1st gear only? - 05' BASE w/99k miles; NO MIL/SES

[thetandycollector]

My other half and I were recently given a 2005 Montana (base) with more miles on it than God... 359k. Was an Enterprise rental for the first three months of it's existence and sold to the next owner with 25,800 miles at only four months old. Still solid, and we love the van... but we are looking for one that shows a bit less cosmetic wear, as this one is reminding people of Granny Clampett.

A local dealer I do business with has a near-mint 2005 Montana w// ext base trim and 99k miles of one-owner use. However, they indicated "the van has a weak transmission and slips, as-is, where-is." They did allow me to (attempt) to drive the van, and as far as I could tell it never slipped once, but didn't shift out of 1st gear at all either for that matter. Reverse and 1st had great engagement without hesitation or slip.

Anyone have any ideas? Here's some extra info that may help... :
- van had not been started in about two months, but started easily.
- when instrument cluster in "bulb test" mode, MIL (SVC ENG SOON) DOES light up for 3secs as per GM tech data.
- MIL/SES goes dark after test mode and does not re-illuminate.
- At the time I drove the van, there were no DTC's stored in the PCM, HOWEVER, the computer had been recently cleared and I didn't have my MODIS with me to pull pending codes or datastream when I drove it.
-ATF did appear a little more gray than usual, but from the look of the AT fluid pan, it's NEVER been changed.
-We attempted to drive the van both with a cold engine/trans and at normal operating temps. NO DIFFERENCE.

Let me just say that if this was a Grand Caravan with a 41TE or an A604, I'd already have it diagnosed and half fixed.... I don't deal with FWD GM's all that often, but I know these symptoms on a FWD Mopar indicate an electrical issue, and hoping that's the issue here. Any info or help I can get with this is greatly appreciated, I assure you, as I need to make an informed decision before actually buying this thing and right now I haven't got the time to do all the research myself due to family issues.

Best regards, TANDY **

[Blue Bowtie]

You'll have to get your Brick and go back to see if there is a VSS signal to the PCM. You can also try manually starting in 2nd gear to see if there is any difference.

There are a LOT of possibilities, but it seems like you already know that.