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Chevy Venture overheating problem

178 messages,  Last post on Feb 12, 2013 at 10:47 AM

You are in the Chevy Venture Forum.

What is this discussion about? Chevrolet Venture, Engine, Van

Messages Page 7 of 18

#60 of 178 Re: 2003 Chevy Venture jumps and stalls [mojoloco] by davet_1961

Jul 22, 2008 (4:20 am)

Replying to: mojoloco (Jul 21, 2008 6:10 pm)
Well, my venture is a 98 model and wasn't making the sound you describe, it was shaking and stalling, losing coolant and idling roughly. If your engine has EVER overheated, I'd suggest having the compression tested to see if one of the head gaskets is blown. Mine blew a head gasket, I had it repaired (about $800 at my local mechanic, probably a $1400 job elsewhere) and now it runs perfectly.

#61 of 178 2003 chev venture by chevygurl

Jul 28, 2008 (7:45 pm)

When i drive my van i can smell antifreeze and my thermostat goes over the halfway mark not to the red only a ways past half but will go down when i turn on the heat. just wondering if anyone can give me some help

#62 of 178 2002 chev venture overheating. by bookmark1

Jan 10, 2009 (4:23 am)

I have had the waterpump, thermostst and headgasket replaced and the engine is still overheating. When I run the heat it does not overheat but the heat will go out and it only blows cold air and the engine will overheat. the van has about 145,000 miles on it. any suggestions welcomed

#63 of 178 Re: 2002 chev venture overheating. [bookmark1] by 442dude

Jan 10, 2009 (11:11 am)

Replying to: bookmark1 (Jan 10, 2009 4:23 am)
I know you just had your thermostat replaced but the symptoms you describe would point to a faulty thermostat. The thermostats on the Venture are really sensitive to oil contamination. If there were traces of oil in the system related to changing the head gasket and they didn't get them all out by flushing the system, the new thermostat may have been ruined and may need to be replaced again after the system is flushed.
 
Are you losing antifreeze? The intake manifold gaskets are always suspect on the 3.4 but they might have replaced that when they replaced your head gasket.
 
Something else to check: check to see that the air was bled out of the cooling system. There are 2 air bleeders, one by the waterpump and one near the thermostat housing. They need to be opened when you're refilling the system. Maybe you've got some air in there and the waterpump is getting airbound?
 
Just some thoughts...Good Luck
 
 

#64 of 178 2005 Venture Heating Problems by JimNewton

Jan 10, 2009 (10:36 pm)

Can someone help me figure this out? I see there are many heating problems with these Ventures. I am in Vancouver, BC have a 2005 Chevy Venture with 115,000 kms - since Christmas I have been getting some really weird stuff happening - was on the way to my sisters when my daughter had to go to the bathroom - let the van idle and then noticed that the temp had gotten very hot - almost to the red or maybe even in it. Stopped at my sisters for Christmas eve, van would have cooled down, but instead when I turned it on again the needle went past the red and around the corner! No signs of fluid in the oil or low water, or overheating. Maybe a weird smell, but the whole van has been smelling lately due to the wet snowy much we have been having. Just tonight we were driving for an hour or so and the temp was perfectly low, me eyes were glued to it. But I turned the van ignition back on after a couple of minutes of being parked and the needle suddenly went full hot to the point it was clicking because it couldn't get any hotter!!
 
Any ideas?

#65 of 178 99 Venture by Banty

Jan 28, 2009 (8:30 am)

Ok.. last fall we noticed we were having to refill the coolant more than usual. My dad said it may be seeping through the aluminum and not really a big deal unless it was over heating or something. Just keep it full. So we did. We could not find a leak at that point. A few months later we noticed it smelled like burnt coolant and it was going through it faster. Also the belt was slipping. After Christmas a leak turned into a puddle, but since it was being flung everywhere we couldn't pinpoint it. We changed the radiator. It seemed ok for about a day but then started up worse than before. Changed the water pump and it does not seem to be leaking anymore but we are still having issues. When we were bleeding the air out the hoses that come off either side of the engine would collapse when the engine was revved. We could not figure out why they were doing that. We got heat out of the vents yesterday when we did this but today my husband said he did not have heat for half of the hour drive into work again this morning. This is what he said happened:
 
