Newcastle driving and your gearbox
Towing at the weekend
Boats to Lake Macquarie, caravans up the Pacific Highway, horse floats around Scone in the Upper Hunter, one of the world's largest horse breeding areas. Towing works an automatic hard, and RACV lists it among the reasons a car may need servicing around every six months.
Off the sand at Stockton
Part-time 4WDs lock the front and rear axles together in the transfer case, which is fine on loose sand. Leave it engaged on the bitumen at Lavis Lane or Gan Gan Road and the driveline winds up, because the axles can't turn at different speeds. Switch back to two-wheel drive as you leave the beach.
Who works on gearboxes in NSW
NSW has a separate tradesperson class for transmission work, covering gears, clutches, drive shafts and differentials. For anything beyond a fluid change, a mechanic who does gearboxes every week is worth the wait.
What a transmission mechanic checks first
The fluid's level and condition, any leaks, the fault codes stored in the gearbox computer, and a road test. Plenty of shifting complaints start with low or old fluid, and sorting that is a much smaller job than a rebuild.
CVTs (continuously variable transmissions, which use pulleys and a metal belt instead of gears) are common in small cars and SUVs. They're sealed and shouldn't need topping up, so a low level points to a leak. A worn one makes a noise that grows louder, and driving on risks more damage.
If the fault is inside the gearbox, the choice is usually a repair, a reconditioned unit or an exchange unit. NSW says reconditioned or exchange units should be noted on the invoice, so check they are.
Signs the gearbox needs looking at
- Slipping, or the revs flaring between gears.
- A pause before it takes drive or reverse.
- A whine that gets louder over the weeks.
- Shuddering as the car moves off.
- Red or brown fluid on the driveway.
- On a manual, a clutch that slips or a shift that feels notchy.
If it were our car
We'd get the fluid checked before anything else, and ask whether towing puts the car on the severe schedule in its book. If it's a part-time 4WD that does the beach, we'd make switching out of four-wheel drive the last thing done before leaving the sand.