Services
Hands On Auto Tech®
Transmission Services
Our Transmission Service is very unique compared to most other shops. When we service your transmission we always remove the fluid pan and replace the filter if it is an option on the vehicle. We always use the specific transmission fluid that your vehicle calls for. We keep Honda, Toyota, and Mopar transmission fluid in stock. We also keep CVT transmission fluid in stock as well as fluid for BMW and Audi. For GM and Ford we offer an option of using Valvoline’s Max Life Transmission Fluid or fluid directly from the dealer.
If your vehicle does not have a transmission filter that can be changed without removing the transmission, we offer the option to do a single drain and fill, double drain and fill, or remove the transmission cooler lines to push the fluid out utilizing the transmission’s built in pump. What we will not due is hook a machine up to your vehicle to try to force fluid into or out of the transmission. See examples of a vehicle after a machine flush below.
Here you can see all the dirt stuck to the filter after a machine flush. This will cause the transmission to starve for fluid, damaging the pump and solenoids.
For transmission’s that are very dirty or are starting to experience sticky solenoids, we offer BG products transmission service kit. This two part kit includes a cleaner designed to remove varnish and dirt from the valve body and cooler. We then remove all of the fluid from the transmission by removing the cooler lines and adding fresh fluid until all the old fluid has been removed. For vehicles with a pan this is done once before the pan is removed and the filter replaced, and once again after the pan is installed
This magnet needs to be removed and cleaned off by hand. No amount of machine flushing will remove the metal from the magnet. A dirty magnet covered in clutch material can not continue to capture new debris inside the fluid.
While our service takes longer and costs more then the service you may see at other shops, it is a job done right, and the fluid will remain clean looking for many months after the service. For a job done right the first time count on Hands On Auto Tech for all of your vehicle repair and maintenance needs.
Here you can see a transmission filter after being serviced with a machine flush. The crud is stuck to the filter and slowly falling off.
Safety Inspection
Safety is always important, but even more so when you are traveling with precious cargo.
In some states across the country, a vehicle safety inspection is mandatory every year or so. It used to be mandatory in Colorado too at one point, but is no longer enforced. In Pennsylvania I was a certified safety inspection mechanic. There is a 175 page booklet that I had to know front to back in order to perform these inspections. You can find a copy of this inspection booklet here.
A full safety check on a small car can take easily an entire hour. On an SUV and Truck it can run a little longer. Because I know how important this is, and I know that it is so rarely done out here, I make sure that just about every vehicle that comes into my shop receives one of these inspections. This is why it takes us an hour to do an oil change. It costs me a lot of shop resources and money to be able to do this just as a courtesy, but I realize how important it can be, and I take pride in trying to make the roads a little safer for all of us.
Please make sure that you take the time, at least once a year, to get your vehicle checked out properly for both safety and maintenance items. It could save you money in the long run, and possibly someones life.