I have a 2000 Dodge Ram 3500 van that I bought around 8 months ago. It's a great vehicle that's gone many miles in that short time and I've had very few issues with it.

I am concerned about a sudden problem I've noticed. I've been driving in mountains a lot this year, and a couple of days ago while driving down steep grades I threw my van into 1st gear and the engine started squealing. Not quietly either, it was so loud I nearly a startled myself off the road. Immediately threw it back in 2nd and the sound stopped. I've tried putting it back in 1st a few times the last couple of days and keep getting the same result... the sound only happens in 1st, but I'm fairly concerned about it.

Some quick history, the tranny is a auto, the engine had 112k on it when I bought it and is currentlysitting at a little over 124k. I bought the van 8 months ago from a church. The transmission fluid was so low when I bought it took multiple quarts to refill it at the time, but since filling it I havent had a problem. I recently topped it off again with half a quart after fixing a leak.Ive never heard this squealing before.

Any insight as to what the problem is? The sound is quite concerning.

 

Does it only do it when you downshift? If so, doing a fluid/filter change, and band adjustment *might* help. There is a band in there that is only used for manual first gear. Under normal circumstances, it isn't applied in first. (like starting out from a stop sign.)