Not sure of the kind of transmission your car has?
Most people are asking the question ‘What transmission do I have?’
Well, owing to the fact that the transmission system is certainly one complicated component of a car, many people aren’t sure of the transmission system their cars have.
Luckily, different types of transmission systems are well covered here.
If you are a car enthusiast or a DIY car owner you might be familiar with automatic and manual transmissions.
However, you will be surprised to learn that there is more to transmission than just the two broad classifications.
Understanding the kind of transmission your car has is incredibly important.
This will come in handy when you need repairs done to your car.
Besides, it will help you identify if there is a transmission problem even when driving.
Here are the major transmission systems and a clear explanation of how you can find out the type of transmission your car has.
Most vehicles you will find today on the road have automatic transmission.
Despite the fact that they are complex in terms of how they work, they are the simplest when it comes to usability.
Learning how an automatic transmission work is a no-brainer task.
All you need to do is gently step on the brake pedal and shift the gear into drive or reverse.
The best part is that automatic transmission shift gears for you as you drive.
Most vehicles that have automatic transmission have a tag that hangs on it or a code that is stamped on the transmission.
Another simplest way to quickly identify an automatic transmission is the pan shape.
You will notice that automatic transmission has oddly shaped or square pan shape.
If you are still in doubt about the kind of transmission your car has, you can use a ruler to measure it.
Once you have the measurements you can go online and find a chart that matches your measurements.
If you are looking for an ultimate sense of being in total control over your vehicle, then the manual transmission is the way to go.
Sadly, the manual transmission seems to be living on a borrowed time.
This is because cars with manual transmission have significantly dropped over time, only becoming niche products.
However, the manual transmission, also known as the stick or standard transmission still is the most trusted type of car transmission by enthusiasts.
When driving a car with the manual transmission you need to operate the clutch using one foot.
Subsequently, you need to use one hand to shift the gears appropriately.
Manual transmissions have some advantages.
First, repairing it is less costly since the transmission is less complex.
Secondly, it has better fuel economy compared to automatic transmissions.
But how do you identify a manual transmission?
Identifying a manual transmission is tricky.
This is because the 3 speed, 4 speed as well as 5 speed and 6-speed transmissions differ.
Begin by checking the diagrams of these transmissions from the online platform.
Also, check the position of the selector’s arm to see if the mounting studs are protruding right from the side case or if it is secured using a bolt.
Combining this information will help you to quickly identify the kind of manual transmission your car has.
Are you looking for the best of both worlds when it comes to the transmission?
If so then Dual-Clutch and Semi-Automatic Transmissions are the best choices for you.
These transmissions are basically hybrids of automatic and manual transmissions.
The dual-clutch transmission is fitted with two separate clutches, one for the odd gears and another for even gears.
On the other hand, the semi-automatic transmission has a similar make as an automatic transmission.
However, these kinds of transmission are not popular because of a number of reasons.
One outstanding reason for being less popular is that they are really expensive.
Equally, these types of transmission are expensive when doing the repairs.
The bright side about these transmissions is that they are built for speed as they can shift gears quickly.
This kind of transmission is praised basically for fuel economy.
It has the ability to seamlessly find the right ratio to offer the needed power at any given time.
Instead of gears, this transmission uses belts and pulley system that are directly operated by a vehicle’s computer.
Despite the fact that they won’t break as often, they are regarded to be less efficient when compared to the manual transmission.
Well, with approximately 200 types of transmissions currently found in vehicles, it can be frustrating for average car owners to easily identify the kind of transmission their cars have.
Fortunately, you can easily find out the kind of transmission you have in two simple ways.
You can easily find the VIN code on the dashboard or the driver’s side door.
Usually, the VIN is 17 digit code written in black lettering on a white sticker.
A repair shop or auto dealer can easily feed this number into a computer and tell you the transmission type your car has.
The second method of identifying the type of transmission your car has is looking it up using an online lookup tool.
One such tool includes the ATRA transmission lookup tool.
Using the online lookup tools is the simplest way to answer your question of ‘What transmission do I have?’
All you have to do is to key in the basic information such as the model and year of manufacture and the tool will automatically generate the transmission code.
The code will help you to get the correct parts from an auto dealership as they can be able to accurately identify the transmission that your car has.
Besides, you can do more extensive online research using the transmission code to get more information.
You can also find the type of transmission on your vehicle by:
The bottom line is that the VIN and the online lookups are the two reliable and the quickest to find out the type of transmission your car has.
