If your transaxle is failing a inspection or coming up for an inspection, check to see if it has a error code. A missing or incorrect error code can indicate a problem with the transaxle.
Many inspections use error codes to help verify a problem was found and properly corrected. If the transaxle was repaired with a new error code in place, then this proves it was properly fixed.
If an old error code is not removed and/or replaced with a new one when an updated inspection is received, there may be some evidence of previous repairs. An appeals process can be used if this happens to you, however.
You can have your transaxle checked by an expert at an auto repair shop if you don’t feel sure about what errors mean.