There are, generally, three sorts of car transmission: handbook, automated, and CVT. Good outdated manuals are those the place you select the gears by yourself and should do lots of fancy work with a clutch pedal and shifter. Automatics take most of that work (and enjoyable) out of the equation for you and do all their very own shifting utilizing what I can solely describe as hydraulic sorcery. CVTs, or Consistently Variable Transmissions, are a sort of automated transmission that makes use of a bunch of drums, pulleys, and both a belt or chain — versus the bodily gears utilized in manuals and automatics — to get an engine’s energy to the rear wheels.
Every of those transmission sorts has its execs and cons. A few of these are actual precise execs and cons, others are purely vibes-based and are hashed out advert infinitum on fanatic boards and within the feedback of weblog posts all throughout the web. Every form of transmission has its place, and every one goes about its job in its personal fascinating manner. Every one additionally runs on a bespoke lubricant that may’t (or, nicely, should not) be used within the others.
What occurs, although, in case you use CVT fluid in a handbook, or common outdated ATF in a CVT? Properly, that is dependent upon the transmission and the fluid concerned.
What’s transmission fluid, anyway?
First off, let’s discuss what transmission fluid does on your transmission. Transmission fluid is a lubricant; it retains all of the spinning, whirling, meshing steel bits contained in the transmission working easily and prevents untimely put on and tear. It additionally acts as a coolant and retains temperatures down because it absorbs the warmth of all that gear friction. Lastly, it absorbs the shocks of adjusting gears and smooths all the things out. Operating low on transmission fluid — or, heaven forbid, working out — can destroy a transmission in a comparatively quick period of time.
As there are three normal sorts of transmission, there are three normal sorts of transmission fluid. Handbook trans fluid, or gear oil, is thick, heavyweight oil — usually wherever from 75W to 140W relying on the applying — and stinks like loopy. Particularly when it is outdated or burnt. Automated transmission fluid, or ATF, is thinner and usually stuffed with components and detergents to maintain the insides of an automated transmission clear and contemporary. It is normally blood pink, though inexperienced ATF is not remarkable. CVT fluid is a high-tech, superior petroleum product that, like common ATF, is stuffed with all types of particular components. A very powerful of those is the friction modifiers that permit the CVT’s belt to seize onto the assorted drums and pulleys.
What is the worst that may occur?
Mixing up your transmission fluids is unhealthy information, and the signs mimic these of a dying transmission (which ought to offer you some indication of how unhealthy that is). These signs embody issue shifting gears, tough shifting, gear slippage, entire gears simply disappearing, stalling after altering gears, and a normal cacophony of banging, clanging, and grinding. A transmission with the unsuitable lubricant inside can be extra susceptible to overheating, which simply exacerbates all of the different issues occurring whereas the transmission begins to eat itself.
So, what do you have to do if this occurs? Drain that transmission and exchange the fluid with the proper fluid pronto. Failure to alter the fluid out for the right combination can result in catastrophic harm to your transmission. Do it your self or take it to a store, however do it as quickly as doable or you possibly can be a complete new transmission as an alternative of just some bucks in trans fluid or a pair hours wasted in a mechanic’s ready room.
