How to Save Fuel

The price of petrol and diesel will continue to rise and because of that, we’ve compiled tips for to help you minimize your fuel consumption and save your back pocket.

1.       Avoid Idling

Idling your car for a long period of time and doing stuff like pulling off the road to make a phone call or waiting for someone while the engine is on can consume a lot of fuel. Stopping the engine whenever you stop or held for a period of time can save you.

2.       Eliminate Unnecessary Weight

Vehicles gets better mileage when they are not loaded with unnecessary weight. For some vehicle owners, they store items like golf clubs, sports equipment, luggage, etc. that accumulates weight. We suggest that you clear your vehicle with items that you don’t need for the trip.

3.       Check your tires

If your tire pressure is lower, the vehicle requires more fuel to move. We recommend that your car has the right tire pressure and alignment.

4.       Minimize or Turn Off your Air Conditioning

The air conditioning system of your car uses extra fuel when operating. It drains power from the engine, making the engine work harder, hence more fuel consumption. We recommend that you only use your air conditioner when needed. This can reduce fuel consumption about 5 to 20 percent depending on how the vehicle is driven.

5.       Observe the Speed Limit

Observing the speed limit on the road can save you fuel and even your life. Fuel consumption increases significantly over 90km/h. If your car is fitted with cruise control system, using it during driving in highways can help maintain speed which saves fuel.

6.       Preventive Maintenance

Proper maintenance of your vehicle gives you better fuel economy. For example, check on your wheel alignment, keep the filter clean, change your oil every 3000 to 5000 miles, change your transmission fluid, etc. Get your car checked and maintained as per the user manual of the vehicle recommended.

What is Transmission Flush?

Transmission maintenance is important for a vehicle to work properly. However, owners often neglect the given maintenance routine until serious problems occur. Signs like odd noises and gear shifting issues should be checked immediately by your local transmission shop.

Transmission flushing is a process where the transmission oil is removed through a machine to extract the dirt and sludge before adding new and clean transmission oil. The manufacturer’s recommendation (refer to manual) should be followed to the regularity with which transmission flushes should be performed. It is often performed every 50,000 kilometers but circumstances like towing, overloading, regular challenging terrain or constant stop/start travel needs regular transmission flushing to help extend the life of your transmission.

How does transmission flushing work?

Before the process of transmission flushing works, the technician will test the vehicle to identify other types of problems. They would also check the vehicle for external leaks.

Regulate machine are connected to the cooler lines and this will allow the fluids to flow into the machine. The line out from the machine is connected to the cooler allowing it to transfer the new fluid inside the transmission.

To complete the service, the technician will also remove the pan to inspect the old oil to look for signs and issues that may occur in the future. The old transmission oil and residue will tell you about the condition of your transmission. Transmissions can clog when the residue from the pan is sucked up into the filter. If this continue, the pump will eventual be starved for fluid. This leads to heat and friction build-up due to less lubrication.

Always refer to your manual to determine when to book in for transmission maintenance. Remember to look for qualified technicians that has the right tools and place to handle all your transmission maintenance need. 

What to know About Automatic Transmission

Vehicle problems occurs from time to time and that includes our automatic transmission. Whatever the cause, it creates real pain and causes vehicle owners a lot of stress. These problems are usually the result of poor maintenance and servicing and today, we’ll give you some pointers you can follow about automatic transmission problems.

Common Problems

When vehicles undergo heavy task like towing trailers, “stop and go” during traffic in hot weather, extended long haul drives, etc. the automatic transmission works on “Overdrive”. Overdrive causes heat which deteriorates our transmission overtime. During this process, the lubricant oxidizes, losing its beneficial qualities and leaving residues. If you check the transmission fluid in an overheated transmission, burnt smell and the transmission fluid will be dark and dirty.

Another factor would be flaws in design in transmission parts and lack of maintenance and servicing.

How can I prevent this?

Ignoring the transmission problems can lead into expensive repair or replacement, thus checking your transmission or taking it to an expert mechanic for maintenance can prevent this kind of damage. Remember to check your transmission fluid regularly. If it is low, there’s a chance that your vehicle is leaking the transmission fluid. This should be investigated properly and without delay to prevent overheating and serious damage.

