Used my remote start to run the Dmax for 10 mins before I went out the door this morning. Got in and stepped on the brake which felt stiff, put in reverse and started backing up. Steering wheel didn't want to turn and brakes had no boost. I moved the truck back and forth 5 or 6 feet a couple of times and also stopped and restarted the engine several times to no avail. I shut it down and looked at the steering pump which had some indication of fluild overflow at the filler cap. I popped the cap and it was under pressure so a small amount of fluid came out. Had the wife run me to work and called the dealer for a tow.

Tow truck driver backed the truck up so he could hook it up for a tow from the front and parked it in the dealers lot. Picked it up this afternoon and dealer had not been able duplicate. Drove it home with no problem.

Any ideas or similar experiences out there?

A friend of mine's 2003 D/A started losing steering and brakes on cold start. It has done it about 6 or so times in the last month or so. He found that by raising the engine RPM to around 1500 the steering and brakes would start working. This might work for you until the problem gets recurrent enough for the dealer to catch it.:)

A friend of mine's 2003 D/A started losing steering and brakes on cold start. It has done it about 6 or so times in the last month or so. He found that by raising the engine RPM to around 1500 the steering and brakes would start working. This might work for you until the problem gets recurrent enough for the dealer to catch it.:)
Two things. Check to see if there is enough fluid in the PS pump. Also you can try changing the fluid. Although I did not have the problem, you state. I have a '03 and changed my fluid a few months ago. The old fluid was horrible. It was like chocolate syrup in color and consistency.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

Had this appearance when I replaced my engine due to draining the PS lines. Added new fluid, bled it from air and rhen it worked just fine again.

Check the fluidlevel, belts and function of the powersteering pump.

Dealer cound not duplicate the problem so I have to wait for more failures.

Mine is like choc syrup like JonnyO's. It's also low cause a line has a small drip. I've always used dextron trans fluid to top off my steering but previous trucks had vacuum brakes not hyd. Anyone using trans fluid instead? It's cheaper and usually easier to come by in a pinch.