Taking care of and maintaining a vehicle can be an expensive business, which is why you should make sure that you are doing what you can at all times to take care of your transmission. Here are five easy ways that you can help keep your transmission in good shape.

#1 Warm Up Your Engine In Cold Weather

When it is really cold outside, let your car start up for a couple of minutes before you get going. You should do this when it is below freezing outside or has just snowed.

Warming up your vehicle in freezing weather gives the fluids in your vehicle a chance to warm up so that they will flow smoothly through your vehicle. Warming up your vehicle also gives time for the ice and snow that is sticking to your vehicle, and possible the mechanical components of your vehicle, a chance to melt away before you get on the road, resulting in safe driving conditions as well.

#2 Watch That Brake Pedal

One of the ways that your transmission gets worn down is through excessive use of your brakes. You shouldn't constantly be tapping and pressing on your brakes the entire time that you are driving. Take your foot off the gas to slow down, and read the flow of traffic so that you can slow down appropriately without riding on your brakes at all times. Excessive use of your brakes can damage and prematurely wear down your transmission.

#3 Come To A Complete Stop

When you shift, you need to make sure that you come to a complete stop before doing so in an automatic transmission car. That means when you put your vehicle into park, you need to be fully and completely stopped; your speed meter should not be hovering around 5mph when you put your vehicle into park. Putting your vehicle into park before your vehicle is fully stop will wear out your engine prematurely.

#4 Check Transmission Fluid

Ideally, you should check all of the fluids, including the transmission fluid, in your vehicle at least once a month. If you don't have the time or don't feel comfortable checking your fluid levels, most oil change shops will check all of your fluid levels and top you off for free in between your oil change. Schedule a small block of time every month to swing through your oil change place in between oil changes to have all of your fluids checked, including your oil.

#5 Change Out That Fluid

Your transmission fluid can go quite a long time without needing changed, making it easy to forget about. However, you should stick to the recommended number of miles that the manufacture recommends for transmission fluid changes. If you are a low-mileage driver, you may want to have your transmission changed every two years even if you have not hit the recommended mileage mark, as particles and contaminants can get into your transmission fluid over time, resulting in the need to have it changed and drained, and not just topped off.

For more information, contact companies like Shift Rite Transmission & Auto.