Anyone have any trouble with their 2002 Chevy Venture

davjuhen

Hello all!

I have a question about anyone who has an '02 (or close in year) Venture van. Mine is nearly 6 years old and has 107K miles on it. It is overall doing fine but I know vehicles don't last forever. Did anyone have any major issues with it as it got older? I'm going to start a savings account for a new vehicle, not to replace soon, hopefully, but I thought in a few years (hopefully 5 more or another 100K miles) it might be time. Anyone out there have to replace their aging Venture van due to major and expensive trouble?

peggy216

Yes I am, electrical, somehow according to chevy repair shop I need to repair wire #1340 which is not currently getting power (from battery to module) so my daytime running lights, tail lights and dash lights do not work and he wants to charge over $750.00 to repair.

davjuhen

These are the troubles I've had - annoying, but not absolutely terrible. Our A/C condenser went out Jan. 2006 so we had to replace that then in March 2007 the passenger side window's motor went out so we had to replace that. I've heard of transmission troubles in other makes of vans in the earlier years so I'm grateful we haven't had that, knock on wood. I know 2 people that had to replace their transmissions on their '99 Windstars at around 80K miles and also similar to the older Quests. Our van is not quite 6 years old but has 108K miles on it b/c we travel a lot b/w visiting family and vacations. Thanks for any input. I'd like to know about what's in store as the Venture gets older. We'll probably replace it in a few years. We just replaced my husband's ancient Civic with a new Camry so we're not exactly in the market to replace the van just yet.

442dude

Ours is a 2000 - 85K miles.

No major problems (knock on wood)

Items replaced which do not count as routine maintenance:

Alternator
front blower resistor
fuel level sending unit

Typical problems which I've heard about but haven't had to deal with:

Intake manifold gasket leak
pressure control solenoid in transmission

You'll find the biggest problem with these vans is the fact that due to their design, even small jobs are major ones as there is so little room under the hood to work and often lots of stuff has to be disassembled to do even the simplest jobs - the part might be 50 bucks but the labor to replace it could be 500. As an example - It took me the better part of a day to replace the alternator and I've replaced dozens of alternators...can't imagine what the labor charges would have been for that job.

Overall has been reliable and a nice ride - its great on the open road and not too bad on gas for its size...and since they tend to depreciate rather quickly (like many American cars) we got it for a pretty good price when we bought it used. Keep[ up on your routine maintenance and I think you'll be good for a long while...good luck

John

stan3plman

We have a 2001 with 67000 miles on it (108000 km) - at 17000 miles, we replaced the transmission -- under warranty. We had the fan motor for the HVAC replaced at 11000, fuel level sensor at 12000 (apparently this was very common at the time if you bought certain gasoline) -- under warranty. The lower intake gaskets and a wheel hub was replaced at 29000 miles - under warranty. A/C condenser was replaced at 41000 miles - thank goodness, we had extended warranty for that. Control arm bushing at 43000 miles - again, thank goodness for extended warranties. Water pump and the other side needed the wheel hub and bearing replaced at 51000 miles, again, thank goodness for warranty. Wheel cylinders and power steering cooler and pressure pipes at 55000 miles. GMPP lost money on us, let me tell you.

Some out of warranty stuff we did:

Spent about $1500 replacing the guts of the driver seat and the seat track (and we're not that heavy), had the oil pan gasket sealed, which cost about $500 but is still not working (the alternate is a much more expensive fix because as someone else said, every job is a big job on these suckers).

I always found that the thing I was most disappointed with on this van was the assembly quality, there was always way too many squeaks and rattles which get worse over time. I've had other GMs before which weren't like that, and my 2005 Cadillac CTS is certainly not like that - it's unbelievable the stark difference between 2 products made by the same company.

sombal1

My 2002 Warner Bros Edition has 75K and just ran out of it''s warranty. We have replaced the wheel bearings on 3 tires and a wheel hub, A/C condenser, and lower intake gasket all before 67K. Now, a tie rod was found bad while 4 new tires were replaced. The warranty ran out, the control sensor was replaced which hasn't repaired the knocking and the control arm needs to be replaced. All this now costs nearly $700. I just loved this van with its great gas mileage (19mpg) and excellent handling in the snow. I'm just not sure if I should keep the van any longer now that the extended warranty is expired. It's comforting to know some of you have reached 100K.

