Hi folks. I've found excellent info on this forum in the past and now figure I need to join so I can ask some questions.

2001 Grand Caravan Sport, 3.3L v6

Engine light came on and since I had lost of other issues with the vehicle (AC, electrical) I did not check it out immediately (yeah yeah, should have)

Yesterday the automatic transmission started acting up (during my son's driver's license test no less). It whined, and shifted hard, and sometimes refused to go into gear or had a difficult time shifting. Turning it off and letting it sit seemed to correct the problem temporarily, we were able to then drive home, stopping when the whine and slipping began, shutting off the engine for a brief time, and then it would function normally for a half mile or so.

I have found a video of an identical vehicle making the same sound, and the caption identifies the sound as "FILTER RESTRICTED FROM INTERNAL TRANSMISSION CONTAMINATION RESULTING IN HIGH PITCH WHINE."

Here is the video, sounds exactly like my van:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upZGf-nENX8

Does this sound like in fact a filter problem? I can drop the pan and do a filter change, seems simple enough, but this van has other non-related issues that keep me from dumping a lot of cash into it.

I need to get the codes read and see if that sheds light on anything. What else should I be looking at? Go for a filter change first?

 

so have the fluid and filter changed. if that doesn't fix it, you'll need to start shopping for another transmission or vehicle.

 

Have you ck the TCM for any codes? You may have a loss of prime code,the way the pump sounds.

 

Thanks for the advice.

A standard code reader won't get the TCM codes or will it? Where should I go to get the TCM codes read?

sapporo, that sound in the vid is the pump? I know a little about engines, not much about transmissions.