['97ventureowner]

I owned 2 Ventures, both 1997s. One had the gasket go bad at about 62,000 miles in 2002, and the other one went to 161,000 before being sold with the original gaskets. Both ran Dex Cool. I have seen many vehicles over the years in the shop that have issues with Dex Cool. To my knowledge, every single one of them had an underlying issue that caused the coolant to go bad,( issues listed in above posts.)I would be willing to bet if someone looked further into many of the stories you read online of thse that have issues with their vehicles, you will find similar results . With millions of vehicles coming from GM with Dex Cool installed since 1996, the number of those with issues is rather a small percentage of the total production figure. When someone is likely to have an issue, they become vocal and tell more people of their problem which in turn these people tell more people and so on. Most folks that have a good experience tend to not say anything or be as vocal as those that have an issue so we may not know the true story. If you look at the info on the class action suit, you will see only a certain class of engine was affected, during certain years. Dex Cool was installed in most GM vehicles for the 1996 model year and beyond so the time frame was much larger compared to the class action suits' coverage. That should say something for the design / material aspect.Other GM vehicles also were found to have defective radiator caps and some aftermarket replacement caps were found to be incompatible.I always try to educate the customer so they have the knowledge to make their own decisions. If you are happy with what you have in your cooling system after doing your own research then you should go with that. Just know what to look for if issues should develop and be prepared to take action to prevent any damage.
(Also you stated your '03 Venture has a 3.1 . It actually has a 3.4 VIN "E" engine , not trying to be condescending or anything, just wanted to clarify so you don't get the wrong parts when you buy them for your vehicle.)