Chevy Venture Fuel Pump

Nope, no way to drain it other than sticking a hose down the fuel tank inlet, and syphoning it out. The tank is plastic, so it is light, even with a couple gallons left in it. Only three straps hold it to the underbody, so you remove 3 bolts, and the electrical connections, and the two fuel line connectors, and it comes off of the van. But it is hard to find just the mechanism... they want to sell you the pump and top asm complete for like $250-300 dollars. There is one place on the internet that sells the "fuel level CAM" for like 20 bucks, but I called them since there was no picture. They couldn't send me a picture, but told me to go online to another site, which I didn't have access to, so not sure if that is the part you would need or not. Let me know if you have success just buying that item, as I need it too.

#34 of 41 2000 Chevy Venture Stalls / won' by navstar

Jul 25, 2009 (10:10 am)

#35 of 41 2000 Chevy Venture Stalls / Won't start by navstar

Jul 25, 2009 (10:15 am)

Thanks to all for sharing ....
Wife's Chevy venture has been stalling and getting progressively worse, now won't start. I surfed the web this morning finding numberous builltien boards and a common theme in most, crank sensor, fuel pump, or the wire harness connector under car behind drivers seat.
Easies (and cheapest) to check was electrical connector. First, confirm symptom, turn key and listen under car, no fule pump hum. Pulled connector and reseated a couple times, try again, car starts. Examine connector and sure enough the one pin is discolored around it in the connector. Clear sign that there is excessive current draw, causing heat, causing oxidation, etc. Eventually you end up with an "open circuit". Small file, contact cleaner and short time later, car starts better than it has in months. My experience in a similar inductry, this is a temporary fix. Once these connectors and pins get damaged, they will eventually need to be replaced. When that time comes, I will cut the wires and install another heavier connector for the fuel pump circuit.
Thanks to all for sharing, it led me in teh right direction, and I suggest everyone wiht similar issue, listen for fuel pump hum when you turn teh key, and if you don't hear it, go to this connector first!

Replies to this message:

donniebrown512 (Apr 25, 2012 12:28 pm)

#36 of 41 Van will not start by halfduzndad

Dec 26, 2010 (4:28 pm)

We have a 2000 Chevy Venture that was run out of gas. After refilling the van won't start. Changed the relay then tried disconnecting and reconnecting the battery terminals, still it won't start. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Replies to this message:

azu (Dec 26, 2010 7:34 pm)

#37 of 41 Re: Van will not start [halfduzndad] by azu

Dec 26, 2010 (7:34 pm)

Replying to: halfduzndad (Dec 26, 2010 4:28 pm)

Sounds like a clogged fuel filter or clogged fuel pump pickup screen. Most likely the fuel filter.

#38 of 41 Re: 2000 Chevy Venture Stalls / Won't start [navstar] by donniebrown512

Apr 25, 2012 (12:28 pm)

Replying to: navstar (Jul 25, 2009 10:15 am)

Thank you so much for your post I almost went and bought the fuel pump. Then I read your post and took your advice about cleaning the plug, now the van starts up and runs better than it has ever. Again thank you

#39 of 41 2000 Chevy Venture Van Engines Dies or Won't Start (Intermittent). by mikechandler

Feb 15, 2013 (10:46 pm)

I will start with some history, a description of the problem, what I've tried, and what I've found to be the solution.

A few years ago, my wife's 2000 Chevy Venture van would die at random times. Sometimes, while driving down the highway, sometimes while backing out of our garage, and at other times. the car simply wouldn't start at all. When this happened, the starter would turn the engine over, but the engine would not start. There were no error codes, no check engine lights, or anything else to point to the cause of the problem. We'd wait, sometimes a few minutes, sometimes a few days, and it would start running again, and not give us any problems for weeks.

We originally bought the car because my wife uses an electric scooter for mobility. (No one buys car like this for its style.) It was one of the few vans on which the back door opening was tall enough that we could use the scooter lift to get the scooter in and out of the van without removing the seat from the scooter and/or folding the steering column on the scooter down.

As you can imagine, being disabled, and having a van that doesn't run with 100 percent reliability isn't a good combination. We've had good luck with necessary car repairs at the GoodYear auto shop in Monroe, WA. One day, when it stopped running, so we had it towed to the GoodYear repair shop. They found that there was no fuel pressure, and after removing the gas tank and taking out the fuel pump, they determined that the fuel pump was defective. The logic was, replace the fuel pump, car runs, so problem solved. We had the fuel pump replaced at a total cost of just shy of $1000. The van ran great. We had no issues for several months, until the warranty on the parts/work ran out. Then, the exact same symptoms returned.

