2000 Chevrolet Venture

I TOOK OUR 2000 CHEVROLET VENTURE MINIVAN IN FOR SERVICE AND THEY FOUND THAT THE INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET WAS FAILING. THIS WAS CAUSING ANTI FREEZE TO LEAK INTO THE ENGINE WHICH EVENTUALLY WOULD HAVE CAUSED THE ENGINE TO NEED TO BE REBUILT. COME TO FIND OUT THE NEXT DAY THERE IS A GM TSB 03-06-01-010 ON THIS EXACT PROBLEM. OUR VAN HAS ONLY 45,000 MILES ON IT AND I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS SHOULD FAIL ESPECIALLY WITH SO FEW MILES ON IT.*AK

PURCHASED A NEW CHEVY VENTURE VAN IN MAY OF 2000, AT 19,000 MILES IT THE INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET NEEDED TO REPLACED. WORK WAS PERFORMED UNDER WARRANTY AT THE SAME DEALERSHIP. NOW AT 42,800 MILES, THE SAME GASKET IS LEAKING AGAIN. ALTHOUGH, I PURCHASED THE EXTENDED WARRANTY IN MAY 2000, THEY SAY SOMEONE CALLED & CANCELLED THE WARRANTY A YEAR AGO. HOW CAN THEY AVOID THE HUGE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS CONCERNING THIS PROBLEM WITH NO RECALLS? *JB

SINCE PURCHASING MY 2000 CHEVROLET VENTURE MINIVAN IN OCTOBER, 2000, I HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCING LOSS OF COOLANT SINCE DECEMBER, 2003. AT THIS TIME THE CAR HAD JUST OVER 75,000 MILES ON IT. NONE THE LESS I HAD KEPT SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE ON THE VAN. ON EVERY SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE CHEVROLET PRESCRIBES ( FROM 7,500 MILES TO 90,000+) "CHECK FOR OIL AND COOLANT LEAKS" IS LISTED. I FIND IT DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE THAT AT NO TIME DURING ANY OF THESE CHECK UP THE MECHANIC AT THE DEALER DID NOT NOTICE A COOLANT LEAK UNTIL 80,000+ MILES LATER AND AFTER MY WARRANTY HAS EXPIRED. NOW, I HAVE BEEN ADVISED THAT THE INTAKE MANIFOLD IS LEAKING AND THE REPAIRS ARE GOING TO COST ~$900.00. I CONTACTED GM CUSTOMER SERVICE, AND WAS GIVEN SEVERAL EXCUSES TO JUSTIFY CHEVROLET'S ACTION, (OR LACK THEROF), FROM "THAT'S A LOT OF MILES. AND ANY PART IS GOING TO WEAR OUT AFTER A WHILE" TO "IF THERE NEEDED TO BE A RECALL IT WOULD HAVE TO BE DEMANDED BY THE GOVERNMENT". HOGWASH!!! BASED ON THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS I HAVE READ THIS EVENING, AND EVEN THE VERBAL CONFIRMATION FROM MY SERVICE ADVISOR THAT "WE'RE SEEING A LOT OF THESE", CHEVROLET DOES NOT HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO SAY, WE HAVE A PROBLEM AND WE NEED TO FIX IT. *LA

WHEN I BOUGHT THIS 2000 CHEVROLET VENTURE VAN I PURCHASED THE MFG.EXTENDED WARRANTY UP TO 75,000 MILES. RIGHT AFTER THE EXTENDED WARRANTY RAN OUT, THE VAN DEVELOPED A SERIOUS HEAD GASKET LEAK AND THE TRANSMISSION HAS BEEN GOING CRAZY. I CHECKED AROUND AND FOUND OUT THAT BOTH THESE PROBLEMS ARE VERY COMMON ON THE VENTURE VAN! I CALL THE MFG. AND WAS TOLD THEY WOULD NOT HELP! THIS IS THE REASON BUYERS FEEL THAT THEY MADE A MISTAKE BUYING AMERICAN MADE VEHICLES. THESE ARE PROBLEMS THAT HAVE OCCURRED IN MANY INSTANCES AND THE MFG. KNOWS THIS AND ARE NOT WILLING TO DO A RECALL. I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT A TOYOTA. GENERAL MOTORS KNOWS THESE PROBLEMS EXIST AND ARE DUE TO POOR WORKMANSHIP AND DO NOT CARE ABOUT OWNER LOYALTY OR RETAINING THEIR CUSTOMER BASE FOR FUTURE SALES. BOTH OF THESE PROBLEMS ARE MORE WIDESPREAD THAN WHAT IS DOCUMENTED DUE TO LACK OF REPORTING.. PLEASE HELP!!! *LA

