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Chevy Venture Oil Issues

13 messages,  Last post on Jan 25, 2009 at 12:21 PM

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#1 of 13 Leaking oil pan on '02 Chevy Venture 3.4L by neustkg Dec 08, 2006 (4:16 pm)
Noticed a slow oil leak on our 3.4L, so I took it into the shop (non-dealer shop). They told me that the oil pans on this engine are porous as they are cast aluminum and they can develop a leak over time (almost 70k miles). They put a dye into the oil and want me to come back next week so they can put it up on the lift to see exactly where in the pan the leak is. Replacing the oilpan for this engine is something like a 7 hour job, resulting in a $900 price with parts. So we are going to put it off for now until about March when we are planning a long driving trip. Has anyone ever heard of this type of problem? I was hoping for a recall from GM, but the shop so far has not found anything to that effect.
#2 of 13 Leaking oil pan on '02 Chevy Venture 3.4L by wrenchin_karz Mar 01, 2007 (2:29 pm)
Neustkg,   Aside from being ASE & a GM certified tech, I own a Chevy Venture myself which has over 150k on it. Never have I heard of this oil pan being pourous, nor have I seen one leak that way. Although some oil pans out there do leak this way, yours having 70k on it, should most definitely not be leaking in this manner. It's more likely that it's your intake gasket leaking and trailing downward to the pan area. When the 3.4 engine leaks from the intake gasket, it's usually seen somehwere around 50 to 75k. By the way. The labor time (per Mitchell) shows 5 hours to do this job. 2 extra hours could mean the difference of $200 or more, depending on the shops rate. Replies to this message: sharkeym (Mar 13, 2007 5:43 am) chuk (Mar 13, 2007 6:53 pm) neustkg (Mar 13, 2007 10:54 am) chuk (Mar 13, 2007 6:50 pm)
#3 of 13 Re: Leaking oil pan on '02 Chevy Venture 3.4L [wrenchin_karz] by sharkeym Mar 13, 2007 (5:43 am)
Replying to: wrenchin_karz (Mar 01, 2007 2:29 pm) I have a 1999 Venture, which I have owned for 8 months. (Was a gift from my sister)I have the same problems with it. Was told by one of them "Jiffy lube" guys that the back oil pan gaskets need replacing. Several shops have quoted me over a grand to fix this. (I have not had it fixed yet, cannot afford it) Now there is water & coolant leaking and it overheats! There is no warranty and my sister is still paying on it. When she first drove it up to me, it had a sensor light on all the time saying "low coolant." My sister said that the dealership told her that it was only a bad sensor and that it only needed replacing. She drove it off the lot anyway, because she was told that replacing the sensor is not very expensive. I feel my sister has bought a lemon for 10 grand. Replies to this message: chuk (Mar 13, 2007 6:53 pm)
#4 of 13 Re: Leaking oil pan on '02 Chevy Venture 3.4L [wrenchin_karz] by neustkg Mar 13, 2007 (10:54 am)
Replying to: wrenchin_karz (Mar 01, 2007 2:29 pm) Thanks for replying. It sounds like you probably have bad intake manifold gasket. I have a 00 Grand Prix and the low coolant light came on. I added some coolant not thinking I might have had a bigger problem. About 6 months later, I took it into the shop for another problem and they told me I had a warped intake manifold (as well as a leaking intake manifold gasket). Cost me about $1500. Luckily for me, GM issued a recall on the 3.8L V6 in that car and I got that money back.   My actual problem was with one of those Fram easy oil change plugs (where you remove the cap and screw on a special fitting w/tube connected. Once in place, the fitting automatically opens up and begins draining the oil. This fitting was leaking around rubber gasket. I had the shop replace it w/a regular oil plug and so far have had no more oil leaks. What a relief as just under a year ago I had to have the intake manifold gasket along with the head gasket replaced ($2200). I'm very happy when it's something simple like that. The price was $25 labor plus cost for Mobil 1 Synthetic oil and a Napa Gold Filter (I purchase these and asked the shop to use them, which they agreed to). So just an expensive oil change.   I would definitely take it in and hope it is just the intake manifold gasket and not something more (hopefully not head gasket). If you do it sooner than later, you may minimize the damage. Replies to this message: chuk (Mar 13, 2007 6:50 pm)
