A slipping transmission is enough to make any car owner break out into a cold sweat. Your transmission’s job is to move your vehicle reliably and efficiently – it’s what converts your engine power to motion. If your car seems to ‘”slip” while in gear or shift or another gear without warning, this not only creates a serious safety risk, but it can also mean bad news for your car, as replacing or rebuilding a transmission can be extremely expensive.

But does a slipping transmission mean the end? Is there any way to stop transmission slipping without shelling out for a full hard repair at a dealership or mechanic? While there isn’t a transmission slipping quick fix, not all transmission slipping problems mean your transmission is failing/has failed. Before we can talk about how to stop a transmission from slipping, we should explore the different reasons why your transmission may slip.

We’ll make this quick, don’t worry. 😊

Is Your Transmission Slipping?

Before considering solutions to your transmission slipping problem, you should make sure the problem is actually your transmission slipping. If you have a manual transmission, a slipping transmission is obvious. You will hear a grinding sound when changing gears and the car either won’t go into gear at all or fall out of gear without warning. Often, your first instinct when your manual transmission slips is that you will need to replace the clutch. This certainly could come true, as clutch discs have a limited lifespan and are responsible for slipping transmissions in a standard shift vehicle about nine out of 10 times, but it is not necessarily the reason.

In an automatic transmission, you may notice other signs of a slipping transmission, such as being unable to shift into reverse, struggling to change gears or not being able to upshift at all. Other signs include the ability to upshift but then having the car downshift without warning, an increase in RPMs without a large increase in speed, an illuminated “Check Engine” light or strange sounds or smells while driving.

If you are experiencing some of these problems, a slipping transmission is often the culprit. But why? And if your transmission is slipping, is there anything you can do about it besides replacing the transmission?

Why Do Transmissions Slip?

Although it is possible a slipping transmission means disaster for your car, it doesn’t have to end up that way. Just because a transmission is slipping doesn’t mean the whole mechanism is shot. There are a few explanations worth investigating that may yield a less expensive fix, including:

• Fluid levels: A fairly likely explanation for your slipping transmission is a problem with your transmission fluid. Your transmission is a hydraulic system. It uses pressure from the transmission fluid to shift your gears. If you are low on transmission fluid, the gears will struggle to shift, and your car may even overheat. The first thing you should do is check your transmission fluid. If it is low, you will want to refill it, but you should also try to figure out why it is low (see below). If the fluid is at the right level but is a very dark reddish or brownish color, it’s probably burnt out. Drain and replace it with fresh transmission fluid.

• Transmission Bands: Metal bands connect your gears in the transmission. Check to see if one of these bands is broken or worn out. This can happen over time, especially if you run the engine high, particularly if it has ever overheated. If one of your bands is worn out or broken, you will have trouble engaging the gear connected to that particular band.

How to Prevent Transmission Slips

If your transmission problem isn’t due to worn out bands or fluid leaks, then you either need to replace the clutch, the worn out gears, the solenoids or the torque converter. Any of these is a costly repair which is best performed by a mechanic with little you can do about it. If you have an older car, it may not even be worth the repair. This makes it all the more important for you to check out other possibilities first.

It’s possible the car’s onboard diagnostic computer will tell you what the problem is if you have a newer car. This is especially true if you have a solenoid problem. If you do have a newer car and are getting error codes, be sure to check them first to see what they tell you about the status of your transmission.

If you’re still not sure what the problem is, examine those transmission bands. If any of them look significantly worn or broken, replace them. If you are replacing one, you should replace all of them to ensure you are not dealing with this same problem again in a few months.

Next, get under the hood and check to see if your transmission fluid is at the right level. If you do find your fluid level is lower than normal, you will want to locate the source of the leak. If you have a loose seal, a hole in one of your fluid lines, a leak in the transmission pan or a faulty transmission pan gasket, you can probably repair it yourself by fixing or replacing the faulty part. If you’re looking at something such as a cracked torque converter, it’s time to bring the professionals in.

Once you identify the source of the leak and repair it, you can stop the problem from happening again by adding transmission leak sealing solution when you refill the transmission fluid.

Choose Rislone to Prevent Transmission Slipping

Here’s where we come in, and we’ve helped hundreds of thousands of drivers with who are dealing with a slipping transmission.

Our bestselling product for stopping transmission fluid leaks and helping to prevent transmission slipping is Rislone Transmission Stop Slip with Leak Repair. This product is designed to eliminate slipping, fix hard shifting and stop leaking and fluid loss. It’s easy to use, and has been used by consumers and even some mechanics when their customer does not have the funds to do a full transmission rebuild. It’s a great product with a long track record of success.