Automatic Transmission problems of the 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan

Transmission is going out at 64,000 miles.

2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. Consumer states rapid deceleration the consumer stated while driving with the cruise control activated, the vehicle suddenly down shifted to what he believed was third gear. The braking effect of the lower gear caused a substantial increase in the engine speed to around the red line area. The rapid acceleration lasted about five seconds and the cruise control was disengaged as quickly as possible. The consumer stated the same incident happened three weeks prior. According to the dealer, it was a normal operation of the vehicle called interactive cruise control and it was more noticeable due to the vehicle having a 6 speed transmission and the vehicle would up and down shift more to keep the vehicle at its set speed.

There was no warning signs as to the following happening. My husband & 2 year old daughter were in the car and about to get on highway 101 ventura CA. , in our 2008 Dodge minivan. Miles on vehicle: 50,000. The van was running but would not accelerate & he had to coast to the side of the road. I am the mother of the 2 year old that was in the van, I am also a nurse who has worked in a level one trauma hospital & have seen the results of terrible accidents. My concern is that if my husband & daughter were on the highway & trapped in a lane that they could not get over in this could of been a fatality. Dealership tells us that there is a crack in the transmission that caused the above situation. We had our van at a the local dealership in June 2010 for a different recall & they did a diagnostic test, so they said. . . . And now this. 2. My inlaws just bought a 2008 Dodge minivan 43,000 miles & one week after they bought it the same thing happened to them on vacation.

2008 Dodge Grand Caravan sxt. The dealership never made customer aware of an internal memo (rrt - rapid response transmissal) to fix main lthrust bearing in transmission in summer of 2009. Transmission must be replaced as of July of 2010. Dealer/manufacturer is not cooperating. The dealership had information in July 2009 while vehicle was under factory warranty and never made customer aware of bearing problem. Vehicle has since passed out of warranty and dealer is charging $5000. 00 to fix transmission. I believe this situation to be border line fraud with very dangerous ramifications to my wife and three children.

Brakes, transmission, doors.

There weren't any signs leading up to the device failure. Drove into a store parking lot and into a parking spot where I attempted to shift into park with the automatic transmission shifter knob when the whole knob popped of into several pieces leaving me stuck in drive and forced to apply the emergency brake. The vehicle was then turned off and I was able to get it into park. Vehicle has since been to the dealer for repairs, but the part is unavailable at the moment. Vehicle is drivable, but tricky when dealing with the shifter knob. I consider this a safety issue with the vehicle and have read elsewhere of the same problem occurring with the same year, make, and model of vehicle.

Poor transmission design robert c hodgkiss gentlemen: I recently bought a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan and while going down a long steep section of roadway I down shifted the transmission to slow the van down but being such a steep grade the van increased speed causing the transmission to automatically shift to the next higher gear, ending up free wheeling, leaving only the breaks to slow the van down. (if you are going to fast to start with it won?t even down shift). Now I asked the mechanic, what happens if I loose my brakes, the answer he had was it?s a design feature, so I concluded that if I would push on the emergency break, which locks, that would put me into an uncontrolled slide which makes no sense at all. I strongly believe that this is a very serious problem that must be addressed. What if you are coming down a mountain road while towing a trailer, you would have to apply the breaks to keep the transmission in a lower gear. What happens if your breaks fail, that?s right the van shift up to freewheeling? leaving you to do what, use the emergency break which locks you into a skid. Because the emergency brake pedal has to be pushed the second time to unlock. Now I ?am sure everybody can remain calm and remember to do all this while towing a trailer with your wife and six children in the back of the van, screaming what is the matter?.

2008 Dodge Grand Caravan engine light came on while driving. Transmission started back into limp mode. Took to back to dealer on 05/03/08 for evaluation. Dealer kept vehicle for one week and finally tore transmission down and replaced internal parts.