I bought a 2007 Grand Caravan SXT three weeks ago. As soon as I drove it off the lot, I noticed a stutter or shudderwhen shifting from 3rd to 4th gear. It seems to happen when driving between 30 and 40 mph when shifting into 4th. I took the van into the dealer and they took it for a road test and ran a diagnostic on it and said it was performing normally. The strange thing is that I don't notice the problem as much after the van is warmed up and I have driven it for a while. It also is does not happen all the time, just enough for me to be concerned. The van only has 600 miles on it and I am worried about the reliability of it since I purchased this one, after leasing my last van. Is it possible the vechicle just needs to "break in"?

 

Give time to your transmission ECU to "learn". We have 3000km on ours and I noticed the same thing.

 

Thanks for the quick response! Do you still have the shudder after 3000km? If not, how long did it take to stop shuddering?

 

My wife drives most of the time. But I'll say that the problem disapear mostly, but not completly. We are going in vacation in two weeks, will be doing around 3000km and a quarter of it has some hills, that will be a test.

But for sure, when I drive it I tend to say that there are still few hesitations a slow speed.

But my major irritation is the reverse, third of the time, I see that it is in gear and also, I felt the gear engaged but maybe not fully, push the gas, spin like in neutral. I play a bit with the lever, and finally it gets in gear. I have to tell to take a look into this.

 

My wife drives most of the time also, and of course does not notice anything. And it does seem to happen less often as we get more miles on it. We will be taking a short trip this weekend, so I'll keep an eye on it.

I have not experienced the issue when putting the van in reverse, that seems to be fine.

Keep me updated on how your transmission performs on the vacation, I am curious. Thanks!

 

Hi-I have a 2002 Grand caravan sport-I have had it for 2 yrs now. I noticed soon after getting it that it kinda "jumped" into gear around 20 mph....it did it for a while and then it stopped for a while and now it has started again. It seems like all winter it was fine and now it has started again. I also have the reverse problem sometimes where it hesitates b4 it goes in and I have to push the gas or wait for it to go into gear. Otherwise the van has been fine. I am worried the transmission is going out in it-but considering this problem has been going on for so long I almost wonder it is something else. What could it be? It has 74,000 miles on it now so I am thinking maybe it needs a filter change. Any ideas would be appreciated!

 

When it jumps going into gear around 20 mph, what gear is is going into? Is it 2nd gear or 3rd gear?

Have you had the transmission fluid changed? I think the change interval is about 60, 000 miles.

I think sometimes the jumping or stuttering may be the ECU (electronic control unit) and not the mechanical parts. But if it continues to do it,I would take it to the dealer or a reputable trans shop to have them check it out.

 

I'm not sure what gear that would be-prob 2nd I think. No-as far as I know the fluid hasn't been changed-that is what we plan on doing next. We checked the fluid and it still looked great-clean and clear....thats a good sign right? Thanks for the advice!

 

Yes, clean and clear is a good sign. You don't want dark fluid or a burning smell when you check the stick.

 

I understand there may be a torque converter break in period for the transmission put in Chrysler vechicles? Does anyone know how many miles this is?

My GC has about 900 miles on it now and I still have the stutter problem when shifting from 3rd to 4th and it sometimes seems to hesitate when shifting and the RPM's jump up and back down a few hundred RPM's, like the torque converter or PCM (powertrain control module)is confused. The problem seems to occur when the van is first driven. Once it warms up, I don't notice the problem.

Any advice, Dodge Tech?