What Color is Transmission Fluid?
Transmission fluid ensures your car has maximum performance. Clean fluid is red but when it ages, it becomes darker and looks burnt red. At this point, you need to change your fluid to ensure your car runs smoothly.
What Does the Transmission Fluid Do?
The transmission fluid is essential to the optimal performance of the car and works like motor oil. The fluid cools and lubricates the car’s moving parts, remember, all the gears are metal-to-metal contact points and spin at thousands of revolutions a minute.
Without lubrication, your gears will generate more friction and heat, which can damage the entire transmission system.
The transmission fluid ensures all gears are well-lubricated to enable them to move efficiently. The fluid also builds hydraulic pressure that helps automatic transmission change, this is the main reason why manufacturers and mechanics advise drivers and car owners to use the right transmission fluid.
How to Tell the Transmission Fluid Colors?
Expect your car transmission fluid to darken with time after prolonged use. The darkening color also signifies contamination. Contaminants usually get past an old fluid or a malfunctioning transmission filter.
The color guide given below helps you check the car transmission fluid color and know if you have a problem that requires changing the fluid.
Dark Red Fluid Color
When the transmission fluid is brand new, it has this color. The translucent red color shows that you have a perfectly healthy and clean fluid that will lubricate and clean your transmission system well. This fluid is not contaminated or aged.
It’s the color of transmission fluid with no problems. Experts highly recommend that you check your fluid color regularly when it’s red to ensure it remains healthy.
Darker / Brick-red / Light Brown Fluid Color
This is the color you get when your car has gone over a thousand miles. The color is slightly more opaque but still means your transmission fluid is perfectly safe to use, so let it continue working. Continue regularly checking the fluid color for any change in quantity or color.
Rust Red / Deep Blood Red / Dark Brown Fluid Color
The moment you see this fluid color, it spells trouble and you should start considering replacing or changing the fluid. The color signifies that your fluid is cloudy and is an early sign of the fluid needing changing.
Also, your transmission system is not getting enough lubrication. Remember, poor lubrication causes excessive wear and damage to the internal parts. Besides, the color signifies a serious problem that can lead to an increase in heat in your car transmission system causing system failure.
Take urgent action to prevent damage to your transmission system. Change the fluid and filter or do a complete transmission fluid flush.
Almost Black/ very Dark Brown or Burnt Fluid Color
The transmission fluid is almost black or brown is a clear sign of serious issues. You need to attend to the problem immediately. Consult your mechanic or drive to a service center for immediate assistance. The transmission fluid condition is poor, which may be causing serious internal damage.
If still, the system is working well, consider flushing it or changing the fluid and filter. In case there is damage, then do contact a professional to do repairs before you change the transmission fluid.
Light Pink Fluid Color
This color shows you have a severe transmission system problem. Probably the water or coolant has entered your transmission system and the friction clutches are falling apart and the seals are destroyed.
The water may have gotten there because there is a leak or damaged section in your transmission oil cooler line. The consequence is a catastrophic failure of your transmission system which will need rebuilding or replacement.
What Color Should your Transmission Fluid be?
There is no clear answer to this question. However, make sure the transmission fluid you have in the car is not cloudy, overly dark, or brown because those are signs that your fluid needs changing. Healthy or clean transmission fluids have dark red or brick-red colors.
What Does it Mean if a Red Fluid Leaks from the Car?
If your car leaks a red fluid, it means your vehicle is leaking transmission fluid. The red color identifies the type of hydraulic fluid. However, sometimes you need more than the color to differentiate the fluids. For instance:
Odor
Transmission fluids have a distinct smell like petroleum. A transmission fluid that is overdue for changing smells burnt. So, there it is how you know.
Consistency
Transmission fluids are oily and feel oily. Also, the fluids are slick like the brake fluid or engine oil.
Leak Location
Check the location of the leak. If the leak happens at the front of the car close to the middle, you have a transmission fluid leak.
The above three features help you narrow down the leak to a transmission fluid leak as they are distinct from any other hydraulic fluid.
While color may be similar to a different fluid, the three features mentioned narrow it down for you and make your work easier.
FAQs
What Color is the transmission fluid?
Clean or healthy transmission fluid is translucent red or dark red. The color helps in identifying the fluid and tells if your fluid has aged, which means you need to change it.
New transmission fluid can be blue, or yellow, but most are red. The fluids come from different manufacturers, which is the reason you must be careful about the ones you put in your car.
The darker colors are mostly because of contamination by dirt, coolant, or water. This happens mostly because the filter is not working well. Also, oxidation gives the fluid the burnt smell.
What does discolored transmission fluid mean?
Discolored transmission fluid is a sign of a serious problem and that you need transmission service. Light and almost clear fluid mean the problem is very serious.
Dark brown opaque color signifies dirty, contaminated, and old transmission fluid. This fluid doesn’t give your system adequate lubrication.
Plus, the dark brown transmission fluid causes transmission failure because it has lost its cooling ability, and heat increases in the transmission system. Discolored fluid is a sign that you need to change or flush it. It has lost the ability to protect the internal components of the transmission system.
How do you know if your transmission fluid needs to be changed?
Watch out for the squealing or grinding noise. Pullover the moment you hear it and check your transmission fluid level when the engine is running.
Also, check the color of the fluid. If the fluid color is not bright red, then you need to change the fluid. Change your transmission fluid to prevent damage to the transmission system.
What are the symptoms of dirty transmission?
The symptoms are similar to those of bad transmission fluid. The vehicle makes strange grinding noises and when you check the fluid color it looks dark or cloudy. This means the fluid has contaminants like dirt, or transmission cooler.
The cooler is responsible for cooling your car’s transmission fluid. You have difficulty when shifting gears or the engine misfires or stalls.
Plus, you experience transmission overheating problems similar to low fluid levels.
Can I add the new transmission fluid to the old?
Absolutely no. First, drain the old fluid from your transmission pan. Refill it with new or fresh transmission fluid. Flushing the old fluid ensures no contaminants are left that can affect the fresh fluid. Also, it ensures the new clean fluid has all its properties to ensure optimal performance of the transmission system.
Final Thoughts
The color of the transmission fluid helps determine the underlying problems in your transmission system. Any color apart from red doesn’t mean there is a problem with your transmission system, so don’t make assumptions. Regardless of the fluid color, you see, ensure your transmission system is serviced by a professional.
Change the fluid at the recommended intervals according to your vehicle owner’s manual. This ensures your transmission system is in perfect health. Try to change the fluid every two years or after every 30,000 to 50,000 miles whichever comes first.
Heavy-duty vehicles require more routine servicing because of the amount of heat their transmission system generates because of the heavy load.
Most importantly, change the transmission fluid depending on the fluid color. Whenever the color changes to darker brown replace it and don’t wait for it to turn black.