VENTURE 3.4L W/49.9K - COOLANT OVERFLOW WAS EMPTY AND HAS BEEN LOW SEVERAL TIMES.AFTER WEB RESEARCH, I FOUND MANY OWNER (3.4L ENGINE OF ANY MODEL CAR/VAN) COMPLAINTS AND AN INTAKE-MANIFOLD-LEAK WEBSITE AND ON YOUR NHTSA WEBSITE WITH COMPLAINTS OF GASKET PROBLEM AND A POSSILBE RELATIONSHIP TO TEXECO DEXCOOL COOLANT. AT THIS TIME, GM HAS A BETTER INTAKE GASKET DESIGN AND SWITCHED TO PRESTONE COOLANT SINCE LAST YEAR. THEY SEEM TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE DISCRETELY. I ALSO LOOKED MORE CLOSELY AT MY ENGINE AND NOW SEE (INTAKE) LEAKS/WETNESS BUT SMALL. MARCH 22, 2004, I HAVE CONTACTED GM ASSISTANCE - 800.462.8782 (LINDA COOPER - SERVICE REQUEST #1-200466551) AND DISCUSSED MY SURMISE OF THE COOLANT LOSS AND A PERVASIVE PROBLEM WHICH MORE COMPLAINTS SHOULD OCCUR AS MORE VEHICHLES MILES GO BEYOND 40K. SINCE MANY WEBSITES DESCRIBES IN DETAIL AND PUT UP PICTURES OF THE LEAKS, THE GASKETS DEFECTS AND RELATED PROBLEMS IF NOT MONITORED AND ALLOWED TO RUN AT POINT OF LOW COOLANT WARNING COULD LIKELY CAUSE OVERHEATING, OIL DILUTION, ENGINE DAMAGE AND OTHER PROBLEMS. WITH ALL THIS INFORMATION, GM WOULD NOT ACKNOWLEDGED A KNOWN PROBLEM, PROBLEM FAMILIARITY, NOR ALLOW ANY WARRANTY REPAIR BECAUSE THERE IS "NO RECALL" IN PROCESS. I WAS THEN CONFERENCED-CALLED TO A LOCAL DEALER WHO OFFER ME 10% DISCOUNT FOR A ~$600 PLUS COST OF REPAIR TO ANY OTHER PROBLEMS FOUND. THIS IS NOT AN OPTION I PREFER, AS THIS PROBLEM OCCURS OUT OF WARRANTY, 2ND OWNER OF CAR, I DO MY OWN MAINTENANCE WITHOUT USE OF THE DEALER SERVICES; OTHERWISE I MAY HAVE GOTTEN THIS FIXED UNDER SOME/PARTIAL WARRANTY BUT I WAS NOT GIVEN THIS OPTION. BUT IF THIS IS A DEFECT WHICH WILL ONLY OCCUR "AFTER" WARRANTY COVERAGE, EVENTUALLY EVERYONE WILL HAVE THIS PROBLEM. IF I GO TO A PRIVATE SHOP FOR A MORE COST EFFECTIVE REPAIR, GM WILL ONLY REIMBURSE ME, ONLY WHEN AND IF THERE IS A RECALL. *AK

WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH, THE VEHICLE STALLED. THE DEALER REPLACED THE DELCO BATTERY. THE TECHNICIAN INDICATED THAT THE INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET BROKE AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. *AK BEFORE THE BATTERY WAS REPLACED THE VEHICLE WAS JUMP STARTED BY AAA, HOWEVER THE BATTERY FAILED AGAIN, AAA HAD TO BE CALLED AGAIN AND UPON INSPECTION IT WAS FOUND THE POSITIVE POST HAD SEPARATED FROM THE BATTERY. *JB