97 caravan 3.0 3 speed tranny

[notamechanic]

I bought my caravan 14 months ago with 96000kms on it. With a new transmission installed a week before we bought it. Has run like a top and have had absolutely no problems with it. Well... 5 days ago it started making a whistling/whining noise-sounded like the alternator. Called our dealer mechanic and was told that it sounded like the bearing in the alternator and to bring it in. Sat. a.m. my wife took it in and the mechanic looked it over. Not the alternator but possibly the transmission. He checked the fluid level and said it was down so he added a litre thinking that might fix it. Nope. Told my wife to bring it back Mon. a.m. and he'd take the tranny out and look for the problem. Well, my wife didn't even get across town and it would not reverse. She also needed to push the pedal to the floor to make it go anywhere. We managed to get it home and there it sits. This is the thing...we've only put 15000 kms on it since we bought it! It also seems funny to me that it ran find with exception of the embarrassing whining, until the mechanic looked at it, then all of a sudden bang it's a piece of crap. Any ideas. Please help. Oh and we were told the tranny had a 1yr. warranty on it but it's been about 14 months.

[GTP Dad]

Sounds like the tranny went again. The torque convertor probably went too. If you can't afford to replace the tranny with a new one a used one is always an alternative from a salvage yard. Unfortunately, this is one of the hazards associated with buying a used vehicle I just replaced a tranny in my GTP. Had only 10K miles on it since we bought the car. Cost $2400 to replace. Didn't want a used one because the car is supercharged. Also the transmissions in Chrysler minivans are the weak link in this vehicle. Although I would have expected a rebuilt transmission to last more than 15000 Kms.
As far as the mechanic goes I don't think he did anything wrong unless he put the wrong fluid in the transmission.

[notamechanic]

What is the right type of fluid? Which should not be used?

[GTP Dad]

The correct fluid for the Chrysler 4 speed transmission is Chrysler ATF+4 Mercon or Dexron will destroy the transmission. The fluid can be from another manufacturer as long as it is ATF+4. The older transmissions used an ATF+3 which should not damage the transmission but the ATF+4 is the best. You should refer to your owners manual to insure you use the proper type.

[GTP Dad]

Sorry about that but since you have a three speed the ATF+3 for Chrysler transmissions should be fine. Just make sure that the mechanic did not use Mercon or Dexron or Ford Type F these will destroy the transmission. However, I don't believe that this is the problem. It sounds like you have bigger problems that were going on before the mechanic put the additional fluid in the transmission and that is what caused the problem.