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Chevy Vans: Problems & Solutions
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Comments
It hasn't happened in 4 days.
My mechanic said it could be the neutral safety switch.
But diagnosis is hit or miss unless it altogether won't crank.
I'm going a long trip soon.
Hoping the Venture will get us there and back!
Thanks again.
Thanks!
when your van cools down, check the radiator fluid in the radiator, not the overflow. if its low, your losing fluid, could be slowly.. most likey, the water pump is starting to leak... venture vans are bad for water pumps.. they still work but slowly leak.. slow enough to not even notice till you start running hot then eventually over heat... that was my problem and that was the solution... hope it helps... oh yeah, if you find out that the problem is the water pump, that part cost less than 50 bucks so dont let anyone rip you off... you shouldn't have to pay more than 150 bucks for that fix...
The part of the ac that is belt driven runs for about 7 seconds then shuts off i think its the compressor, and the metal cylinder that usually sweats condensation
( Condensor?) is hot to the touch any suggestions on what it might be would be greatly appreciated :sick:
Let me know if you get info and I will do the same
rdichris
Rdichris
Took it to the closest dealership and they told me to replace the radio/cd player with a refurbished unit would be $550! I about choked. We decided to do it. Then mid-May I'm sitting at a stop light and the temp gauge is sitting all the way in the red hot - then check engine light goes on, then check oil light goes on. I about croaked! Take it to the dealer, they say not sure...maybe cylinder head warped because it kind-of over heated, but didn't really overheat so coolant didn't kick in to cool it..and possibly warped the cylinder head. (They never did come up with a theory on why it overheated!) Would cost $500 to tear the engine down and diagnose the problem - not to mention the cost to try and fix it! They then continued to hee and haw about what was wrong for 2 days, so we had it towed back to the dealership where we bought it...they discredited the warped head diagnosis and said it was probably the gaskets (but would never know because the 1st dealership threw them out while tearing the engine down.)
After 2nd dealership replaces the gaskets, $1,000 later and 9 days later, I have my car back (this dealer picked up half the tab - this is where we bought it and they felt really bad about the problems). One week later the A/C stops working!! Then the next day the temperature gauge starts fluctuating all over the place (never all they way over to hot, mind you - so coolant probably not kicking in). It's now back at the dealership where we bought it - I'm still waiting to see what all is wrong this time. :lemon: We've already sunk $1,500 into this flippin' car since April. :mad:
I'm looking an Odyssey tonight - I think we're going to lease a $29K car - trading this stupid thing in - and be done with it! I really did like the Venture when it was running, but I'm a Mom and I need a dependable car! One lesson for sure, don't buy a Used Venture without buying the extended warranty - dummy me!
I just have a question. I am an Australian living in Kuwait. I have jst bought myself a Venture 2001 (used). The car was imported from Canada so it never ran in the hot climate of kuwait which reaches 50 degrees celcius.
I have two questions if some can have the answer it would be great.
1. The engine coolant temperature is usually about the half way mark on the indicator, b ut at very hot days it reaches the 2 third mark. Is this normal?
2. The AC is excellent, but it seems that when the engine temperature goes up to the two thirds mark it shuts down the AC compressor, until th temperature gies down to about just over half way then the AC compressor starts again. Is this normal?
In the last couple of weeks it has stalled a couple times at stop lights. Has started right back up.
But twice, after it was driven and sat for 1 to 2 hours, it would not start. Cranked over very fast, but didn't even hint of starting. Both times I sprayed some starter fluid into the air cleaner housing and it started, and stayed running.
When it is running it doesn't get fuel starved when pulling hard up a hill, so I'm thinking it's not a fuel filter. And seems to me a fuel pump would either work or not- and not be prompted to work by starter fluid.
Please offer any advice as to how to diagnose and/or fix.
Thanks,
Scott
I changed , wires, distributor, rotar and up graded to bosh plugs, all from Auto Zone, to help the engine run smoother. It later got worse and didn't want to start when the temperature rose to 72 degrees.
My hi-tech mechanic used his diagnostic computer but could only diagnose when speratic problem occured. He likes to find the problem before he starts changing parts (guessing). Eventually my 2001 astro would not start! and sounded as if it was cranking in the reverse direction. I even replace 2nd position plug wire (2nd time) from right front do to some possible carbon arching. :confuse:
Ulimately he changed the Crank Case Sensor, and the Coil do to some discoloration on the unit. A week later I than experienced major mis-firing.
Results/Analysis: He replaced the rotar and distributor with Delco Brand, and that seemed to fix my problem. I also found out it is the nature of my particular engine to run rough.
He shared with me that some after-market items such as the rotar and distributor some times do not meet OEM specifications.
Incadently: Auto Zone refused to refund my distributor and rotar do to it being after 90 days. :mad: But they did exchange my wires.
Now the built in amplifier in the stereo is blown so no sound out of the speakers, but the kids can still watch movies or listen to the radio from their headphones. Nothing for the people up front though. Out of warranty now, the radio can be serviced for $600 or replaced for $1200.
And last but not least, the fuel sensor is shot. It alternates between telling me the car is full and empty, along with the annoying low fuel jingle. A repair shop said about $400 for a new fuel sensor. Any suggestions? Cheaper alternatives? This van was not cheap and with the payments I can't afford these kinds of repairs!
I guess though reading these posts I should be grateful that it is running at all!
Here is the issue. The right (passenger) one, and the right-most one of the 3-gang in the middle, blow very cold.(normal cold). The left one, and the two left-most ones of the 3-gang, blow much warmer. What coul;d possibly cause this. I would've thought the vents were all connected together.
Any help much appreceiated.
Thanks.
Paul.../NH
I did have the system recharged two weeks back after testing it for vacuum, and things were fine ... temporarily. I have theories but of course I would prefer the answer!!!
