Hi all,

I purchased a few months ago my Grand Caravan 2011 for my Computer business. For the most part, I'm satisfied, specially regarding the fuel economy.

BUT.....

Since Day 1, I've been having issues shifting from First to Second gear as the transmission will slip somehow. Here's some explanation.

The way I park my van :
- My van is ALWAYS backed up in my driveway just because my sidewalk is on the right hand side of my house. There is a very slight inclination going towards the street.

How to reproduce the problem :
- Get in my van, start the engine, engage the transmission in Auto mode, leave my driveway either going left or right doesn't matter. As soon as the transmission will shift the second gear, I can feel a major shudder the whole front end of the van shakes like crazy for about 1 second and then from there, everything is good. If I stop at that point and try to reproduce it, it WON'T do it. I have to wait about 30 minutes, restart the engine and so on.

Other thing I noticed :
- When I back up in my driveway, if I stop my front wheels just before the little bump ( 2 inchs or so ) and gently press the gas to keep backin up and get over the bump, I can feel a certain "waving" coming from the transmission. ( hard to explain, but I could also say a "Smooth shaking"

What has been done so far :
- After figuring out how to reproduce the problem, I was able to show my dealership and they immediatelly ordered a new transmission. When they took the old transmission, we found alot of Debris/shavings in the oil and a good amount of tiny tiny brownish alluminum powder in the transmission oil pan.

- After installing he new trasmission, everything seemed fine for...2 days then the problem reoccured. I'm now at 15288KM on my van and I brought it back to the dealership and told them that I dont want it back until it's fixed. They are very cooperative but also clueless of what's going on.

- We flashed the ECU this week but did not solve the problem.

- I talked to my salesman into taking my Van back, I will have an answer tomorrow. This is a business car and I have no time to spend at dealership other than Oil changes.

Codes :
- Absolutely no codes have been recorded by the computer. wiitech was connect in offline mode during a drive and all the numbers seems to be fine.

I'm not doing this thread to bitch in anyway, but to try to help my dealership into resolving this issue. If you have any comments that could help us, please feel free to post, otherwise if it's to bitch, don't even bother posting.

Thanks everyone. Maybe we can make this Topic Sticky if we find a decent answer

 

seems many are having issues with the 2011 ones now. same tranny as previous but maybe they changed a few things. keep us informed.

 

I too have a 2011. I've also noticed the shuddering in reverse, especially on an incline. I only have 2,000 miles on it and it has done that since day 1. I haven't noticed anything in first except for some occasional hard shifts. I was on vacation in the Smoky Mountains last week and the hills were a bit of a challenge for the transmission if you would. I ended up leaving it in 3 or 4 while climing most of the time to keep it from shifting down constantly but I have to say I'm not impressed with the transmission in general. I love the new engine though, and over a the course of the trip my average highway mileage was just over 28mpg going 75 with the AC on. I have not taken the car back to the dealer to have them look at it, I was going to wait to see if the problem worsens.

 

I forgot to mention one more thing. When coming to a stop, or slowing and the rpm's and declining close to 2000/1500 or so, I notice a whistling, or whirling noise that almost sounds like a turbo spooling. It is rather quiet but if you do not have the radio on and the windows are open you can hear it. I'm not sure if it is the transmission or the motor. I've never heard this on any car before and just wondered if it was normal, or if any one else noticed it on their 2011?

 

Yes it seems tranny problems are hitting the 2011's too bad....My 2011 will be seeing the dealer in a few.......2000miles on the ticker....

 

When ever y'all will go to the dealership, try to see/know if there is any shavings/debris in the oil. Mine was pretty bad that way. That could be a good indicator if alot of us has that going on....

 

For those having problems at initial start up, I had similar issues a few years ago (as had others) with Grand Cherokees. It was determined that this was normal and had to do with traction control engaging at initial start up. This may very well be what everyone is experiencing (at least after initial start up)

 

Hi. Thanks for the input but finding shavings and debris in the oil isn't what the dealers might consider as "normal" in my book. My van is still at dealership as they were performing oil presure tests today.

 

There should not be any shaving in the oil. The biggest problem the transmission is having is the underdrive compounder bearings, thats where the shaving are coming from. Chrysler is aware of this problem. Also note: shudder in reverse on a incline is normal for the 41TE,62TE,42LE and 42RLE transmission.

 

Bump ?

Someone ?