Hi all,

I just discovered this forum today trying to figure out a problem my wife discovered with our van while I was at work. I can change the oil in it, but that is about the extent of my mechanical ability. I haven't been home yet to verify, but I did have her talk me through them and describe them on the phone.

She reports several things going on:

When the van starts, it starts normally, no weird squeals or whines.
The battery light and service engine light comes on
The steering is really stiff and the brakes are difficult to push down.
When she shifted it into drive, the van rolled backward. She was sure she was not in reverse. She was parked on a slight incline facing up hill.

Is this a simple belt problem, or something more in depth?

It seems to be intermittent - It happened once, she called me. I had her go try again and the van started and operated normally, no problems at all, not even the warning lights came on. She then tried to move the van later that night and the above problems occurred again. She turned off the van and waited a few minutes. She started the van, and it operated normally again.

I'll call in the morning to try and get it into the mechanic, but am curious if anyone thinks it is unsafe to drive it 20 minutes to him.

Thanks in advance, I did try searching the forum for similar problems and could not find any. I did seem to find other vehicles where the brakes are assisted by the power steering pump, but could not find one that confirms this is the set up for a Venture.