Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-47
Overall, I can say that my 2001 Chevy Venture has been a great vehicle. I purchased it used two years ago and it has run great through that duration of time. I have recently begun to have problems with my Venture starting however. First in February, I had to have it towed to the dealer who replaced the battery and said no more problems. Seven months later, I step out to take my wife to work and the whole system dies on me. I jump out of my Venture, runs great to work and back. I shut it off but it would not start again until I replaced the battery.
One month later, it happens again. This time I have a friend who owns a shop to take a look. After giving it the full run through, he found a battery terminal corroded. He replaced it, everything was fine. This morning, my wife tries to start it, nothing happens. I get home to jump start my Venture. I take her to work and get back home. I shut the engine off. Waited two minutes and started it back up. Cool, I thought. My wife takes the van to go to her mothers and the car will not start. She uses her dads battery charger to try and jumpstart it. Nothing happens. She lets it slow charge for almost an hour. Nothing happens. A neighbor drops me off at her moms and allows me to jump the car off of her new car. Venture starts up. Stereo is blown, speakers resonate static whether care is on or off. Brand new low beam headlights blew out. And to top it off, I am at work and it will not start. Three mechanics tell me nothing is wrong. I guess they are wrong huh!
I bought a 2000 Chevy Venture brand new and now have 109,000 on it. Believe it or not, there are some positives to the Venture. With all the rebates, it cost $6,000 less than the Oddessy, and at the time, was the only one that eight seat option. It does seem though, after having the head gasket problem with leaking coolant at 98,000 and talking to the mechanic, that there is a design flaw in the 3.4 litre engine that GM does not want to fess up to. As an engineer, I'm guessing that either the aluminum alloy mixture expansion or the location of the head bolts are incorrectly spaced, which in turn allows expansion to give enough slack to let the head gasket deform. There shouldn't be that many Ventures all having the same head gasket/intake manifold gasket problems all around the same mileage. For those having temp gauge problems, try changing the thermostat, or checking that all the air is bled from the cooling system. Aparently the location of the temp gauge makes it prone to air causing the thermo-coupler to give a false reading. However, my wife and kids love that van, and as long as it is reasonable to fix, which it has been other than the head gasket, I plan on keeping that van. Good luck to all, and do what I did, get the service manual.
I too am not real happy with my 2000 Venture. I bought it used with 70xxx miles and it has been pretty good until today. I took it in to have a recall on the sliding doors repaired, and to have a leak in the cooling system looked at. As so many others have said, the intake gaskets need replaced along with the tensioner unit for the Serpintine belt.
About $900 quoted. 97xxx miles at this time. Also needed was a tune up, battery and a cabin filter, bringing the total to a little over $1600. am presently trying to decide if it would be better to replace it with a more reliable vehicle.
I too have a 2001 Venture and have had some of the problems. My Venture has a 145,000 miles on it and started shifting really hard about 3 months ago. I drained and added some additive and it is shifting good now for the last 2 weeks. But when I drained and added fluid to the transmission the van is now not starting. It's weird, you turn the key and it acts like it's going to start and then with in a second of releasing the key it dies. The only way to keep it running is to pump the gas pedal as you turn the key. After it runs for about a minute or 2 with your foot on the gas pedal it will stay running on it's own. I replaced the fuel filter, but that did not help. Fuel pump is working, but not sure how much pressure is reaching the injectors. Anyone have any ideas on what could be causing this.
Thanks.
May 3rd 2007 my 1998 venture has just turned over 201,000 miles. switches and power steering pump and standard brake repairs all done by myself. I have lived with gasket oil leaks though for 100,000 miles. I realize now that I may have gotten the only pretty good car. I have changed trasmission oil 3 times. all original engine and transmission.
We just bought a 2000 Chevy venture with 210,000 miles on it. When we test drove it, it shifted fine, and drove fine. We've had the transmition flushed, and filter changed. Now once it heats up it shifts really hard. If I shut it off for a while it stops shifting hard, until it heats back up again. Is there anything I can do? Please write: jrobinson83@yahoo.com.
I have a 98 Chevy venture with many of the same problems I have been reading. I bought the car with about 83,000 miles and ran great the first year I had it. The only problems was the alarm system kept going off. So I disconnected that and it was fine. The front wipers stay in the up position when on anything, but high or low speed. Not a major issue, but annoying.
Into the second year I had the vehicle, I have done nothing, but dump money into it. I've had the trans replaced, O2 sensors, filters, cam shaft sensor, mass airflow sensor, cat converter, motor mounts, serpentine belt and tensioner, the list can go on. The car is still not running right. It hesitates when idling and does not accelerate upon hitting the gas when vehicle is first driven after sitting for awhile. There is also a slight knock coming from the motor which probably means it's about to go. I also just found that I need my entire coolant system flushed because there is either oil or trans fluid leaking into my coolant. I'm not ready to suffer my losses yet so any help, comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your input. <jcirefice@yahoo.com>
BTW does anyone know anything about a Canister purge solenoid? It came up as code P01676.
