Hi, I'm new to this forum to assist my son who acquire his beautiful Limited Aspen with Hemi & full tow pkg etc., really loaded, he love's it.

He is on their first trailering week with a new 29 foot trailer going around the Gaspe coast in Quebec, Canada.

He is hearing a bearing type grinding noise when going uphill, and if he presses the tow/haul switch, the noise stops.

Now he says it has also done this on uphill grades without towing a trailer, and in pressing the tow/haul switch the noise stops.

I have gone through all 32 pages of this forum and also tried several searches here without any success.

Has anyone experienced this issue, and if so, what was the exterminating correction. Thanks in advance. Concerned Dad.

 

When he was towing, did he engage the tow/haul switch to keep overdrive from engaging? Tow/haul mode improves performance and reduces the potential for transmission overheating or failure due to excessive shifting. This is right out of the owner's manual for the Aspen.

The transmission may have overheated due to towing with overdrive. At a minimum, it's time to replace the transmission fluid and get it checked out.

A "bearing type grinding noise" could also be engine pinging (also called spark knock), especially if it happens when putting a load on the engine (e.g. increase RPMs). Is he using midgrade fuel in his Aspen? Has the vehicle had new spark plugs every 30k miles?

 

Thanks so much for responding;

- He is aware of the purpose and benefits of the Tow/Haul, and he does engage the mode when towing on hills, such as those he is now encountering on the Gaspe coast. He also appreciates the downhill tranny downshift to control speed slowdown and avoid overusing the brakes. He does double tap the brake pedal to engage the tranny downshift.

- If he says he hears a bearing type grinding noise, I believe he knows the sound,
and a pinging/spark knock would be evident to him.

Now, I believe that he did a complete fluid/filters change-out when he acquired the Aspen, I am not certain of the present mileage, nor of which fuel grade he is running on
but will be speaking with him again soon and pass on your input for feedback, and will
post what he has to say. Thanks so much.

 

Hello Sir, checking to see if your son ever pinpointed the issue and resolved it. I am having the same problem and some one told me it could be the torque converter. I feel the grinding noise in the cabin on driver and passenger side floor boards. Does not happen all the time but after driving about an hour it starts. At first thought I checked all pulleys and accessorize with a listening scope and it's not that but rather coming from under and behind engine. Help?