Transmission problem
2000 Other Oldsmobile Models 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 71,000 miles
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For about 10 months our van will intermittently make a high pitched whining noise while accelerating and shift hard. If we shut the engine off for a few minutes it will usually stop doing this for awhile. Sometimes, in the same trip, we have to stop a few times. Any ideas??

I had this problem on my '99 Silhouette and it turned out that the pressure control solenoid in the transmission had failed. It is about $700 to repair this through the dealer. The part is only about $150, but the entire transmission needs to be dropped in order to replace the part.