442dude

Keep it...make any repairs that come up and enjoy the fact that you don't have a car payment - 2 new car payments covers the $ 700 repair that you did...Our 2000 Venture has 90K miles and runs good...I intend on keeping it until it just won't run any more...

All cars break and require repair - even Honda and Toyota have Service Departments

mike826

I have a 2001 Venture with 141,000 miles. It runs very good. When it had 82,000 miles I had a blown head gasket, 84.000 miles the transmission went out. These were repaired under the extended warrantee. I'm on my second battery. Front brakes and rotors were replaced twice. I just replaced the thermostat, rear brakes and brake cylinders (the rear wheel cylinders were leaking). Other than the head gasket and transmission problem, it's just been the usual stuff. I'm happy with the car.

bigz340

Feel blessed if you made it to 100k miles.I have a 2001 venture.Just rolled over 100k and head gaskets went.Took to dealer and they want around 2k to do job.They threw in xtras that they said should be replaced so original quote came out just over 3k.Only problem with dealer is they want to sell you every little thing they think it needs and charge you rediculous amounts of money to replace themIt is so bad they wanted 45 dollars to replace a rear wiper blade.Needless to say got van fixed for 850 and runs great.Not by the dealer.

chases

I purchased the van used from a Govt auction with 75000 miles. Had to have the OD rebuilt right away($1200). Had the Dexcool crap flushed a little too late now that I see what it had done in my intake gaskets. New water pump and thermostate too($400).

Now over 110000miles and the intake gaskets are leaking pretty good. I am waiting for finances to fix real soon($717). Just did the front break pads($25). Rotors looked great, I just roughed them up to take the shine off. I also had a engine seal leaking on a engine mount causing it to fail($275).

If you search my other enteries you will see my fuel delivory issues and other electrical. My fuel issues have been attributed to electrical issues with plugs and such going bad or terminal shorting out. I had replaced two fuel pumps before I realized that when you moved the harness to drop the tank it corrected the connection for a little while. ($1600) A junk yard harness ($20). Tail light harness from junk yard ($20).

Honestly I really like this van. It gets kick butt gas mileage for the power, comfort and convienence to get 7 people in and out with bags. Wife wants to get rid of it but like someone else said above if you fix the problem you have a great running van paid for for the fix price of a monthly payment.

javarod

I'd generally say don't worry, but then with these vans, quality seems a bit of a crap shoot. I purchased mine in November with 210,000 miles on it, an 02, and now have about 233,000 on it and no major problems, just been sinking a lot of money in to cover what the last owner didn't do.

brad0395

We have just bought a used 2002 venture, wondering if anyone knows how to hook up the vcr, the power on the monitor will not even come on. Wondering if I need to buy any adapter cables or what.
thanks,

jodyr

I love my mini van and want to take care of it properly. Any suggestions regarding maintenance for a 2003 Chevy Venture with 60,000 miles on it. Also, my transmission slips a little when engaging the gas from stop position, usually in low speed. I have also noticed it doesn't have the get up and go it used to have, any recommendations for these questions. Thanks so much, Jo

442dude

Hi Jo...

We love our Venture too, its a 2000...

At 5 yrs/60K miles here's what I would recommend if you haven't done these already:

Flush radiator/check/replace hoses & refill with new antifreeze
Change trans fluid & trans filter - this may cure your "slipping" problem
Replace cabin air filter (its in the back of the glove compartment - check your owner's manual)
Replace air filter

That's really it as long as you've kept up with the regular stuff...good luck

jodyr

Thanks for the great advise. I have already taken care of the trans., now I need to do the radiator and the air filter. Any recommentations for a Radiator Professional? Thanks again. Jody

442dude

You don't need a radiator pro - your regular mechanic probably flushes radiators all the time...have them do it next time you get your oil changed...

When you said "taken care of the trans", what did you have done, and did it cure your "slipping" issue?

jodyr

As far as the trans. is concerned, I had it flushed. But, no that didn't help the slipping. I think the slipping started after I had that done. Thanks Jody

442dude

Di they change the filter before/after/during the flush? If all they did was flush out the old fluid and didn't change the filter, the flush didn't do a lot. There are some cars where the flush has been known to ruin the trans although I don't believe that the Venture is one of them...

