Drove with little to no transmission fluid?
I drove 15mi to work and was having a major problem. I don't know much about cars and asked a coworker to look at it. My coworker checked the fluids and showed me there was no transmission fluid. And if there was, it wasn't showing up on the stick. This was the source if the problem… And there's probably a leak somewhere.
Because I drove so far without it (which is a miracle on it's own), did I ruin the transmission?
It's a '01 ford focus… I don't know if that matters.
There's only one way to find out… Fill the transmission to the correct level and see how it drives.
But without the proper level of transmission fluid, the transmission is more susceptible to overheating and permanent damage so let's just hope that the 15 minute drive wasn't enough to overheat it.
You're probably fine, I remember something similar happened to a friends galant. She says she never checked any fluids, we looked and she's been driving thousands of miles with about 5% transmission fluid… And her transmission is fine. Just get some fluid immediately. If your car is automatic it won't shift properly because it uses transmission fluid to shift gears, that's probably which you're were having trouble driving to work. With manual transmissions if you're careful you can drive without it longer
First of all did the "co-worker" know how to check ATF? You must do it with the motor running or else the dipstick will read low. Then if ATF was added it would be overfilled which caused air bubbles or "foaming" of the ATF. This in turn will cause slipping in the clutch packs and fry them. I'll bet you need a tranny.
The transmission had to be getting some fluid or you would not be going no where! You might have caught it in time so fill it up with fluid but leave it down about 1/2 pint until you get someplace to have it checked!
- What was the first car you ever drove? I'm bored so yeah what's the first car you drove. My first car was a modern Ford falcon series 3
- How is the fluid from my radiator on my 1996 Ford Thunderbird mixing with my auto transmission fluid? I've asked and asked and no one seems to have an answer. Please any ideas would be helpful to give me some sort of clue as to where to start to get this fixed. The car still runs fine but its starting to effect the gears changing. Please any ideas would help.
- I drove my Ford Fusion through really deep flood waters and I'm worried I was stuck out in a bad position where I had no choice but to drive through flood water. My car seems fine today, however you can never be too sure and I heard it's possible to have long term damage. What should I look out for?
- Drove over hill too fast and car is making a thumping noise? I have a 2003 ford focus. Today I was driving and went to make a turn fast and went up a hill and it hit my car and made a loud noise. When pulled up my car started making a thumping noise I thought that it was the tire but when I popped the good and accelerated while in drive the engine was moving up it's still running fine but moving and making a thump when accelerating. What could be wrong with it please help.