1999 Chevrolet Venture LS Extended from North America - Comments

Just three days ago I purchased a 1999 Chevy Venture. I it out of town where my parents live and when I was driving home last night the engine started to chug, have no clue what that could be. Also my airbag light stays on too. We had it plugged into a machine the other day and the code was for an ERG (?) or EGR not sure. But we had that replaced, along with the battery. The service engine soon light comes on a lot. Then this morning on my way to church the gas gauge was at 1/4 tank approx and then zoomed all the way up to full tank? Weird, but I went and filled it after church and put in over 19 gallons... so??? I am a single mother going to school so I hope this wasnt a bad decision. I got it cheap and just want it to last a year until I'm done with school so I can trade it off. I'm scared after reading all these posts UGH. If anybody knows about the chugging while on the interstate please email me razberi96@gmail.com. Thanks!

We bought a 99 Venture with 91,000 miles about 8 months ago for a decent price. The owner was very honest and gave us a laundry list of little issues the van had:

1. Airbag light stays on

2. Power sliding door doesn't work

3. Driver's side window goes up and down with much difficulty

4. Gas gauge inaccurate (you are very very low on fuel

if you get to 1/4 tank on the gauge)

Other than these (minor) issues everything was fine for a few months. Then more stuff started happening:

1. ABS light kept coming on, though nothing wrong with ABS

2. Low coolant light comes on intermittently even though

coolant level is fine (we had the sensor replaced and

that seemed to help, but now it's doing it again).

3. Thermostat reads constantly pretty cool (had the

thermostat replaced--didn't help).

4. Check engine light came on. There was something wrong

but I can't remember what it was--not too big a fix,

maybe $200. Now though I wonder whether the light was

even accurate.

We also noticed that the material on the headlights was so badly degraded that the headlights were dangerously dim. We

had to replace the entire assembly at a cost of $600. That solved that problem.

Today, we have a problem with the air conditioner. When I sit at idle or drive at very low speed, it fades out and then stops blowing. It's still plenty cold, but just doesn't blow. We live in a tropical climate where it is hot year-round so this will have to be fixed. I'm sure it will cost a fortune.

I'm glad we didn't pay much for the van. We really love how it drives, and it is roomy and comfortable. I'm starting a savings account NOW though for our next car, because I have a feeling the time will come soon when the repairs on the Venture get too expensive to justify continuing to make them.

Nov 2, 2007

I have a 1999 olds siliotte the twin to the venture. This van has had the same problems as everyone on these posts!!!

I've owned this van for 3 years. Bought van at 75,000mi thank goodness I bought the extened warranty is has saved me from buying a new transmission witch was replaced at 101,000mi. I changed the coolant at 80,000mi get rid of the orange crap that gm uses!!! its part of the problem!!! I have done all the reg maintaince myself... ie oil changes (I use only synthitic oil!) I still get some hard shifting sometimes, but its like the computer resets itself each time it gets restated. I now have 120,000mi and I want to trade it in, but want to wait til spring... hopefully it will last that long.

Email me if anyone has any answers for the shifting... other than replacing the tranny again.

My email is aquaman11973@yahoo.com.

1998 Chevy Venture - Extended Lenght Model.

I have been a loyal Chevy customer for over 20 years. I have owned this since it was new and have taken decent care of it. I also own a 2004 and 2007 Impala since they were new.

However in the last 3 years, I have had the following happen:

Getting a loud clunking sound with a hard turn - I have had to the dealership - front end was taken apart - they could find nothing - never could my mechanic who I consider to be extremely sharp. The lifters needed to be replace at appx 80K miles. Of course the head gasket at appx 110K miles - then about a week ago it broke down on my wife. It got towed in and the engine was blown - cam bearing was shot - that was it for me, I wasn't going to sink another $3K into it to replace the engine with a used on.

I just went out and bought a 2008 Camry LE - hopefully I have better luck with the Toyota then the Chevy.

1999 Venture Van bought new. We had to replace the transmission (conveniently) just after the warranty ran out, but had had it in to the dealer a few times prior with complaints. For the last several years we had relatively no problems with it. We have kept regular maintenance religiously with oil changes, etc. Have had to replace the brakes/tires a few times, but mostly the same problems as everyone else. Front headlight unit fogged up and had to be replaced (quite expensive). Air bag light stays on. Had to get rid of the coolant and flush the system to be able to use normal antifreeze. Have had problems with the EGR valve (sensor??) for emissions and had it cleaned once which took care of the Check Engine light, but several months later had to have it replaced - pretty pricy - but it had to pass inspection. Now the Low Traction light started coming on intermittently at the same time there is a low "scraping" sound under the hood seemingly in front of the driver. I can feel the wheels adjusting slightly when it comes on, but this is in dry, even road driving. Yesterday the ABS and TCS lights came on. I freaked! The manual said to stop immediately, but my mechanic said he has heard about several GMs about this year having the lights malfunctioning or something like that. After I restarted the car they haven't come back on. I'm worried about this new "scraping" sound and the Low Traction light - afraid it is something - hoping its something minor. Any advice? medreferrals@charter.net. Please and thank you very much.