In some vehicles, especially the new models, are very sensitive with the transmission fluid type. Always read the user manual or check with your trusty mechanic in what fluid should be used. Using an incorrect fluid can cause malfunctions and would lead into trouble.

If you are using your vehicle to tow and haul objects, additional transmission fluid is required and be sure to install an auxiliary transmission cooler to help your transmission fluid.

If you are experiencing signs and symptoms like leaky transmission, noises and problems with shifting, it is imperative to take your vehicle to an expert or mechanic to check on the problem.

Taking care of your transmission

Preventive maintenance is the key to a tip-top automatic transmission. Regular servicing should be applied such as changing the oil and filter every 12 months and transmission full flush every two years.

Always remember not to overheat your transmission fluid and this usually happens when your vehicle works too hard. Always consult an expert. 

Reasons Why Transmission Maintenance is Important

Maintenance is the key for your vehicle to run smoothly and without problems. But there are times vehicle owners ignore these problems especially in the transmission. Your vehicle will tell you that you’re transmission has a problem by giving you signs and symptoms such as loud noises, difficulty in shifting, etc. And if you are experiencing these problems, you might want to go or call your local mechanic or transmission expert.

Regular transmission maintenance has its benefits and today we’re going to tell you why transmission maintenance is important.

1.       Cost Saving

We all know that a well maintained vehicle last longer compared to a non-existent maintenance routine for a vehicle. For example, changing your transmission fluid at the right schedule can help prevent transmission problems in the future.

2.       Fuel Efficient

Maintenance helps with the fuel economy of your car. With scheduled change oil, transmission fluid replacement and flush, it can run your car better and smoother which means less consumption on the fuel.

3.       Preventing Lock-ups

Imagine a situation where your vehicle suddenly locked-up and stopped in the middle of nowhere, wouldn’t that be inconvenient. In some cases, transmission due to lack of fluids also overheats so the car simply shuts down. That’s what they call a “Lock-up” and to prevent this from happening, changing your transmission fluid would be the best choice. 

4.       Better performance

Changing your transmission fluid and having the right transmission fluid can help your engine run cleaner and faster, like the day you bought it new.

Always remember that if you can’t or doesn’t have the right kind of tools or knowledge, don’t even try to fix your car’s transmission. If you need some expert advice when it comes to transmission problems or services, don’t hesitate to call us or visit our website at www.nandvautomatics.com.au. We have extensive experience in terms of fixing automatic transmission and services.  

Car Maintenance Mistakes Owners Make

A good running vehicle requires preventive maintenance. While not all maintenance routine are scheduled at the same time, it requires owners to maintain their vehicle to ensure longevity. Signs of deterioration often shown by the vehicle and owners over look and ignore these signs. Eventually, your car will break down in the middle of nowhere and will cost you a lot more from repairs or even part replacement.

To avoid these kind of situation, we’ve compiled a list of owner mistakes when it comes to car or vehicle maintenance.

Ignoring the Engine Light

When the engine light in your dashboard suddenly turns on you might want to get the checked immediately. In some scenarios, owners tend to think that “it’s okay, the car seems to be running fine” but one day your car might breakdown. The longer you wait, the higher cost for repairs. So the best way to prevent that is to have it fixed immediately.

Neglecting Fluid Change

It’s a misconception that motor oil is the only fluid the car needs to be check and changed. But there are many fluids in the car that needs attention from time to time. Brake fluid, Transmission Fluid, Engine Coolant and power steering fluid should also be checked and serviced according to the manufacturer’s recommendation. Doing this will help your vehicle in good condition.

Doing Repairs to your Vehicle without Proper Knowledge

Modern cars are more complicated that you think. For example, automatic transmission has their own chip that can only be programmed in computers, computers are also used to regulate the sensors inside your car (spark plug, fuel injectors, etc.). Since your vehicle your vehicle is computerized, avoiding repairs without the necessary knowledge or tools to do it is recommended.

