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Chevy Venture Care and Maintenance

44 messages,  Last post on Nov 09, 2007 at 8:46 AM

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#1 of 44 A little input please.............. by topsea Feb 05, 2002 (9:45 pm)
My AWD Astro is fast approaching "front brake pad time". It's getting close to 30,000 miles on the originals and I won't go past 30k on them. My experience for these Astros is that they have just OK brakes, not really great brakes. I'm not much for national chains but Firestone does have a lifetime national warranty on brake jobs. Any experience with them? My last Astro "wore" brakes from a regional tire company, Les Schwab, but I was never really happy with the brakes after they installed them. They really went to a lot of work trying to make them work as well as they did when new but in spite of replacing the front calipers and pads twice and finally replacing the rotors, the van still pulled slightly to one side or the other. The problem was sometimes it stopped straight ahead too and you didn't know which of these options IT was going to pick for you.   I have a notion that I'll probably take it back to the dealer. I just want the best brakes possible for it and I really don't care if the pads are really hard and make a lot of noise(heh, heh I'm hard of hearing). I don't really care if they tear up the rotors, I just want the best brakes possible on my Astro.
#2 of 44 Big Problem with my 1997 Astro AWD by lancestro Mar 29, 2002 (9:17 am)
Hi. I have been an Astro owner for the past 68,000 miles with my 97 AWD vehicle. Bought it new and I inspected the vehicle underneath when I got it home. Noticed oil on the side of the engine and immediately took it to the dealer. They replaced the front driveshaft since the grease from the CV joint on the shaft leaked and sprayed on the engine as the shaft rotated. Since the vehicle was under warranty, they replaced it for free. I hadn't had a problem with it since but I neglected to inspect the shaft after it had been replaced to see if the same thing happened again.   Recently, the van has been experiencing a vibration and what I can only describe as a 'bucking'. It seems as though something in the drivetrain is binding up and then freeing again. This happens at all speeds and in all 'gears'. The dealer noticed that the CV joint on the front driveshaft was shot and replaced it for $1300. They thought that fixed the problem. Guess what? The problem is still there and the dealer cannot figure it out. One thing compounding the difficulty in finding the problem is that the 'bucking' does not occur consistently and the vehicle must be driven for about 15 minutes before it starts occurring.   There are two major issues here as I see it. The first is that I believe the front driveshaft design is defective since I had 2 fail on me. I think this would go unnoticed in these vehicles until around 90K miles when the front driveshaft falls apart. Secondly, the bucking we are experiencing is a major binding in the drivetrain. Since it occurs at high speeds (as well as low speeds) and if the drivetrain locks up at these speeds it could send the vehicle out of control and possibly flip it. I believe it is a malfunction in the viscous coupling and asked the dealer for a schematic of the design to try and diagnose it for them (these trips to the dealer have cost me $1500 so far without fixing the problem). I am an engineer and I thought I could help out here seeing that the problem was not being fixed and that this 'binding' could potentially be life threatening. The dealer ignored my request.   This is a warning of a potential problem with this vehicle. If the problem isn't solved and if this turns out to be fatal for me or any member of my family, then at least we've documented it here and warned others. Replies to this message: alenarcik (Sep 21, 2005 3:47 pm) hwy70 (Apr 18, 2006 5:45 pm) avtech (May 23, 2006 5:47 am)
#3 of 44 Same problem with 2000 by djnmis Jun 29, 2002 (7:24 pm)
I am having the same "bucking" problem with my 2000 Astro AWD. My dealer is suggesting a problem with the clutches in the limited slip rear end. Have you ever discovered the true cause of your problem?
#4 of 44 1999 LS AWD - same problem? by mwcox Aug 09, 2002 (8:33 am)
I have a 99 with 66,000 on it. Since around 28k, we have been hearing this poping noise in the drivetrain. Seems we hear it when turning into a driveway or sudden acceleration or deceleration. We took it to two dealers and they both heard the noise, inspected everything, and determined that it was normal. It does not always happen but is frequent. I'm not going to worry about it until it dies in the road. Like the van, have gotten great service. Just old platform, ie., squeeks, rattles, noisey drivetrain, but, does the job.
#5 of 44 popping noise/clunk in 1999 chevy astro by chug Sep 26, 2002 (10:17 am)
ring and pinion gear is meshed too tight load bearings are intern wearing out. also possible across the grain crack in rear drums mine came complete with both of these. luckily my warranty was through my insurance company. becaause it might not of been investigated with such detail at the dealership. rear end was replaced drums could of exploded needless to say were replaced
#6 of 44 Automatic transmission pan magnet by floydsun Oct 24, 2002 (6:08 am)
I recently changed the transmission oil on a Chevy Astro van and noticed that the magnet had a uniform coating of what looked like graphite. Is this from the factory? It didn't look like deposits.
#7 of 44 floydsun by coonhound Oct 24, 2002 (11:12 am)
The minute magnetic particles on the pan magnet just means that the magnet is doing it's job and picking up the magnetic contaminants. GM did a good job and installed a magnet in the engine and differential also.
#8 of 44 AWD problem by cwiener Oct 26, 2002 (6:08 am)
The bucking and binding is normal. I have the same situation on my '99. Just about any 4WD vehicle will do this. I have had several and they all do it. Chevy has done a number of things to my Astro to minimize it, but bottom line is that it is not a problem.   C
#9 of 44 Astro is gone by mwcox Jul 30, 2004 (8:02 am)
Well, we traded for a new Nissan Quest SE. Love it. Had 95k troublefree miles on the Astro. Got a better trade on our Astro that my sister got on her equivalent Montana when she traded, $4k more for trade. Would have stayed with GM/Chevy had they updated the Astro. Didn't like the wimpy/old Venture, Montana, etc. Hope GM wakes up soon.....
#10 of 44 Excess Astro Oil Consumption by mpalbert Dec 16, 2004 (10:46 pm)
My 2001 Astro with 40K miles is consuming approx. a quart of oil per 1000 - 1500 miles - NO LEAKS. I suspect it is passing behind valve guides and burning in exhaust manifold, but no smoke from tailpipe. Dealer states that a quart every 800 - 1000 is normal for this engine - "per GM". I don;'t buy it, this may have been normal in the 1950's - 60's but not in modern engines. Anyone having similar problems? Any thoughts on what it will do to my catellitic converter? Replies to this message: homermedic (Jun 29, 2006 5:34 pm)

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