1997 Chevrolet Astro Base from North America - Comments

The fuel gauge stopped working within the first few months, but, was fixed under warranty.

We have had an axle seal and pinion seal replaced twice, one time under warranty.

The transmission needs to be warmed up for a couple of minutes, when the van has been sitting for more than a couple of hours in minus 25 below weather, before it will engage reverse.

I wonder if any other poster has experienced this difficulty? Any ideas?

We factory ordered as a base, passenger van in 1997. The options we chose included heavy duty suspension, 3:42 axle ratio with the G80 locking axle, upgraded cloth seating and am/fm / cassette with 4 speakers.

The tires that came with the heavy duty suspension were Goodyear GA 235/65-15. The Goodyear tire rep. I dealt with, could not figure out why a truck based van had luxury/touring car tires mounted from the factory. As it turns out neither could we, the tires lasted until 74,000 kilometers and we replaced them with p series 225/70- 15 Michelin LTX M/S light truck tires.

Even though the Michelins are one size down from the Goodyears we have noticed a big improvement in handling, durability and wet/snow traction. Goodyear, apparently are the only manufacturer that make 235/65-15, so we had to either put on 225/70 or 235/70. I was concerned that if we installed 235/70 tires the 70 aspect may cause tire clearance problems in the wheel wells.

The van has been great! It is a real workhorse, capable of towing heavy trailers and has a useful, vehicle payload that approaches if not exceeds a number of full size trucks.

I think that the fact that the Astro is based on a rear wheel drive truck chassis and also designed and sold as a commercial van is an undoubted advantage over it's front wheel drive competition. For the customer who wants more size, towing and payload capacity, the mid sized Astro is the only game in town for this niche customer base.

The van seats 8 passengers. I have looked at a couple of other vans, namely the Venture and Toyota Sienna which are also advertised as having capacity of 8 passengers and I have come away less than impressed with the comparative passenger room offered by these FWD vans.

Highway driving for family vacations has been great. We have cruised comfortably and effortlessly at speeds up to 75-80 mph with a full load.

Our van has the rear panel doors, which I prefer, having had the unfortunate experience of hatch backs bouncing off my head, once the struts wear out.

I guess you can say I'm a dyed in the wool fan of the Astro.

Having read all about the 97 astro and the 97 safari (same thing really) I think I made a good choice buying my 97 today.

I bought a 97 safari with 242,000 kilometers on it.that's 150,000 miles for US readers.

It has the 4.3 vortec in it and is silver out and blue inside.

The previous owner said that he was hearing a slight knocking sound coming from the engine, but it ran everyday anyways. He then brought it to the mechanics and they tore the top of the engine off and the owner told them he didn't want to replace the engine and that he was just going to give up on it.That's where I bought it, with a half apart engine... for $500...as most silver paint jobs do, it looks great still... I don't really like that it has a blue interior as I would think a silver vehicle should have either a black or grey interior... I will change that as interiors pieces become easier to get at the wrecking yards.

I will try and remember to update this as to what I find out and how it goes once I put it back together and figure out the "knocking sound" myself... top end/bottom end/timing chain... who knows...for the price I can stick a $200 junk yard engine into it and still be ahead $1500 plus...

Hi there guys, can someone tell me if you get a Chevrolet Astro right hand drive? Cause I'm looking for 1, if they do make it. Thanks.