It's never good to ignore problems you're having with your car's transmission, as it's not likely that the problem will go away or just fix itself. Instead, you may wind up with more expensive repairs down the road or your car's transmission may suddenly fail when you're driving, keeping you stuck in park or neutral. Note a few things you can do to troubleshoot the most common transmission problems you might experience, so you can be prepared for the conversation you might have with your mechanic about how to fix it.

1. Leaking fluid

Vehicle fluids don't actually all look alike, which is how you can often tell which fluid is leaking when you see stains or puddles on your driveway floor. Transmission fluid is red in color and it may have a burning smell when it leaks, but not the smell of oil or gasoline. If you notice a puddle or drips under your car but you're not sure if it's transmission fluid, you might actually take a picture and show that to a mechanic and he or she may be able to tell from the color alone if it's from the transmission. They would then need to find the source of the leak before you simply refill the reservoir with fluid. 

2. Noisy in neutral

If you put your car in neutral and you notice it seems to bump, hum, or otherwise make noises, this can mean that your car is low on transmission fluid. When your car doesn't have enough transmission fluid, you may hear the gears grinding as they're not properly lubricated. There may also be worn bearings or the teeth of certain flywheels of the transmission may have worn down so that you hear them grinding. Very often these sounds are present when the car is in gear, but you may not notice them over the sound of the engine; when the car is in neutral and more quiet, you then notice the transmission acting up.

3. Jumping gears

Your car should never jump gears, meaning change gears on its own. If this happens, often it's the teeth to those flywheels that are worn down so that the transmission cannot stay in place. There may also be a chain in the transmission that is not slack or tense enough so that it doesn't keep the transmission in gear. You never want to ignore this problem as it will only get worse so that you may eventually not be able to keep your car in gear or change gears at all.

For more information and assistance, contact your local automatic transmission services.