Dodge Caravan Grinding Transaxle

[remmious]

Well I wanted to throw out this issue I have with my 2003 Caravan with the 3.3L and 65K on it. My wife says when she goes from Park to Reverse and backs up somewhat quickly she can hear the transmission/axle grind. This doesn't happen all the time but on occassion. I've had it happen to me once; same thing going from park to reverse but I wasn't backing up fast. As soon as I put it in drive or take it out of reverse it 'cleared itself'. I dropped the pan last night to take a look and do a filter change, unfortunately they gave me the wrong filter so it ended up a partial fluid change, everything appeared fine and the fluid was the right color and didn't smell or appear 'burnt'. There was no chunks or anything that caught my attention.

Any ideas on what might cause this 'grinding' sound?

Thanks in advance!

 

[JTK]

Possibly a vibrating heat-shield?

 

[dickwells]

Is it All Wheel Drive per chance? Also, you need to drive it and report the noise you hear rather than presenting hearsay evidence.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

I wonder if the parking lock pawl is dragging slightly. I would check the shift linkage adjustments, and maybe the motor mounts. If,(when), the front the front motor mount breaks, it will cause the motor to rock back and forth when shifting from forward to reverse.

 

[remmious]

No its not AWD, just FWD. It wouldn't be the heat shield, it's definitely in the transaxle. We can't get it to do it all the time so the dealership says they can't do anything about it until they can hear it. I've done some internet searching and see it is a common problem but know one has addressed what it is from what I've seen so far. Just trying to get more info/insight from different sources.

 

[remmious]

I'll check into that. It does seem like something hanging up and when I shift again it took care of it. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Quest]

lol remmious-

What do you mean by "grinding"? Is it a jerk when shifting from P to R associated to some gear teeth grinding noise (kinda like when you try to shift in gear w/o depressing the clutch pedal when learning how to drive an M/T car)?

 

[mikeg5]

lol not surprised.. its a chrystler.. i hope the new company owners will highlight quality workmanship bc they have gone down the drain in quality and customer satisfaction

 

[remmious]

Quote:

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lol not surprised.. its a chrystler.. i hope the new company owners will highlight quality workmanship bc they have gone down the drain in quality and customer satisfaction

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I COULDN'T AGREE MORE! This is our second Mopar and just like the last one the suspension and steering is shot and needs repairs, motor sounds like a diesel, and it sounds like chicken bones in the food disposal when I back up.

Problem with a Mopar is the depreciate so fast you have to buy another one with all the factory rebates to make up some of the negative equity! Once you're hooked it costs a lot to get out of it!

Don't mean to offend anyone but just personal taste - Mopar =

 

[remmious]

Quote:

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lol remmious-

What do you mean by "grinding"? Is it a jerk when shifting from P to R associated to some gear teeth grinding noise (kinda like when you try to shift in gear w/o depressing the clutch pedal when learning how to drive an M/T car)?

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Pretty close but not quit to the harsh extent.

 

[MrCritical]

How long ago did the problem start? With some of the newer transmissions you have to wait a sec when shifting from Drive to Reverse before the shift is accompolished. If you accel too fast immediately after the shift, the transmission isn't in gear yet.

 

[remmious]

It's been fairly recent and in the manual (who reads the manuals, geez) it has a big CAUTION box that says to wait until the engine returns to idle and to what until it comes to a complete stop before shifting. So that was in actually in the 'book'. I asked my wife about it and to pay more attention but she says it happens when she stops, puts it in park, gets out and gets the mail, and then backs up about 75-100ft to get onto our road. So it's idled down and at a stop when she shifts. She says it's when she goes in reverse fast. How fast is fast? Good question and she doesn't really know. I'm hoping this thing makes it another couple of years so it can be paid off. Wouldn't mind not having a payment and that was the plan but we don't know if the van will make it that long!

Thanks for all the advice. It's greatly appreciated!

 

[va3ux]

If this happens after it's been sitting overnight, especially on damp mornings, it's the brake pads dragging over the light surface oxidation on the brake rotors. It is a sort of grinding sound. Usually disappears after the first couple of applications of the brakes. This is common to many manufacturers, not just Chrysler.

If this doesn't describe the conditions when the sound is heard, then I don't know what it is.

 

[remmious]

I wish it was just the breaks but I am very confident it's in the transaxle area. When it had happened to me personally it could have been caused by quick shifting and throttle. I was in a hurry and was on the throttle maybe a little to quick when I put it in reverse. That's my personal experience with the issue, the rest are my wifes, and that's a whole other story. The van could be on fire and she wouldn't notice so that's kind of what I have to deal with. Tonight I went about as fast as possible in reverse down the driveway and nothing. I have no clue but I hope she starts to pay attention to what she was doing when it happens so we can figure it out.

Again thanks for the replies. It never hurts to through out the 'simple' and over looked, happens way to often.

 

[meep]

if I recall, our '02 would delay R engagement if the car was still rolling. It would kind of "pulse" until the car stopped rolling, then engage. The 02's forward benefited from transaxle improvements (the 41te is basically a reworked a604, tho IMO still marginally adequate).

for kicks and grins, humor me here.

1 start car, headlights on, blower on.
2 pop hood
3 with a digital voltmeter, measure V from frame of alt (not engine, not bracket) to battery (-) post (not clamp)
4 if it reads more than half a volt, you may...

...be experiencing erratic oper due to weak grounds. I stumbled across this with our '02 by accident due to flickering 12V power. Made a bunch of ground straps and oddly enuf the shifting improved...

Mike

 

[jazztrumpet216]

If it happens when it's shifting, it's a solenoid noise. Sounds kind of like "buzzzzzzzzzz-tick." Very common on Chrysler 4 speeds and is not indicative of a problem, other than a noisy solenoid. My 1999 has done this for a very long time and it is fine.

 

[chiefsfan]

When walking, I can always tell when a Chrylser comes up beside me and slowly stops. Seems they all do the buzzzz-tick as jazztrumpet216 describes. I don't own one, but I think it must be normal as they slow to a stop.

 

[va3ux]

Quote:

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When walking, I can always tell when a Chrylser comes up beside me and slowly stops. Seems they all do the buzzzz-tick as jazztrumpet216 describes. I don't own one, but I think it must be normal as they slow to a stop.

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It is normal. It's the way the solenoid pack works in the 42LE that makes that sound.