I have a 2000 Chevy Venture. I have have had similar problems. Gas gage, foggy headlight, rear wiper, head gaskets replaced in 2006, transmission replaced in Oct. 2007, and engine replaced early Dec. 2007. Today, on my way home from sledding with the kids, the heater is not blowing any air. I live in Michigan on Lake Huron and we just got 14 to 17 inches of lake effect snow dumped on us. I NEED my heat. Being a single mother of 4, I can't afford to put much more money into this van. I have a maintenance manual and looked up the blower motor, but it looks Greek to me. I don't want to attempt to replace that if it isn't the problem. I can't afford the mechanic again so soon. Any suggestions on what might be the problem would be appreciated. E-mail address is fun_lovingbeth@yahoo.com.

Just purchased 2000 Venture. 1) Check Engine light came on within two weeks of purchase went off when I filled tank up and added an additive. Now three weeks later back on again. My scare is airbag light came on, then goes off. Stays on, then goes off. I don't know if its going to go off when I hit a bump. I've read so many comments about airbags in the Venture and I don't have the money to see a mechanic. Honestly should I continue to drive with airbag light going on and off?

I have 1999 Chevy, venture with temperature problems. It is a 3.4 liter engine. I changed the intake gaskets and did a full tune up. It ran great for a few days and the problem came back. So I took it a garage to have it checked. They tested it and exhaust was getting into the coolant. How ever there is no oil in the coolant and there is no coolant in the oil. They said it was either a break in the head gasket or a crack in the head.G.M. has tablets to you put in the radiator that seal coolant leaks in the system they only cost about $5.00 they seal minor gasket leaks and fill porous sections in the castings. I am trying them now. Also for anyone having temperature problems it is a good idea to check or have your radiator cap checked it is calibrated for a specific pressure if it gets weak it will let coolant out of system and into the over flow bottle this would cause the system to have the wrong pressure. Also check the bottom side of the water pump for leakage. There is a small hole in it that will leak coolant if the seal is damaged if that is the case you will need to change the water pump. Also there are 2 air bleeder valves in the system. They are used to let any trapped air out of the system.

1999 Chevy Venture van.

Wipers work sometimes, rear wiper doesn't work.

Rear tailgate handle defective.

Gas gauge creep due to wrong metals used in sending unit with a combination of bad gasoline from the refiners (this made headline news).

Bad intake manifold gaskets.

Front suspension problems.

Fan motor on heating air not working because a bank of resisters under the dash in the air duct above the blower have burn out. GM is now on its 4th design for this replacement part; about $70.00, hopefully this one is OK.

This is a GM van built with the quality of a Lada.. My next car is going to be a Toyota Truck

THE NEW AMERICAN CAR COMPANY. GM needs to stop ripping buyers off...

I am the original owner of my 1999 Chevy Venture. It recently hit 83,000miles. 3 years ago I bought an 04' Mustang GT. During this tome the Van sat around hardly used. Partly because I needed to take care of the Lower Intake Manifold Gasket. Once I did that the fuel pump went then the crank sensor etc etc.

So lets see from last summer til now this is my total (Parts and labor) on this car.

Lower Intake Manifold Gasket $700 P&L

Fuel pump $500 P&L

Crank Sensor $190 P&L

Catalytic Converter $170 P&L

O2 sensors $235 P&L

Replaced Spark plug wires $50 just parts.

Parts I haven't gotten around to fixing? F & R wipers

I don't plan to get rid of it yet since it's the Van I brought my 8Yr old son home in when he was born. I guess you can say it has sentimental value for me. As long as I can financially keep it going I will. I have to admit overall it's been good to me considering I haven't gone out of my way to do routine maintenance.

2000 Chevy Venture Air Bag Light.

The light comes on when the wires under the drivers seat are moved. Move them again and it goes off. Took a long time for me to figure it out.

Currently, I'm hearing the water slushing, sloshing, gurgling sound coming from under the dash it seems. It's not all the time, and I do think it only happens upon acceleration. Coolant level keeps getting low, but no sign of leaks.

Also, gas gage doesn't work. Rear hatch handle broke. Water leaks from info center on top.

I have a 2005 Chevy Venture. I wish I had come here prior to the purchase of it, but I have one anyway. I have this terrible whistle noise coming from the passenger side. It generally starts around 60mph and cross wind is definitely a factor. I have read several comments about this, but never the exact solution. Does anyone know exactly what this problem is and how it is repaired.

I don't know what everyone is talking about... I have a 1999 Venture with a little over 200000 miles on it, and in 9 years I don't think I spent over 1500$ in repairs (not including regular maintenance); far less than any Ford I ever owned.

The key is maintenance; oil change every 3000 miles, and once I got 100000 miles I started oil treatment every second oil change. Change the tranny oil every year, and oil treatment every year also, and don't drive it like you stole it... hoping to do another 2 years with it, and it's a great van for my needs.