Ask the Car People.SM


GM's triplets Venture, Silhouette, and Montana

1617 messages,  Last post on Mar 11, 2013 at 3:33 PM

You are in the Chevy Venture Forum.

What is this discussion about? Chevrolet Venture, Pontiac Montana, Oldsmobile Silhouette, Van

Messages Page 125 of 163

#1236 of 1617 Pontiac Montana noise question by laceykat

Sep 28, 2005 (12:33 pm)

We have a 2001 Pontiac Montana, first the a/c went, and the shop thought they fixed it but it won't hold the a/c charge, so they refunded our money and it is still not working. Now it has a noise, like a motor cycle sound, you can only hear it from inside the van, and noise stops if you turn the steering wheel toward the left while you are driving the vehicle. It is not there while the vehicle is idling only when you drive the van. Has anyone else had this happen, or have any idea what it may be?
 

#1237 of 1617 Driving our '98 Olds van away from Hurricane Rita by dirkwork

Sep 29, 2005 (10:49 am)

Last week Hurricane Rita was predicted to come ashore right at Galveston and run up into Houston. An evacuation was called for in my area south of Houston. After the wife and I ran around like chickens with our heads cut off for a while (what are going to bring? What about the fill-in-blank?) we packed up the van, removed one of the rear seats, loaded my mom our 2 kids some bikes on the back hitch carrier and stuff on the roof rack - we tried putting mom on the rack but she protested too much. We headed out and after 20 miles got north of town and then hit the mother of all traffic jams. This was not just slow traffic, this was turn off the car and walk around for a while everything is stopped traffic jam. The sun was shining and our temps were a humid 97+ degrees, so with the kids and mom in the van, we felt like we had to run the AC, although there was talk of not having any gas to refill. We never did turn off the AC, and idled with it on for hours. Now granted I've done most of the maintenace on my van (I've long said most vehicles turn to POS b/c of accumulated sub-standard repairs), but I was super-impressed at how my old van took this abuse. The temp gauge never budged from its normal spot with the AC on, and between it being fuel efficient and having a large gas tank (extended van), we didn't really have to worry like some people in those monster SUV's and cars. After 24 hours of this abuse, we still were over 1/2 tank. The trip computer said we were averaging 8.5 mph on our trip, which is something I could double on my bicycle without much trouble! The "gallons used" feature on the computer was handy as the gauge is not all that great of way of estimating remaining fuel, and on this trip fuel would be of utmost importance.
 
Anyway, the rear AC kept mom and kids cooled down, the motor and trans worked very smoothly, the self-leveling suspension kept it from sagging under the heavy load. After we got up to a about Lufkin TX (don't ask how long this took) we found a Walmart that was open and I bought three toys for the van - a 115 volt AC inverter for running my daughter's nebulizer to control her cough, a Sirus sat radio receiver kit and a DVD player with two screens that strap to the headrests for the kids entertainment and our sanity. The '98's did not have a DVD option FYI, but this whole deal was less than $200 and is removeable to work in other cars.
 
The many devices were powered by the rear and dual front power jacks, and when my daughter was using the DVD I could turn in the SAT radio and listen with headphones plugged into the rear system.
 
We ended up in what was apparently the last motel room in AR after nearly two days in the van. A hot shower never felt so good in my life, I kept washing to make sure I was getting the sweat and dirt off! The next morning, the storm was predicted to come up there and drop 20"+ of rain and flood out the town, so we vacated to a friend's family in MO. Luckily, there was not any traffic at this point.
 
On the way home after Rita had taken her northernly jog away from us, I eased the van into a steady 65-70 on the hilly roads and after 200 miles was averaging 27.2 MPG, running the AC and with all 5 of us aboard, a bike rack on the back and duffel bags on the roof! Now granted I'm running a THULE front rack bar and air deflector which I think helps with drag on roof items, but that is amazing milage. We got on some faster roads (75-80 mph) and my wife who is more of a lead foot drove and when we got home we checked the computer said we averaged 25.5 mpg. The van never missed a beat and was abused / driven over 1000 miles on this trip. I am also on about 5k since the last oil change of walmart synthetic and it doesn't even use oil.
 
