We recently had a Cylinder 1 misfire reading and had our camshaft replaced. That was about 4 weeks ago.

On Monday we started out on a road trip from Vancouver to LA and while on day 2 of our planned 4 day journey we suddenly heard a loud whine coming from the engine each time the van would accelerate. We pulled over at the next possible turn off to open the hood and inspect for smoke, smells and even leaks to no avail. I started the van up again and heard the noise, stepped on the gas and the noise was louder than before. We had no choice but to try and drive to the next town about 15 miles away. Once again stopped, I turned everything off: AC, lights, cruise control... no real difference. Then at some point we turned off the “econ” button which we normally always have on... after the next start up and a bit of driving the sound disappeared and performance improved. We continued driving without any issues for the rest of the day.

When this first started happening we assumed it was the alternator. But after some research, we found a video in YouTube and showed a van with the exact same noise that we were hearing. The comments kept pointing to the transmission fluid, filter and converter as the culprits. We remembered turning off the “econ” button and noticing the van recover... so we started researching what that button actually does... and to our surprise it apparently has everything to do with exactly the transmission, fluid and converter.

We drove all day today up and down big grades without a single issue or even a noticeable hiccup in gear shifting... until my son turned in the blasted “econ” button without me noticing. Suddenly the RPMs skyrocketed upon accelerating and the transmission timing went completely off. As soon as I noticed that damn green light on again I turned it off, pulled over and turned the van off thinking it may need a soft “reset” ... but even after that the gear shifting has been off and I am quite reluctant to continue our trip down under such worrying conditions.

Guys, what the heck is going on with my van!? HELP!

 

Do you have any way of accurately checking the transmission fluid? Electronic malfunctions will cause harsh shifting but if the transmission is whining/screeching it’s most likely due to a mechanical problem inside the transmission. Checking the fluid level and condition is the first step - it should be clean and not smell burnt when wiped onto a clean white rag/paper towel.

I know it’s not ideal but if you’re in the middle of a road trip, you’re probably better off finding a shop or dealer to have it looked at.

There was a recall issued for the transmission oil pump on vans built from 7-31-15 to 4-18-16. Look at the ID tag on the driver door jamb - the build date will be there. You can also go to nhtsa.gov and check for the recall by VIN (about halfway down the page).

 

Thank you for your reply. Everything that I’ve read says to check the transmission fluid as well, but unfortunately our van does not come with a dip stick and is apparently limited to a check by an official dealer. I don’t want to attempt to check it myself and somehow void our warranty.

 

You won’t void the warranty by checking the fluid. Just don’t add anything except mopar ATF - at least not until the warranty expires.

You can get the correct dipstick for checking the fluid but I don’t know if it’s available off the shelf (I got mine off Amazon). The other problem is you need to know the temperature of the ATF and compare the level and temp readings to a chart - the temp is only accessible with a scan tool on most vans.

At the top of this board in the “sticky” section there is a video on how to use the engine oil dipstick for checking trans fluid.