If they didn't change the filter (requires removing the bottom of the trans) I'd recommend having that done ..think about it like changing you oil but not the oil filter, you're just putting clean fluid through a dirty filter...

jodyr

Yes, they were supose to have changed the filter too. But, I think when they filled it back up they over filled it would that cause a tranny problem? Thanks Jody

442dude

Depends upon how much...the big fear is that the level is so high that it:

1. Creates foam...the foam does not lubricate like the fluid and could lead to failure...
2. As it expands, fluid comes out the fill pipe, once its cooled, your level could be too low to provide proper lubrication and could lead to failure.

A little high is no big deal...it is possible that the overfill could be the cause of your slipping - not necessarily likely, but certainly possible...you may want to get that straightened out...

jedimasteryoda

Has anyone change their front wheel bearing hub assemblies yet.

442dude

Haven't had to yet but know of other Ventures that have...not a hard job if your handy with tools

jedimasteryoda

FYI
I replaced both my front bearing hub assemblies on my 2001 Venture yesterday. Wasn't a real hard job. Cost me $180.00. Cheaper than $1100 at the dealer. It took about 3 hours.

442dude

Dealer quoted you $ 1100.00 ????? Wow, that is nuts...like you said, its not a hard job, and the parts are not real expensive...the hub style bearings are so much easier to replace than the older style giant sized FWD bearings that GM used to use....

zedd3111

I have a 2002 chevy venture only blowing heat during acceleration. I not long ago had the a/c condensor replaced but this is the first time i've had to use the heater since then. I also tend to keep losing antifreeze. It always gets low over a period of time. Does any one have any idea whats going on?

justmdawn

Being low on antifreeze/water is the reason your not blowing hot air at idle. Have your head gasket checked. I have a 2003 Venture that was leaking water and It turned out I had a head gasket leak. It was leaking from the outside so no water in my oil and I was able to stop it with bars leak. The shop quoted $595 to replace a $5 gasket but its the labor to get to it. I still lose a little Antifreeze/water during acceleration but very slowly and I keep and eye on it.

lbweld

My 2002 Venture has an unexplained engine miss that comes and goes with out setting an engine code. I've got 149,000 miles on it and I've replaced the plugs and wires about 3,000 miles ago. I've had this problem now for over 6 months. The first time it happened she had it towed to the local dealer where it was purchased. I was there when they took it off the tow truck so I climbed in and started it up to check it out for myself because my wife had told me it was running so badly she couldn't even get it up to 40 mph because it was missing and lurching so much. Of course when I started it didn't miss a lick however the traction control light and the ABS warning lights were on so I told them to go ahead and check things out with their diagnostic machine for the OBD. They told me that the left front wheel sensor was bad and that they had also detected a small leak in the intake manifold gasket. Which they would be glad to fix for about $1,200. I said no thank-you and paid for the diagnostic and drove it home with-out any problem I replaced the Wheel-speed sensor which requires complete hub-assembly and had my local mechanic did the intake manifold repair and flushed the radiator of the dexcool fluid and replaced it with standard coolant as I've heard of many people having problems with it. When I returned to pick-up the car from my mechanic I had barely drove a block when it started to lurch and miss just like my wife had described. I turned around and went back to my mechanic to show him the problem. He checked out the fuel pressure, the mass flow control and finaly he replaced the ignition control module with a spare he had there and that seemed to cure the problem. We drove it for a couple of months without incident. Then suddenly one weekend the lurching started again. I thought the ignition control module that he used had gone bad itself. So I took it to the local parts store where they put it on their commercial tester and ran a series of test on It 3 times in a row to make sure. It checked out fine. So I purchased a new fuel filter (the one that's under the frame) and re-installed the module. Everything ran fine again until last week when my wife went to do some last minute Christmas shopping and it started lurching and missing again only this time she noticed the lights and fuel guage weren't working right.She made it back to the house and took my car. I was busy working on something else at the time and didn't get to check it out until an hour or so later when I took it for a spin it was running fine again. I told her to go ahead and just drive mine the rest of the week so I could try and figure it out. It ran fine the next day for me but not the next morning I tried to run an errand to town only to have to turn around and couldn't even get it to go up our driveway without stalling twice I left it there while I went to get my old truck and a chain to pull it up the drive. I thought I'd give it one more try before hooking up the chain. Sure enough it started right up and I drove right up the driveway without a miss. I called my mechanic to schedule an appointment where it's at now. But of course when I went to take it over there it ran just fine. Anyone that has had the same kind of problem or has any ideas their imput would be appreciated.