I thought the exact thing as you that all the vents were connected together too.
Larry/ON
Tnx for the reply. I am glad someone else has the problem (well, not really glad, but it's good to know that I am not the only one with it. It came on all of a sudden.
When you had it recharged, you say it DID solve the problem, but only temporarily? I was suspecting a low refrigerant condition, but then why would some of the vents be cold, and others not.
I couldn't get you link to work. it says page \can't be found. Do you have it saved anywhere that you could email me?
If I find out anything I'll pass it along. We couldn't be the only two people with this issue. Could we?
Paul.../NH
pjw73nh@yahoo.com
The link should work if you copy the whole thing to the .jsp end and paste it into the browse address bar. The last diagram (#5) seems to be where the control is.
Here it is again, for ease:
http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/1b/e9/79/09- 00823d801be979.jsp
The diagram is under the heater core diagnostic: they won't give you an a/c diagnostic for fear of litigation ... danger and EPA regulations.
They provide some general pointers on locating leaks here:
http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/1b/df/96/09- 00823d801bdf96.jsp
The recharge did work ... all vents.
After studying diagram 5, it cannot be at the HVAC control module for our vans. There is only one vent outlet from the module for max a/c. Could be good news as the passenger side vent is still blowing cold air means the problem is closer the vent and may not be the a/c system itself. I did read something about a vent control coming loose but the problem we seem to have is that the control on the dash works ( the shut off for the vents themself).
For the thread, I have a stock extended Montana version of the 1998 Transport. It does not have dual zone air controls. Just a rotating control on the vent that now brings hot air into the drivers side vents when engaged. I have the left and centre vents in the centre console blowing hot air along with the drivers side vent. My passenger vents, right one in centre console and passenger side vent are blowing cold air.
Feeling em, baffled,
Larry / ON
I have never towed with the van and the original owner(s) lived and worked in San Fransisco driving the hills. I have never ever had a shifting problem or an overheating problem. So, why would there be such a risk to do a survice? :confuse:
I now have it scheduled to go into a transmission shop for a full survice, just in case something does go wrong it's in a shop where it can be fixed.
Anyone else have any service related problems with trainie flushes?
No, it is not. I have the same van with the same problem. Just happened yesterday.
Any solutions yet?
I read in a reply to another post that a person bought a new switch and replaced it for a window that got stuck. Hopefully someone can suggest a resolution for my driver side window getting stuck half way on its way up.
Thanks in advance!
Even though the transmission was working great, as far as I knew, the transmission shop found that the van was not shifting into 4th gear (OD). It gets torn down today. They, transmission shop, is speculating that the clutch plates for the OD in the transmission failed for some reason not known till they tear it down. :sick:
Last month the same bell ringed and the same console behavior-all guages powering off at once and then the radio starts again. While this happens the car is running with no apparent problems. It finally dies at the post office, so I pay for a tow to the dealer and it is a loose starter cable. Ok, fixed for $135.00, and now within three weeks its happening again! I just don't want to be stranded somewhere because if the "Security" light comes on enough times the car thinks it has been stolen - is what the dealer told me..........Thanks in advance for any light shed on this problem.
I gave up. I took it to a local shop that I trust implicitly. I watched as he put it on a totally automated machine. The machine tests the AC performance, tests for leaks, automatically evacuates, recycles, and charges the AC system. My van was low on refrigerant. But it passed the leak test so he thought it was a very slow leak, and will probably need another recharge in 3-4 years. I can live with that. He said that if the machine detects any significant leak it will not recharge the system because of pollution reasons.
So the long and short of it is... My AC is working as good as new, the two right vents are a mere 3-5 degrees cooler that the others in blazing hot weather. Total outlay $144. He could offer no reason for the differential in temp before the recharge. I hypothesize (sp?) that it has to do with evaporator configuration and or placement. That perhaps the air going to the right side vents passes over the "beginning" or lines of the evaporator that are closest to the compressor, thus they are slightly colder. And as the refrigerant passes further down, it gets warmer, and then the air that goes over the left vents, is not cooled enough. This is only a guess. I do not profess this to be gospel.
Thanks to all.
Paul...
A few more months passed and the window continued to be a problem, horn continued to beep, and there is the water in the taillight again. Back to the shop, they cleaned out the track again, replaced the taillight bulb and still could not duplicate the beep. Then in April of 04 while on vacation I tried the air and discovered it didn't work. I thought it probably needed some freon. When my husband got around to recharging it in June we could see the freon just pouring out from under the car. We were now over warranty by 4000 miles. We showed it to a private Mech who told us that the leak is from the condenser and we should try to see if chevy would cover the $800 repair. Took the car back to the dealership, where they confirmed it was the condenser and that we also needed a head gasket. Apparently the condenser had a bad weld. Estimate for repairs $2300 -- this was almost 2 years from date of purchase with 42000 miles. I told them to get the district rep in so that chevy would cover the repair ( I was a chevy service advisor about 10 years ago so I thought I knew how the system worked -- this is also why I told my husband to buy me anything but a chevy). District rep said chevy would cover gasket but not condenser. Called customer care where we were told we should be happy chevy is covering anything. We felt chevy should cover the condenser also because of the weld failing. Anyway, today, 1 year later I am taking the van to the same private mech to have the condenser replaced and looking for a new Odyssey or Sienna. It is time to cut our losses. If you haven't already bought the extended warranty and you still can, I strongly advise you do.
We are also already purchasing our second set of new tires because of some sort of alignment problem. Best of luck with this vehicle. It seems like we all need it. :lemon:
Here is the website: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/?CFID=1372897&CFTOKEN=38236678
Copy and paste the address and file your own complaint. Maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel!
THANKS!
Help, its HOT!