Town & Country 2003 Problem w/ auto transmittion or gears & wiring?

We purchased a 2003 T&C in late April. In early November a strange noise came from what we believed to be the auto transmittion. (Of course, we are looking for opinions as we do not know). It began after 10 or 15 minutes of highway driving. And then when exiting from the highway upon acceleration or deceleration, the noise would begin. The noise is similar to the sound the stearing makes when the wheel is turned sharply to turn into a parking space, etc. But the noise is much louder and happens even when wheel is not being turned. It also sounds like when you are inbetween gears on a manual car. The noise persists for anywhere from 5-20 minutes and does not happen continuously. There is no vibration but when it starts it worsens with the turn of the wheel and can sometimes be felt in the acceleration.

In addition, starting in late September, when we turned on the vehicle the heater did not work. Last week when the vehicle accelerated, the heater in the back went out 2 times in a 1 minute period with each time for just a split second. We don't know if this is related to the above or not but it would appear as if there was a short in the wiring or ?

The vehicle was brought to the dealer where it was purchased and services once they heard the problem. They ordered a new part and while I don't have the papers in front of me, I believe the part had to do with the transmittion/steering system. This has done nothing to assist. Fortunately the vehicle is covered under warrenty.

Any ideas or input to our above problem? We are taking the vehicle back on Monday to be serviced again... If there is any knowledge out there it would be appreciated so we can analyze and hopefully this will assist with diagnosing the core of the problem. If you hav anything else you want to know to assist, let us know.

Thank you.

Find out if they replaced the power steering lines, specifically the return line. There was a problem with some power steering units and there was I believe a small recall that affected your year van. If the dealership can't tell you, you can call DaimlerChrysler's 800 number in your owners manual.

I have the exact same problem and it happened around the exact same time. Bought April 2003, noticed around Nov. 2004. Dealer don't know what it is. Mine is an EX. I think it has something to do with power steering.