My 1997 Venture just started acting up tonight. As I come to a stoplight and a complete stop, upon trying to start forward again the engine just revs. When I shifted out of drive and up to reverse then back to drive now it goes forward. It happened twice tonight and it never did before.

A little history. I just got this van for a ridiculous price because the previous owner didn't want to put it up for sale and he couldn't get the engine to stay cool. Well, a new rad cap and purging all the air from the cooling system fixed that issue and now it operates normally. It is kinda rusty but not structurally, and all the mechanicals are good and most of the electrical seems to work. It still needs some maintenance and I'm thinking of doing a tranny flush and filter would be my first step into diagnosing this trans issue.

Do you think I'm going in the right direction?

 

Yes , but first check the current transmission fluid level . May just be low . Any visable leaks ?

Best of luck ! :-)

God bless
Wyr

 

So it is slipping into 1st gear. Either a lack of hydraulic transmission pressure, pressure solenoid, or a shift solenoid. The trannies had issues back then. It'll cause more damage if you drive it any more.