#5 of 13 Re: Leaking oil pan on '02 Chevy Venture 3.4L [neustkg] by chuk Mar 13, 2007 (6:50 pm)
Replying to: neustkg (Mar 13, 2007 10:54 am) I have a similar problem with a few drops of oil on the floor each morning from the oil pan. I can't see any trail of oil from high up, but this weekend I did see one of the pan bolt with oil on it, so I think it may be the pan gasket leaking around that bolt. . . I had wondered about the potentially porous cast aluminum pan, but that seems a little crazy.   Other than the couple drops over night, the '99 van uses no oil at 104k miles.
#6 of 13 Re: Leaking oil pan on '02 Chevy Venture 3.4L [sharkeym] by chuk Mar 13, 2007 (6:53 pm)
Replying to: sharkeym (Mar 13, 2007 5:43 am) I also have a 99 Venture. I had a similar problem for years, where coolant level would slowly drop. But I never had any evidence that it was leaking into the engine. I finally spotted where it was leaking from the intake manifold gasket to the outside of the engine. It is a common problem to for the intake manifold gaskets to fail on these engines. I finally had mine replaced, for fear of a leak developing to the inside and ruining the engine. It cost me nearly $1k to have the job done. If the dealership told her it was a sensor problem, they were likely deceiving her. You can read about this problem all over this forum, going back a number of years.
#7 of 13 chevy venture oil leak by overlee Mar 13, 2007 (7:47 pm)
2001 Chevy Venture I have an oil leak in the front of the engine left side over the starter. The leak is only when the engine is running and is a solid stream ~ 3/16". It does not appear to be coming from the pressure sending unit. Does not appear to be coming from any gaskets or valve cover. Do the ventures have any exterior oil hoses, like to an oil cooler? Is the location of the oil pressure sending unit over the starter? It is very difficult to see exactly where it is coming from.
#8 of 13 manifold gasket leak by kayfuslee Apr 18, 2007 (5:38 am)
I have had a slow intake manifold leak for the last couple years on my '00 venture. I have never seen any coolant in the engine oil. I keep reading about engines being ruined from this defect. Is it possible that my leak is only external(which it appears to be), or is the coolant destined to reach the engine eventually? How much should I expect to pay for this repair? Thanks. Replies to this message: neustkg (Apr 18, 2007 10:33 am)
#9 of 13 Re: manifold gasket leak [kayfuslee] by neustkg Apr 18, 2007 (10:33 am)
Replying to: kayfuslee (Apr 18, 2007 5:38 am) I think you should get the gasket replaced soon. I had it replaced on my '02 Venture (may not have really needed it -- they later diagnosed the leak coming from the head gasket) and my '00 Pontiac Grand Prix. If you let it go too long like I did, you could end up w/a warped intake manifold (grand prix), which costs much more. I think I paid something like $1000 to $1100 for the intake manifold gasket on the Venture (can't exactly remember). There is quite a bit of labor involved to get to it (not as much as the head gasket, though). But I would get it taken care of. Keep the receipts as there might be a recall. I was refunded for the Grand Prix as there was a recall issued for the 3.8L V-6 fasteners. They refunded the cost of the gasket, new intake manifold, and labor.
#10 of 13 Incline Oil Leak 98 Venture by ahowler Aug 23, 2007 (7:55 am)
Ok I have a driveway that is at about a 50 degree angle when I back down and park on the incline to hitch up my boat I have a bad oil leak. I took it to the shop spent $900.00 for oil pan gasket, sensor, rear seal, and filter seal. Took home and I still have the leak. Anyone else have this problem and did you fix it. By the way it has a 120,000 miles on it. Thank You

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