Not Changing your Filters

Filter needs to be clean as possible to keep your vehicle working. Filters keeps out contaminants and dirt particles from entering your vehicle’s fuel, engine or air conditioning system. Dirty filters can bring issues ranging from poor mileage, making your engine seize or wearing out components. Have your filter changed as recommended by the vehicle’s manufacturer.

Skipping Oil Change

Advancements on car engine technology and motor oil continues to grow and it may no longer necessary to get a change oil every 3000 miles. The average of oil change interval is around 7000 depending on how you use your vehicle (ex. Towing). This is great news because it means less time and money spent on taking you vehicle for an oil change. However, this doesn’t mean that you can skip changing your motor oil. Without proper motor oil change, you engine will seize up and eventually die. Oil motor oil will break down which can lead into deposits of sludge inside your engine. Instead of lubricating and cooling the engine parts, the oil sludge damage the parts which is something you want to avoid. Getting a change oil can help your vehicle running perfectly. 

Why Hire a Transmission Specialist?

Keeping your car running requires some maintenance and do-it-yourself task from time to time. But sometimes, things get out of hand. Transmission problems are one of the many problems vehicle owners encounter, some call in a specialist to handle the job, some repair it themselves and some ignores the problem which is bad.

The best choice when transmission problem arise is calling a transmission specialist and today, we’ll give you the reasons why. Modern transmission are a combination of gears and electronic devices, so if you’re not careful, it might cost you a lot.

1.       Automatic Transmission Is Complicated

Working with transmission is hard and vehicles today are more complicated than you think. It takes more than touching and connecting wires due to the computer chip factor. Since automatic transmission system are computerized, it becomes more difficult to understand unless an Automatic Transmission Specialist will do the repair. These specialist are knowledgeable and did a lot of training and experience to become a certified transmission mechanic.

2.       They Have the Right Specialty Tools

Having your own transmission shop requires you to invest on these specialty tools to get the job done. For example, transmission spring compressors and linkage removal are some of the basic tools you’ll find in transmission shops but not at home. Doing repairs on your own will cost you more. Again, saving your car and money is more important than doing things the wrong way.

3.       Warranty

Transmission repair shops offers warranty after service and helps you avoid unnecessary cost in the future. Think about it, if you do the repairs yourself, you’ll be missing on warranty which should be your number one priority when it comes to repairs or even part replacement.

Remember: If your car is still under manufacturer’s warranty, make sure that you don’t do the repairs yourself or your will be voiding the warranty given to you by the car manufacturer. This could be a loss on your part and will cost you a lot of money. 

The Importance of Automatic Transmission Maintenance

When it comes to ensuring your car is always in good running condition, regular maintenance is important. However, a lot of people seem to overlook the importance of automatic transmission maintenance and repair, at least up until they have no choice but to have it fixed.

Regular automatic transmission flushing is part of vehicle maintenance. To enable you to better appreciate its importance, we have listed a number of benefits:

Cost Savings

Save the cost of  automatic transmission repair and parts replacement. Changing your transmission fluid at the right time can help prevent these transmission problems from developing.

A new transmission will cost you more money than  changing your automatic transmission fluid from time to time to prevent problems from occurring. Let’s be practical about it, transmission fluid will cost you much less than replacing the whole automatic transmission.  

Fuel Efficiency

Regular automatic transmission flushing can help your car run better for a very long time, which  means less work and less fuel consumption.

Preventing Lock Ups

Wouldn’t it be inconvenient if your vehicle suddenly locked up and stopped in the middle of nowhere or when you’re in a rush on your way to work? Lock ups occur when the vehicle’s transmission gets extremely hot,  so the car simply shuts down. Changing your automatic transmission fluid at the right time will prevent this from happening.

Better Performance

Changing your transmission fluid and having the right transmission fluid can help your engine run cleaner and faster, like the day you bought it new.

If you need some help with your automatic transmission maintenance, repair or replacement, we at N & V Automatics can help you. We are located in Seaford, Victoria and we are the local experts when it comes to transmission repairs and services.