Finding the time in your week to take your car into the mechanic isn’t an easy task to tackle. Even if you aren’t a busy person, this is still taking away your mode of transportation for a while, and that isn’t an easy thing to handle for many people. But can you still drive when you know your car needs to go to the shop? Here’s what you should consider when trying to drive with a broken transmission.

Is driving with a faulty transmission okay?

Short answer: no! The only thing you should do if you think you have a faulty transmission is go for a quick jaunt to your local mechanic. If you have a bad transmission it’s only a matter of time before your vehicle literally won’t be able to drive anywhere. Even if it is something as easy as running out of transmission fluid your car can be irreparably damaged. If you actually do run out of transmission fluid it’s like running out of your engine oil. You’ll damage your vehicle and have a very expensive bill when you get it replaced.

What will happen if I run out of transmission fluid?

The transmission fluid prevents the gears in your car from grinding. No transmission fluid means you can damage the gearbox. You probably already know what happens if you run out of engine oil; your engine will have a meltdown. And no, we aren’t using figurative language. Your engine will overheat and damage itself if you continue to try and drive without oil. That is pretty much what will happen to your gearbox if you let your transmission fluid run out as well.

So, can you drive with a faulty transmission? Well, sure. Probably. Until it gets super damaged. Should you? Nope. If you first notice something wrong when your vehicle tries to shift you’ll want to get your vehicle to a mechanic as soon as you can.