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Venture manifold leak. Fix it or scrap it?


jmebonner
01-20-2008, 06:10 PM
'Round about July we took a trip from KS to MO. The van has 204,000 miles on it and gave no indication of a problem. Before the trip I replaced the plugs and wires and threw some new headlights on since the old ones were fogged over.

About halfway there the temp started climbing and steam was shooting out of the motor in the rear on the passenger side. I replaced the Thermostat (HUGE pain) and water pump and dumped a load of bars leak in and limped it on into Missouri. Near St. Louis, fwiw. About 30 miles from destination the core cracked presumably from me continuing to dump cold water in it since the water kept leaking out.

Determined that it was likely a faulty gasket but didn't want to spend my vacation fixing it so we bought a Jeep and came home.

Now, my wife would really rather have the van, just doesn't like the Grand Cherokee. So, should I spend the $500 to have it transported back here and then fix it? It needs tires as well, but I can do the gasket. I replaced the one in my Buick Regal last summer with no issues.

For about $700 I can have it brought here and fix it myself, at my leisure. I'll replace the gaskets and radiator.

Or, cut my losses and get something else, like a used town and country van. I will not spend more than 3-4000, though.

kornjulio
01-21-2008, 07:39 AM
At 204K, I'd call it a career and put the old girl out to pasture...

534BC
01-21-2008, 12:00 PM
If the van is loaded and/or in nice shape I'd fix it. If there's a lot of rust, dents, options missing or not working then consider trade or junk.

FRANKFOS
01-22-2008, 03:50 AM
204,000 sounds like its been a great van...I do understand your wife missing it....I agree with 534bc .If it is in good shape fix it....

Monty66
01-22-2008, 10:10 PM
I always prefer to battle the enemy I know, rather than the one I don't..

Former Montana owner (motor trashed), current Venture owner. (Motor successfully fixed!)

Tom:screwy:

mhall02
01-23-2008, 12:46 PM
If you decide to scrap it, I live in the St. Louis area and would like to know what you would like for the new headlight housings. Send me a PM if you go the scrap route. FYI, we have almost 170,000 on our '99 Monana, is good to hear someone was able to get past 200,000 miles, on third IMG, original and first replacment done to date, first two were fixed under warranty by dealer, next one won't be on GM it will be on ME.

paprius4030
01-23-2008, 06:18 PM
She served you well, but if you had a Chrysler minivan you'd be on your 5th transmission. I'd stick with another good used Venture

jamx13
01-26-2008, 10:30 AM
I always prefer to battle the enemy I know, rather than the one I don't..

Well put. As the others said, if it's still in fairly decent shape, it *may* be worth repairing. The GM 3.1L & 3.4L is known to have problems with the intake manifold gasket blowing out & leaking antifreeze. Sometimes to blows out early while still under warranty, sometimes much later in life, & some never have a problem with it. If you do decide to do the repair (whether you do it yourself or have it done by a shop), make sure to use the Felpro metal gasket, not the GM plastic gasket. $500 is a lot to have the van towed home though...it may be cheaper to rent a tow dolly & drag it back yourself. Then again, with rental fees & gas prices (not to mention the time & inconvenience), it may end up costing about the same. Good luck!

Ididnt[BreAK]it
01-28-2008, 02:28 PM
cheaper if you fix it where it broke down (if there's a service shop) and drive it back

Headnsouth
01-28-2008, 04:11 PM
$500 to tow it 30 miles? Thats awfully steep. Last time I had a car towed (last year) it was $2 a mile and it was a flatbed.

mhall02
01-28-2008, 04:38 PM
I think he is talking about towing it from the St. Louis area back to somewhere in KS?

rockwood84
01-31-2008, 12:32 PM
could just be a heater hose leaking as there are six of them if you had rear heat. do you know any truck drivers going that way and dead heading back?or drive there and rent a u haul car toter and bring it back yourself

jmebonner
03-22-2008, 11:32 PM
Hey guys, sorry I dropped off the face of the earth. I got the notification of the first reply and that was it. I thought no one else replied. :)

I'm still looking for someone on craigslist to fix it. I'm positive that's it's not a heater hose. It's the upper intake or possibly (very slim chance) head gasket.

mhall02, if I do scrap, I'll let you know.

James

Nitro23
04-01-2008, 11:14 AM
Based on how you ran this after it was overheating, I can guarantee you it will need head gaskets replaced and new/refurbished heads. The heads on these crack pretty easy once overheated.

I just did mine myself over the past 2 weekends and put in about $450 in parts. heads, t-stat, all gaskets.

It all comes down to time and money.

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