Left Front Wheel/Axle Noise

Last year I had my transmission replaced on my 01 Chrysler T&C Limited by a local shop. When the van was returned to me, I had this little; I call it “a crunching sound” in the left front wheel. I returned the vehicle to the shop and they told me it?s the splines between the drive axle and the wheel, nothing that they may have caused. It’s been over 10,000 miles and 1 yr that I’ve been driving the van with this noise. You can only hear it when putting it in gear - drive or reverse. It does seem to be getting a little bit worse, but not much. I want to replace the drive axle, however I’m not convinced that’s the problem. Any ideas what the problem might be ? I appreciate your help. Thanks

Jeff

the vehicle had 94,000 miles on it when the trans went out - it now has 110,000. The mechanic told me that at the time the problem was not a safety issue.

The tolerance in these splines is very small.I can’t connect a “crunching” noise with them.Do you know if the vehicles sub-frame had to be removed to remove the transmission? If yes maybe the sub-frame is not correctly torqued and is moving around.

This may well be the normal sound of the shift solenoids. If I’m right and your transmission shop doesn’t know about this phenomenon, I’d be afraid that they don’t know about the other, most important fact about these transmissions: the need to use the proper fluid without fail (nowadays, that’s ATF+4). Ask them what kind of fluid they put in it. If the answer is anything but ATF+3 (still available a year ago) or ATF+4, get the fluid and filter replaced immediately, and steer clear of that shop in the future.

No, nothing was said about removing the sub-frame. It’s difficult to explain the sound, someone else may call it a sqeeky sound. The shop that replaced this trans was sold shortly after I had it fix last year. The trans is a Jasper remanufactured unit and I trust the mechanic.

As I said earlier, the shop that installed my replacement trans was sold; however, part of the Jasper Transmission warranty includes a transmission fluid change at 5,000 after installation. Oil Express took care of it and I hope they put the right fluid in. I’ve dealt with Oil Express since 2005.