You might need transmission repair in Mesa, due primarily to the extreme environment of an Arizona summer.
Automatic Transmission Repair in Mesa: Avoid a Breakdown
From June until September, Arizona is hot. But what you don’t realize is that the temperature you see on your phone’s weather app and the evening news is the air temperature, not the surface temperature.
So if the air temperature is 120 degrees, the surface temperature can easily hit 150 degrees or hotter. Your car or truck is designed to withstand heat a lot better than you can, however, there are components of your car that can’t handle long term heat. One component is your transmission fluid.
Your transmission’s optimal operating temperature is about 175 degrees. If you go above that, however, you’re looking at thermal viscosity, which means that your transmission fluid will start to break down and separate. If that happens, you run the risk of damaging your transmission which is one of the most expensive components of your car.
The ideal temperature for your transmission is 200 degrees or lower. While Arizona thankfully doesn’t get that hot, your engine can easily get that hot. Every 20 degrees above 200 shortens the life of your transmission. For example at 220 degrees, you’ll get half the normal life out of your transmission, and for each twenty degrees it cuts the time down half of each measurement.
How Can You Tell If Your Transmission is Overheating?
How can you tell if your transmission is overheating? Hot transmissions give off an unmistakable odor. Burning transmission fluid smells sweet. In an ideal world, your transmission temperature light will work, but putting your trust in warning lights is dubious at best. So if you smell something out of the ordinarily (usually a sweet odor), pull over immediately. You will need to let your transmission cool down before trying to drive again.
Checking your transmission fluid can help you to determine if your transmission is overheating. Transmission fluid isn’t like engine oil – it doesn’t burn up under normal circumstances. If the fluid level is down, then there is a very good chance that something is wrong. And if the fluid is dark, it is almost certain that you are overheating.
Needless to say, you want to catch transmission problems as quickly as possible in order to prevent any further problems. So don’t rely exclusively on your Transmission Temperature Control Light, but by the same token, don’t disregard it either. If it comes on, it has come on for a reason. While you can probably drive safely to your next destination, you want to have your transmission system inspected right away to stave off further issues and ensure optimal vehicle performance.
When in doubt, get into a transmission repair shop in Mesa immediately.
Trail Transmission
11240 East Apache Trail
Apache Junction, AZ 85120-3529
(480) 986-7367
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