I bought a 1999 Venture about 2 years ago for $4500.00 It had 82,000 miles on it. I have been pretty lucky with mine. I have had only a couple of problems with it so far and it has 122,000 today. I have had a leak in the radiator hose underneath which required a lot of labor - $1400.00 worth. And I just replaced the battery today. Not too bad!
I've had all the same problems now we're trying to decide whether to fix the tranny or replace the vehicle . I am not buying another GM if I replace the vehicle.
I have a 99 Chevy venture, Oh my god, i seem that almost every post has the same complain. All the lights on, GM Not Good At All.
We purchased our 2001 Venture in late 2003 and from day one we have had nothing, but problems. Right away the power door locks had to be repaired on both the power sliding door and the manual door which continued to be a problem until late 2006. The power seat motor on the drivers side had to be replaced, the window motor on the back passenger side window had to be replaced. The dealer has replaced the starter, and numerous other odds and ends. What took the cake was when I continued to hear this rattling noise in the engine. Now I have worked on cars more than half my life and when you hear noises like that you don't take it lightly. The dealer agreed to remove the engine and break it down, only after I signed a document that said if it was neglect I would pay for it. NEGLECT, I had only owned the vehicle three months, it was barely time to change the oil! Sure enough the inside of the engine looked like an oil rig. It was caked with sludge and all sorts of built up grease and oil. They replaced the engine with a 2002 model and it seemed like the problem returned in 6 months. We continued to have things like the air bag light coming on. And just as someone else wrote, the dealer said it was nothing. I'm sorry, that light is on for some reason. Well, I could go on and on about this lemon. At the present time the vehicle is in my garage on jack stands. I just spent $750 on parts to repair the most recent issue. I too have felt the hard shifting and slipping. Recently a spider gear in the drive axle locked up and then split in half. The free half of the gear broke through the outer case of the carrier and cased a lot of damage. I replaced the broken parts, the CV shaft, the hub assembly, both rotors and calipers and put new pads on it. I then put a new filter and pan gasket on it and when I went to go for a test drive it seemed fine. The next day I added more trans fluid and was going to drive it to work. Let's just say that it is back in my garage on jack stands. MAN I HATE THIS VEHICLE!
Hi have a 1999 Chevy Venture and I really like how comfortable it is. Unfortunately, little things keep happening with it. When I first got it, a giant spring came flying out of the door. The dealer fixed that. But then, after the warranty, my coolant light was coming on even though the coolant level was fine. The light is still on. The rear wiper is dead, the auto door locks don't work, the rear left slider door doesnt open all the time (the child lock is not on), the fuel line had a leak and was replaced and now the engine light is on. Mechanic said nothing is wrong and it could be the cam sensor. So, now, my engine light is still on. Why do they have the lights if they don't read accurately??
Wow, misery sure loves company.
I've had or have the gasket problem, rear wiper (x2), driver door lock, fogging left headlight, airbag light on, and the fuel gauge gone nuts.
Some other's I had was rear brake lights burn out in about a month (electrical problem), resistor pack on heater fan lost high, engine whine (water pump, A/C bearing, A/C clutch). Oh yeah, great mileage, but when on highway driving, Engine light comes on, and stays on until after I'm driving city streets for a few drives/stops. (ie get to hotel, go to restaurant, back to hotel, next time we go out, engine light is off). We bought this van for trips (daughter dance trips twice a year), and to brign our son to university - 3 or 4 trips a year of 700kms - every trip we do the engine light dance.
The biggest issue is this gasket thing, and it's not only the GM venture. I have a GM Lumina car, and had to replace the head and manifold gaskets on it.
Needless to say, I wouldn't accept a FREE GM product at this point. I just need to finish paying off the thousands of dollars in repair bills before I can go get another vehicle.
Canada.
I recently purchased a 1999 Venture, for basically peanuts. I put it on the road and after the first 2 weeks, still a great car. Just now am I reading everyone's comments... makes me almost want to cry in anticipation. Today, I filled the tank with high octane... and randomly as I turned on the street... the Driver Information Center (DIC) display just went out.
I Checked the fuses... tapped the display, played with it a bit, no idea what the problem could be. Anyone have any ideas? It would be greatly appreciated. please email any suggestions to.
R_haggith@hotmail.com.
I am hoping it is something simple... although realizing the chances of that are probably pretty slim.
Canada.
Woowww...i honestly feel so lucky. just bought a 99 venture in april 07. I got it for work and I didn't wanna spend a lot of money so I got it cheap and is been the best car I ever owned as comfort and everything else. I've also used it all summer to pull my boat and the car never gave me any problem. the only problem I have is the power widow arm or something like that, the window kinda goes up slow and sloped... but other than that... i love it and I hope everyone in here figures out the problems or better yet have no problems... good luck everyone.