azu

I am going to throw this out. My 99 had a bad miss and stalling that I thought was a transmission problem. Took it to dealer and they found problem right away. It was the crankshaft sensor wiring harness that was melting on the manifold. It also set no codes.

hhenrys

My radio totally went out last week so I put a new fuse in and it started working again, now sometimes when I hit a bump the sound of the radio will go off and if I hit the side a couple of time it will slowly come back on. Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong?

hummingbirdana

Our 2002 van had a similar problem..code given said there was a missfire...took to dealership...said they solved the problem....pulled out of the parking SPACE check engine light came on again....took them two weeks to figure it was a loose wire that was causing the missfire..can you imagine that. Just throwing an idea...can never hurt to check the wires. hope this works

smecky

My Venture has been running fine since we got the transmission replaced last year, but there was a strange rattling sound when stopped at lights with a/c on... but it's been cold, no a/c, no issue. A couple of weeks ago we were on the highway and about 10 minutes into the trip, there was a whirring sound coming from the engine compartment, but as soon as I let my foot off the gas, the sound would stop, and it did not exist at slow or around town speeds. It would only start about 10 minutes into the trip at highway speeds and continued while on the highway. I took the belt off to see if any pulley was making noise and the tensioner was sloppy, making some noises, so I replaced it. I thought that was it, it's been running fine. That was a week or so ago. Easter Sunday I'm taking the family on a 400 mile trip and 10 minutes into the highway portion, the whirring noise starts again, same thing, when I take my foot off the gas, it stops, when I push the gas or use the cruise control, the noise starts again. I got off the highway and it stopped. I pulled into a parking lot and popped the hood, as I gave it gas, the engine started to go up and down like i was taking my foot off and on the gas, but I wasn't I was applying constant pressure. We let it idle for a minute and gave it gas again, and it was ok. We turned around and came home, the whole time on the highway we had the whirring noise, when we got off the highway and drove home, it was fine I did baby it a bit on the highway but it did get us there with no issues other than the noise. I don't even know where to start... Any suggestions? We drove the car, but when I get home on Wednesday, I'm going to have to dive into this problem... Please help.

drdrdaddeo

I have a 2000 chevy venture that developed a similar problem with a whirring noise (around 85,000 miles) which also completely abated when the gas pedel was released. At first, the problem would also go away if I down shifted into 3rd gear, and would again return when manually or automatically shifted back into OD. Tried all kinds of tranmission additives which helped minimally. After about 8,000 more miles, the whining got worse, even persisting when down-shifted to 3rd gear, and I noticed my OD wasn't really working at all. Wound up having to have a full transmission overhaul.....the problem was a weakly contstructed factory overdrive gear. Replaced with a stronger, aftermarket product and now my transmission works perfectly with no whining.
I also recently replaced my a/c compressor and have begun noticing the same type of rattling sound when stopped in gear with the a/c on. Haven't diagnosed the problem yet as the a/c works fine and the noise resolves at driving speed. However, I tend to doubt that this a/c problem is related to your whirring noise (can't completely exclude that your the a/c compressior bearing isn't going out.) Perhaps of note, the belt-tensioning pully on my Venture started whirring recently (at 170,000 miles), and suddenly my serpentine belt broke, shutting off my power steering, a/c, alternator, and water pump......turned off engine immediately to prevent overheating. On replacing the belt, I noticed that the tensioner pully had actually frozen up and melted, ruining my old serpentine belt. Easily replaced the belt-tensioner ($50) and the serpentine belt, and problem solved. Ventures are great vans, but they require a lot of tinkering.

smecky

Thanks for the suggestions. I had the transmission replaced last year, it completely went... I don't remember the name, but I saw the part... sheared down to nothing. I don't know that the a/c is the problem or just the drain on the engine. I've not got a squeal coming from maybe the back end. I've also got an occasional clicking or knocking come from the engine area. It does not always do it, sometimes it stops, I've been able to pop the hood and look under, but can't determine what the cause is or exactly where it's coming from. When I take it to the mechanic, it's not doing any of those things. I don't always mind tinkering, I just wish I could figure out what to tinker with. Thanks again!

msmi

Floor board pass side under the carpet is a wire harness. it might be in the harness or the connector into the BCM. I have the same problem. found when I push my foot on the carpet it comes back on or I can make it go off