Help, are these issues/problems related?

I just purchased a 2005 Montanna with 97,000 miles, it is a Canadian van in Km but I purchased from a dealer in the U. S. .. It seemed fine and all fluids looked great.. I have only drove it for 3 weeks. 2x's now I slow at a stop sign, turned and it revs like its in neutral than jumps into drive, yet the shifter is lighted in D with no play.. Also the wipers in off position, every so often, won't go down (even if you shut off the engine).. But then later will if still in the off position.. Then yesterday after starting I had to make numerous attempts to shift it into drive, it felt locked like the key is off, it finally let me shift.. (Its like the van has a mind of its own and takes to long to react than it finally does in each situation). I thought it might be my transmission but am realizing it all is attached to the steering column or to do with electronics. I am a mom but I have learned to fix things myself since after taking my 1998 truck to mechanics and being told the engine and motor had to be rebuilt, without the money, I have driven it 2 years later with no engine lights or transmission problems. I am terrified with this van I will turn and it will hesitate with my kids and animals in the car. Is this a steering wheel thing, could something in the steering column not be shifting it all the way into drive since sometimes it also locks up when I first start it.. It is like the car takes too long to think all 3 things through, then works fine.. :screwy: If it is not the steering column is there a module that controls these electronics?

This is almost impossible to diagnose from here. If you make a turn and the trans slips then catches, the fluid could be low or the trans itself is an issue. Do you mean after stepping on the brake you still couldn't shift to drive? Nothing in the column is going to cause this slippage or disconnect as you describe when going around a turn, you could have the linkage at the trans checked, the wipers could be an internal issue in the wiper motor or possible issues with the combo switch in the column. No quick answer for any of these things.

First, have you checked the level and condition of the transmission fluid?

Some codes don't turn the CE light right away....you can go to places like AutoZone and they will read your codes for free......

You have a BTSI solenoid on the column....if you do not step on the brake pedal first, you can't shift it out of gear.......for example, if you start to pull it out of park, and then step on the pedal, you can lock that solenoid and not be able to shift it to R/D......so make sure you step on the brake pedal first, before you attempt to shift out of Park.....

Does your vehicle have the rain sensor system on your vehicle? What this does, is it turns the wipers on automatically when any water is sensed on the windshield......also, when the wipers don't park, do they stay in the upright position?

I understand what you are saying but the shifter has everything to do with shifting the transmission...At anytime while driving you can change from D to N or to low to pull a trailer ( of course while driving slow). When I start up the van I cannot shift into gear it is locked.. I try again it is locked the car is running... I wait a few minutes and it unlocks and I can proceed to drive.. I have never seen a car do this.. when you start you shift to D or R and it drives, I have to wait to do it.. When it unlocks (on its own when it is ready) the trans shifts great..Something is keeping the shifter locked for a length of time... But only sometimes.... Like at the Fair yesterday, how embarrassing, I had to wait 5 or so minutes to shift my automatic car into D since the shifter was locked! What if when I stopped after driving out the long drive the shifter put it in neutral, it locks up when it shouldn't, could it think I put it in N ? It shifts with zero hesitation into the rest of the gears.. Fluid is to the line and Pink/red with no brown or burn smell (grew up with a dad in WW2 who taught me about a lot of this and had a few transmissions go out). What is electronic that tells the van the key is on and engine is started to unlock the shifter.. Is there something electronic that tells the transmission if while driving I shift to Neutral if I did it purposely? In other words is there something electronic that is relaying false messages..

First of all thanks soooo much for quick responses, how awesome!!!! Yep I put on the brake first before shifting.. When people are looking at you for sitting after you start your van to pull out of parking, you tend to try everything.. I have been driving daily to work for over 25 years, I have never seen this.. But it is just weird.. The shift stays locked into park when it shouldn't after you step on the brake, the wipers (yes) stay up in the off position when they shouldn't (I have a 16 year old son learning to drive and he turned them on by accident, no rain, and we pulled over and could not get them to stop wiping in the off position.. Then after doing their wait and wipe delay after 5 minutes while in the off position, all of a sudden they went down inside and stayed off ).. Its like everything controlled in the steering column is controlled by aliens! I can't help but feel it is a electronic issue since it all does what its supposed to when the van decides it should regardless of what the control button is set to...

Basically, if you apply the brake pedal, before you try to shift out of park, and it won't shift out of park.....then shut car off, apply ebrake, pop transmission cable off of lever on top of tranny, and physically move the lever by hand....if it moves easily, you have a BTSI problem, either the solenoid, or the harness to it....

If you turn the wipers off, and they stay in the upright position, you have a bent tab on the mount of the wiper motor....that tab will hit the "catch" on the rotating wiper arm, to allow it to rotate itself into park...if the tab is not making contact, it won't park...