As a former electrical engineer, I don't have a lot of faith in electrical problems magically fixing themselves. When a pump stops pumping, it's unlikely to start pumping again. When an electric motors shorts out, it's not going to run later on if you press the start button. When a fuse blows, it's not likely to fix itself. (You get the idea.) The fact that the car would run fine for weeks, then stop, then work again minutes, hours, or days later just doesn't fit with what I thought would apply to a defective fuel pump, especially with two different fuel pumps.

Recently, while crawling around under the car (for whatever reason, I don't recall), I happened to look up and saw the wires running from the top of the fuel tank to a connector. From that connector, a short wiring harness runs to another connector that's mounted to the bottom of the van floor, just behind the driver's seat. From that connector, the wiring harness enters the body, so I didn't trace it any further. Examining that connector underneath the van behind the driver's seat, what I saw appears to be looks very poorly designed for where it's located. There are no weather boots to keep out water or any waterproofing of any kind. It's directly exposed to any water, mud, or crud that's kicked up while driving in wet weather. Basically, it's just a white Molex type electrical connector like you might find inside of a computer or stereo amplifier, but this is in a spot where it's exposed to years of weather and temp changes.

Since that day, the van had died three times. Each time, I've poked my head under the van, gave that connector a little wiggle, and the car starts right away. It happened again this evening. It's not quite as easy for my wife to do, and I didn't have anyone else available to whom I could explain what needed to be done, so I drove 50 extra miles today to wiggle the wire.

I'll stop by the dealer tomorrow and order the two cables that make up the two sides of this connector, and I'll use some heat shrink tubing when I assemble it to waterproof the connector. I'll put some dielectric grease on the connectors too to help prevent corrosion. I expect that this will solve the problem.

If you are experiencing these symptoms, try giving that plug a little wiggle. If your car starts, you've pinpointed source of the problem. Good luck!

Replies to this message:

oliver233 (Mar 24, 2013 5:26 pm)
- wq2121 (Mar 24, 2013 5:58 pm)

#40 of 41 Re: 2000 Chevy Venture Van Engines Dies or Won't Start (Intermittent). [mikechandler] by oliver233

Mar 24, 2013 (5:26 pm)

Replying to: mikechandler (Feb 15, 2013 10:46 pm)

To all who posted info on similar problems with this van, I am most grateful. Recently our Venture exhibited similar symptoms with the fuel pump. After checking the harness connections where the wiring harness goes through the body (behind drivers seat), I found all of the terminals corroded and in need of replacing (both male and female ends). After searching for replacement connectors and coming up empty (even through Chevy), I eliminate the connectors by wiring the 2 halves together. Much to our delight, the fuel pump is now working. I would recommend that anyone with similar vans check the wiring harness connections prior to having the fuel pump replaced and making this check part of routine maintenance if the connectors are in good condition.

Replies to this message:

wq2121 (Mar 24, 2013 5:58 pm)

#41 of 41 Re: 2000 Chevy Venture Van Engines Dies or Won't Start (Intermittent). [oliver233] by wq2121

Mar 24, 2013 (5:58 pm)

Replying to: oliver233 (Mar 24, 2013 5:26 pm)

FYI, the first time I had the problem of not starting, it WAS the fuel pump... know that because when I removed it from the gas tank, it was quite melted on the top. Lucky it didn't blow up, I think!

Then, second time, I knew it probably wasn't the pump, as I had replaced it like a year earlier. So checked the connector under the van behind the front seats (about in the middle of the underside). There was no corrosion, but there was no voltage going TO the connector, even in that first two/three seconds before the voltage is cut out. Chevy cuts the power to the fuel pump after that time frame that so that the fuel pump doesn't run when the engine isn't running. Many people apparently put the ignition switch in RUN when they want to wait/sit and listen to the radio, instead of backwards to ACCESSORIES position. If it didn't shut down in a few seconds, that pump would continue to run continuously while the engine is off. Not sure why there is no voltage at that connector, but I ran 12v that is on ONLY when the ignition is on RUN, and that solved MY problem. Now I just have to always remember NOT to leave the ignition switch in RUN for more than a few seconds if the engine isn't running, since that would NOW make my fuel pump run.

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