I started my van this morning, and the engine started making a very loud whine. My first assumption is that the transmission is going, which I've read is a common problem with these vans. It has 130,000 miles on it. I then noticed that the speedometer reads about 20-25 mph when I have it in either drive or reverse, without moving. It only drops to 0 when I put it in park. Also, when I come to a stop, I fell it drop down to a lower gear several seconds after I've come to a complete stop. What does everyone think?

 

You should check the filter screen in the power steering resevoir. It can become clogged and cause the pump to cavatate and whine.

The reservoir can be replaced at a nominal cost or I have cleaned the screen with carb cleaner. Just be carefull if you decided to clean it and don't punch a hole in it while removing the ATF+4 fluid. A turkey baster works well to remove the fluid. Some fluid will still be left in the reservoir and will come out when the lines are removed. The 3rd bolt, 10mm, is underneath and will only need to loosened to lift off the reservoir.

This may or may not have anything to do with the speedometer.

 

Thanks. I've had the power steering issue before, and this is different. The speedometer jumps all around when the van is in gear, but stopped. Also, the gears are dropping very hard. Yesterday, I was at a red light, and I felt the transmission jerking all around and the speedometer was jumping all over the place.

 

Any codes being set? Is the fluid level ok and how does it look? Pink or red would be nice - brownish may indicate a problem especially if it smells burnt. Do you know for certain that only ATF+4 has been used? If you haven't already done so recently, you may get further info by dropping the tranny pan and have a look at what's in there. Anything but a thin layer of sludge on the bottom of the pan and magnet would likely point to a problem. Beyond that, there are some smaller ticket, DIY things that can go bad, such as input/ouput speed sensors, solenoid pack, and TCM. If none of the lesser things are the problem, about all that's left is the big one

 

I am not a mechanic, but that sounds a bit like a problem a friend had with a different make vehicle with over 100K miles on it. It ended up being a bad solenoid pack which resulted in a bad tranny over time. There were codes previously set which indicated errors coming from the solenoid pack.

 

How do I check the codes? I was sitting at a red light this morning and the engine started bucking like it was trying to change gears. The speedometer was jumping around between 5 mph and about 30 mph while I was at a stop. Then, the transmission light came on.

 

Have you been able to get the fluid level and quality checked yet? If you don't think you can do that yourself, go to Autozone or another auto parts store. Most of them will check codes for free, and they MAY also check the fluid level for you as well. It would be best if you drove only a few minutes, and then you can tell them it's cold, and to use the "cold/low marks". You need to get the level checked ASAP, so if the parts guys won't do it, then take it to a transmission shop. If the fluid is low, the only thing allowed in these vans is ATF+4 (any brand). Allow no substitues.

If the fluid level is ok, or adding doesn't fix the problem, step 2 is to review the code(s). If the likely P0700 code is present, you will need to have a transmission shop read the TCM codes, along with the rest of the diagnosis of the problem.

 

I've checked the fluid, and the level and quality were fine. It is giving me code P 0700.

 

I just took the van up to the auto store. They read the diagnostic code and got P 0720.

 

Looks like a reasonable chance you may be getting this fixed a minimal cost (as compared to what it might have been). That's an output speed sensor code, and if that's what the problem is, the retail cost of that sensor is around $50. An easy DIY, but if you don't do any of this stuff you can figure a repair bill of $100-150. If the repair shop you take it to does not agree it's an output speed sensor, I would try to get a second opinion at another shop.