I recently junked my old 96 grand caravan with over 300,000 miles on it. It was a good reliable vehicle until all the bells and whistles with age and high mileage came. One problem I had was the transmission. It started when it was cold out. I would back my van up but when putting it into drive, it would not shift. It was as if I was in nuetral. Same thing if I came to a sudden stop, hot or cold out. After several other things went wrong I bought a 2000 twin. Can u see how much I loved this van? Lol. Anyhow the new van only had 80,000 miles on it and ran great for about another 10,000 and a yr UNTIL the trainy started doing the exact thing! I know there is a slow leak but I keep an eye on fluids and fill when needed but this is becoming a daily thing. Sometimes if I slam on gas (which I have had to to prevent accidents) the van will make a little popping noise somewhere in the engine then finally jerk into gear but I don't like to do that.
Can anyone tell me what the hell is going on with these trainees?

 

??trainees?? are these new employees in training?


what the "HELL" is going on with the transmission is a clutch apply problem. This is going to require someone to diagnose it with a scanner connected to transmission controller (TCM) autozone and other parts stores that say they can get codes cannot access the transmission.

if you just cannot stand the thought of having it professionally inspected and cannot put your hands on a scanner, then you can always just change fluid, filter and see if that helps... if not then put in some speed sensors, solenoid pack, TCM, etc... but now you're looking at changing parts guessing at the problem

 

Check around at transmission shops, many will do a scan for free (hoping for your business) .

 

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Welcome to DF
I going to say the same thing as everyone else has been saying. Have the van check for codes,and popping sound maybe a misfire problem. When you have the codes pulled,post them and all of can help you.