Blog

Procrastination: it’s something we’re all guilty of. Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow, right? But what about your transmission? How long can you drive with a bad transmission?

Car problems always seem to strike at the most inopportune times. If your transmission is acting up, how long can you get by before taking your vehicle into a transmission shop?

You know the feeling. You’ve got a big presentation at work, a big exam coming up, or you’re about to attend your best friend’s wedding where in the ceremony you’ll be the best man. And then your car decides it won’t work. If it’s your transmission that’s the problem, maybe you’ll keep slipping out of gear and into neutral. Maybe you’ll have a struggle just to shift gears at all. Or maybe it will make such a noise that you are afraid to keep driving it. Just your luck, huh?

Except, in many cases, luck had little to do with it. Usually, you had a chance to repair your transmission before, but for one reason or another, you did not. Maybe you were just procrastinating or maybe you did have a good excuse, but that does not change your current situation. Now you have a bad transmission. What will you do?

Very few transmission problems come out of nowhere and instantly render your vehicle inoperable. Usually you have a bad transmission before you have a completely broken transmission.

Can you still drive your transmission if it changes gears roughly? Can you still drive your transmission if you see that it is leaking a little transmission fluid? Can you still drive your transmission if it is making funny noises? Can you still drive your transmission if it keeps slipping out of gear and into neutral?

The answer to all these questions is, usually, yes, though in this last scenario that can be quite dangerous. The truth is you almost always can drive on bad transmission. But for how long? Well, that is up to you.

Driving with a bad transmission is a simple matter of risk analysis. How much are you willing to risk having to get major transmission repairs or even a transmission replacement?

It’s always best to nip small problems in the bud before they become big ones. If you absolutely must drive with a bad transmission, check your transmission fluid first. Topping that up may ease (or even solve) the problem. If you’re really not sure, contact us at Mister Transmission and we might be able to give you an idea of how bad your transmission is. In any event, you want to drive with a bad transmission for as short a time as possible.