While its not perfect, we were happy to have the van to evacuate in.
 
Dirk in Houston

#1238 of 1617 Change engine oil reset warning... by psimonl

Sep 29, 2005 (11:40 am)

Hello,
 
I have a 2000 Montana and for the first time, I can't reset the "Change engine oil" warning.
I used to do it all the time on first try for the past 3 years of ownership (ie 14 oil changes), but since the last oil change, I can't
 
Could it be because I waited more than two weeks to do so? Is the van angry at me . It only comes on for a minute each time I start the engine, but it annoys me. The van is not supposed to "Talk" to me. Will I have to unplug the battery? Is it going to go berserk if I do so? Please, help me like you do so often!!!
 
Simon

#1239 of 1617 VCR Player keeps blowing 5 amp fuses by maytum

Sep 30, 2005 (6:50 am)

I have a 2001 Olds Silhouette with a VCR Player. I put a new Battery in it & ever since the VCR Player keeps blowing 5 amp fuses . I also put a 7.5 & a 10 amp in as well, but didn't go any higher for fear of burning wires, etc. The VCR worked fine before changing the battery. I know of no other issues. Any Ideas anyone?

#1240 of 1617 Re: VCR Player keeps blowing 5 amp fuses [maytum] by ronsmith38

Sep 30, 2005 (7:27 am)

Replying to: maytum (Sep 30, 2005 6:50 am)
Could you in the process of changing the battery have caused a short of some kind? You could retrace the steps you did in this process to see if any short is possible.

#1241 of 1617 Dash Lights in Radio by nkairns

Oct 01, 2005 (3:03 am)

Most of my dash lights in my radio for my 1999 Silhouette are not functioning. The lights on the left of my radio (power, etc...) are working and so is the clock / tuner display. I removed the radio from the dash and took off the face cover for the radio. There is a printed circuit board that appears to be glued on the back of the radio face plate and I can't see anyway to get at the lights to replace them. Besides doing the obvious and purchasing an entirely new face plate, does anyone have an easy and inexpensive fix for this problem?
 
The radio, tape and CD as well as all the radio control buttons work fine. It's just the lights.
 
Thanks

#1242 of 1617 Clicking sound from left front wheel by nkairns

Oct 01, 2005 (3:14 am)

My 1999 Silhouette has developed a clicking or dull thud coming somewhere in the right front wheel area. It's one simple click or thud (very suttle, but it's there). It can be heard mostly when I back up on a hill or turn left from a dead stop. Sometimes it can be heard from a dead stop accelerating straight forward. I've tried tracing the problem myself and so have several mechanics. No one can isolate where the sound is coming from. These are no issues with the suspension, shocks, drivetrain or CV joints that anyone can find. One clue we have found is if someone has their hand on the right front fender while someone else shifts from drive to reverse with the brake applied and under light acceleration, you can slightly hear the sound as well as feel it in the fender. I am totally stumped. It's been like this for almost 6 months but has not gotten any worse.
 
Anyone have any clues?

#1243 of 1617 Re: Change engine oil reset warning... [psimonl] by cptplt

Oct 01, 2005 (5:21 am)

Replying to: psimonl (Sep 29, 2005 11:40 am)
I have a 00 venture, the manual says to depress the pedal slowly x times in however many seconds and it worked that way for the first 4 years, now it needs to be depressed quickly!! GM engineering at its best!!

#1244 of 1617 Re: Change engine oil reset warning... [psimonl] by mitzij

Oct 03, 2005 (7:35 am)

Replying to: psimonl (Sep 29, 2005 11:40 am)
This may sound silly, but check your floor mat. I've had customers come in unable to reset their oil change lights because the floor mat gets pushed up against
the accelerator just enough to keep it from going down far enough to reset the light.

#1245 of 1617 Re: Change engine oil reset warning... [mitzij] by psimonl

Oct 04, 2005 (6:39 am)

Replying to: mitzij (Oct 03, 2005 7:35 am)
Could it be just that ??? The floor Mat Well, I'll try tonight and post the result...
 
Simon

Messages Page 125 of 163

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement