help with auto trans
 

hey folks,

my brother-in-law recently moved in with us due to a relocation. hopefully, he'll be out of here soon, but in the meantime, we're helping him get re-settled the best we can.

he asked me about his auto trans acting funny. it used to creep forward when he took his foot off the brake when in D, but it doesn't do that anymore.

he drives a 2008(?) 2.7L V6 Santa Fe, FWD only.

he did drive from Ft Myers, FL to Rochester, NY (1,500 miles) while towing a U-Haul trailer packed full of stuff, so we both suspect that that might be a big cause of the problem.

any other ideas?

he said that he had a "major service" performed by a dealer before he left, including a transmission service. was it just a simple drain-and-fill?

so..... what should we do? start by checking the fluid level, i guess.

I don't know what you mean by "creep forward when he took his foot off the gas". Can you describe the problem in a little more detail?

well. you know how if you're in D, and if you don't keep your foot on the brake, the car moves forward? his car is not doing that anymore.

i think he really realised it when he was getting coffee from the Dunkin Donuts drive-through. :)

Oh, so you mean when he takes his foot off the BRAKE, not GAS. I won't consider that a problem. To be honest it could be any number of things. Maybe the service tightened up the brakes when adjusted so there is slightly more drag preventing the creep. Maybe the service that was done caused the the idle rpm to be lower so now there isn't enough engine speed to creep forward. I wouldn't worry about it unless there are driveability problems.

just as a simple check i'd give the fluid a quick look yourself. here's the old shade tree mechanic's trick:

pull out the trans dipstick, put some of that fluid on your index finger. rub your index and thumb together to feel the fluid. does it feel gritty? it should, the stuff should be rather smooth. also much like motor oil, not sludgy.

next take a look at the colour. should be a cherry red or pinkish. NOT dark brown or worse yet black.

finally smell it. should smell like well....oil! closest thing i can think of is petroleum jelly. now does that fluid smell burnt? it shouldn't.

if any of these don't check out, its an indication that something *could* be wrong. best thing at that point is to try a fluid flush/change. all of those signs indicate breakdown of the transmission fluid.

in this case i think worst possible damage done was yes from towing - that creates a lot of heat that the transmission cooler might not be up to taking care of 100%. over that long haul, the fluid can break down from the excessive heat. if anything, i would only expect the burnt smell and that probably slightly.

honestly, i wouldn't worry about it too much. this is just a simple check you can do yourself for free. i really doubt there's anything wrong here just as Nova said. if its a big worry in the future, consider a transmission cooler. they're just a small oil radiator that is very easy to install.