"This morning the van went into the Red on the temp gauge by the time I passed the fire station on 1/4 mile down the road. I turned around and by 1/8th mile away the temp was back down. The gauge kept fluctuating up to 3/4 of the way to HOT until I got to half way to work. The Low Coolant light was on almost all of the way. When I got on the freeway the temp stayed at the low end of the white bar. I did notice that when I stopped at a light the engine felt like it would stall but kept going.... I looked at the coolant overflow tank when I got to work and it was full to the cap. "
 
I am thinking it sounds like the thermostat and that the fan is not kicking on. We used some leak stop during the leak phase and maybe that gunked it up? I really don't want it to be the head gasket, we just can't afford it right now. This is our only running vehicle at the moment! Because of the hoses sucking flat I was wondering if there was a pinch or something somewhere. I plan on having him take it in for coolant flush when he gets home from work to see if that helps.

#66 of 178 Re: 2002 Chevy Venture WB AWD [rockbazz] by rockbazz

Jan 28, 2009 (8:57 pm)

Replying to: rockbazz (Jul 06, 2008 8:20 pm)
Good evening, it's been a while since I've updated my status of this situation and wanted to do so as I'm selling this vehicle tomorrow...
Not pleased of what I'm getting for it but such is life in this market.
I needed to update my thread here to state that I only experienced the "no start after running" scenario that one time after changing the crank shaft sensor. So, I would like to think it resolved my issue. Thanks fo 442dude for the perfect diagnosis!! Even GM wouldn' t offer that as an option for me, so I paid for it myself.. As a going away present of my extended warranty (ended), they redid the gaskets again on the manifolds or the heads.. I don't recall which but that was the 4th time there was activity in this area done on this vehicle.. totally unacceptable - oh and they changed the thermostate..running like a charm again..so lets get rid of this now since the warranty has expired... I've purchased a different company vehicle this time to give them a chance.. Good luck all.

#67 of 178 Re: 99 Venture [Banty] by AJGWHEELS

Feb 02, 2009 (12:32 am)

Replying to: Banty (Jan 28, 2009 8:30 am)
I have the same problem with my venture , this is what I did to solve the problem,
  after changing the thermostat , coolant sensor , new redesign water pump by GM,
   it was still OVERHEATING , got some information at GM autoshop , and they
   told me that the main cause ( on most cases ) is the INTAKE MANIFOLD &
    the UPPER MANIFOLD ( plenum ) , the INTAKE MANIFOLD is made of plastic resistance to high temp I guess , the kit comes with all four gaskets and the
  HIGH TEMPERATURE SILICON , please get the HAYNES service manual for this vehicle if your planning to fix it yourself . After installing the gaskets, and filling it up with the coolant , I turn on the vehicle , the needle was around the middle most of the time , first day was OK , but the second day the gauge went up to the RED ZONE , What happen is that I forgot to bleed the air out where the coolant circulates , theres two bleeders , one near the water pump & the other near the thermostat. I hope this helps . good luck

#68 of 178 by s10chevybob

Feb 07, 2009 (10:01 am)

We've an '02 Venture with this cooling/overheating problem. Can some one tell me the procedure for bleeding the system. I opened the bleeder on the right and got air out with the engine running. It was more like spitting. Do I need a steady stream of coolant coming out? When I opened the valve on the left I didn't get any coolant but it didn't seem like much for air either. I'm thinking a bad head gasket is pumping air into the system. The intake was replaced a little over a year ago.

#69 of 178 Re: [s10chevybob] by AJGWHEELS

Feb 07, 2009 (1:35 pm)

Replying to: s10chevybob (Feb 07, 2009 10:01 am)
NOP . . . the BLEEDERS are for refilling procedure , and yes , your not suppose to get any coolant coming out . this is the info how it appears on the HAYNES repair manual : REFILLING : install the coolant reservoir , reconnect the hoses and close the drain valve HAND tight. Open the BLEED SCREWS two or three turns and slowly add coolant to the RADIATOR until it reaches the base of the filler neck . Wait a couple of minutes and make sure coolant level is still up to
 the base of the filler neck , if it isnt , ADD coolant until it is . SQUEEZE the upper RADIATOR hose gently to make sure all remaining AIR is expelled , then ADD coolant until the level is up to the base of RADIATOR neck , repeat as necesary.
             INSTALL the radiator cap , then close the BLEEDER screw above the
    WATER PUMP first , then the one on the thermostat housing .FILL coolant reservoir up to the COLD mark . now run engine until it reaches normal temperature , then turn it off , let it cool and re check coolant level.

Messages Page 7 of 18

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