Whining Accelerator: Dodge Grand Caravan

isabelmqt
Mon, 12 Aug 2013 17:09:35 +0000
Maintenance/Repairs

I enjoy listening to Car Talk, but never seem to be in the right place to ask this question which has evaded answering by all our mechanics so far. My husband is an artist and we travel in the midwest and in Florida year-round, driving our 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan which we love. We have 118,000 miles on the odometer now and a dent or two but otherwise it’s in great shape. About 2 years ago, we started to notice a high-pitched “whining” noise on our way from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to Florida. We were driving in the fall in the lovely Smoky Mountains. The weather was hot, the air conditioning on and the van working hard to climb the mountains. We stopped for gas, and then as we started driving again noticed this whining noise when pressing on the accelerator. The noise did not stop until the next morning when the car was completely cool, but started again when it heated up. This whining continues to happen every time the car is driven long distances/gets very warm. Our Michigan mechanic thought it was the alternator and replaced the alternator and coolant tube in 8/2012 but that did not help. Our Florida mechanic flushed the transmission and replaced the fluid in 5/2013 but that did not help. Neither of them could tell us what causes this noise. Should we just continue to drive it this way or go to another shop? My husband is worried that we will be on the road somewhere and it will just QUIT. Help !!!

5 posts - 5 participants