need some opinions, keep it or ditch it?

I have a 99 venture extd. with 135000 miles on it. I just got the news that my camshaft is junk. The cost of fixing it would be around $2000.00 since you have to take the engine out of the van to get at the stupid thing. Now I had the transmission and the intake gasket replaced by the previous owner, so the 2 popular problems are fixed (at least I hope) I can have the old engine fixed for 2000.00 or my mechanic can get a remanufactured engine for 2400.00 Not really sure what the difference between rebuilt and remanufactured is, but the engine has like 5000 miles on it that he can put into my van. I like the ride and the gas mileage of this van but I can't see dumping money into something that might have other problems with it down the road. What else could I be looking at replacing other than tranny and engine problems that are common for these vans? Just would like some opinions, Ihave been thinking about htis for 2 days now and neither decsion seems right.

I would also worry about head gasket, t-stat, water pump (if they were not done when the intake gasket was done). If you were still using the Dex-Cool orange coolant (a.k.a "Death Cool"), it may contribute to the above 3 item's premature wear/replacenent needed. As they say, get off the orange stuff and go green. A/C system parts possibly as well. Minor electrical problems, but not too expensive to fix. This input is from my knowledge of this forum as well as what I went through with my 97 starting at 85,000 mi. I would try to get another shop to bid on this job. The only good thing about your engine still, is that you know what has been replaced so far. If you want to discuss further, try my email [email protected]. Keep up posted as to your solution. Remember $2000 is about 5-6 mos of newer car payments including insurance. I am going to drive my 97 until only a major system goes again. Mine now has 150,000 mi on it. If the next major system goes, I will take the possible $800 for it, not fix it, and put it toward not another Venture or Uplander, but probably a Tahoe.

IIf you were still using the Dex-Cool orange coolant (a.k.a "Death Cool"), it may contribute to the above 3 item's premature wear/replacenent needed. As they say, get off the orange stuff and go green.
Who is "They"?? It really isn't a good idea to switch coolants due to problems that could result due to improper flushing, different additive/protection packages, etc.Here are a couple of quotes to back up this idea with supporting links to the articles in which they appear.
"So the bottom line is this, if your car came from the factory with Dexcool®, use Dexcool® for replacement or to top off. If your car came from the factory with standard "green" antifreeze, use that for replacement or to toping off."http://autorepair.about.com/cs/coolingsystem/l/aa052601c.htm
"As lawyers continue to collect names for potential class action lawsuits from people claiming Dex-Cool damaged their car or truck, automobile mechanics are advising that if you have Dex-Cool as a coolant in your vehicle, you should not replace it with another form of antifreeze."http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/08/gm_dexcool.html

As for the van,you might be better off saving the $2000 (or more if you discover other potential problems) and put it towards another vehicle. Later model '04 and up do not appear at this time to have the same issues( Intake, cooling system) that plagued previous model Ventures . I look at it as there are too many variables that could go wrong after you replace the engine. Remember practically everything else on the van still has 135,000 miles on it including the electrical, front end components, etc, and some are reaching the end of their useful life span.I don't know how many miles the replaced transmission has, but that needs to be taken into consideration too. I also see you live in Wisconsin. I'm sure you have some very rough winter weather, and that can take a toll on your vehicle, especially after 8 years.I was in a similar situation with one of my Venture vans. It had 160,000 and needed major engine work as well. I went through the same "agony" you did trying to decide it's fate. I ended up not repairing the van because I looked at all the factors I listed above. I live in NY and I can say that road salt sure eats away at these vans. The rocker panels are one of the first things to go along with underbody frame parts.
The definitions for the terms "rebuilt" and remanufactured" have been "muddied" over the past 10 to 15 years. I remember when rebuilt referred to taking something apart and just replacing the broken item(s) or what went wrong with it. Remanufactured used to refer to taking something all apart and replacing everything inside with new items. Nowadays it seems as though businesses and mechanics use both words interchangeably.What kind of warranty was offered on the repair versus the reman.?

Depending on the history of the 5000 mile rebuilt and the condition of the rest of the van you might want to consider the other view and that 2400 dollars might (repeat might) get your vehicle to last anywhere between a year or so to many more with simple maintenance and other normal wear items to maintain it.

The $2000 to repair your engine would be to pull the engine, replace the cam shaft and any bearings related, and to reinstall the engine. A rebuilt engine typically has been torn down completely to just a bare block. Everything gets hot dipped and cleaned up. Bearing surfaces are checked and/or reground to make them smooth again. The same would go for the crank, cam shafts, pistons, cylinders, and heads. The heads are also typically inspected and components are machined or replaced if they are an issue. In the end you basically have a new engine made from used parts that have been all inspected. Then the engine is put back into place.

If the price difference is only $400 after everything is all said and done and the engine truly has been rebuilt properly, I would go with the rebuilt over just the repaired one. I might be a little leery though on them providing a rebuilt engine for $2400 (even with 5000 miles). A new rebuilt engine from Jasper runs $2600. That doesn't include any labor to get the old out, and transfer components over to the new engine, or installation.

Thanks for the replies. We 've made the choice to get rid of it. We just can justify putting more money into the thing. After researching these vans a liitle more I really can't believe the problems these vans have in general and that g.m. was allowed to sell them for as long as they did. I guess I should of seen the writing on the wall when the tranny was repalced @ 69000 miles. Anyway, like one poster said the money can be put into the payments of a small car, seeing as though gas is 3.50 a gallon here in central wisconsin, and its not even memorial day yet!!
thanks again, Newt