Quick Recommendations Appreciated

[Ophir]

OK, the quick story is this:

About a month ago, I purchased a 1998 Dodge Caravan from a dealer. From the moment I drove it off the lot, it gave me nothing but trouble. I have to take my hat off to the dealer that took it back 3 times and kept replacing parts to see what the problem was. Nothing worked.

Eventually (today), I went back there, handed them the keys to the Caravan and asked for another car. I was offered a 2002 Chevy Venture with 54K Miles. They gave me the car and told me to see if I like it.

So far, it feels very smooth and comfortable, but I really need to hear from venture owners if this is a good car or not. What's your experience and what are the problems I can expect along the way?

With the Caravan, only when the problems started, did I go to the internet only to find out that the Caravan is a car from hell! So this time I'm hoping not to repeat the same mistake.

Thanks!

[spider22]

I have not had my venture for long, but we love it. I did a lot of looking around and talked to a lot of mechanics at independent shops and they all said that the venture is a good van. Even the Ford dealer that I buy from recommended the venture.

HIH

Jed

[HTC63]

We have a 1999 Venture and it's probably one of the best vehicles we've ever owned. You can't beat the room and comfort especially having a big family. We've done alot of traveling and as far as I'm concerned, it's best van on the road today. I've kept up on the general maintenance ie, regular oil changes, 60 and 90 thousand mile tuneups and it's taken me past 100 thousand + miles. We are now in the market for our second Venture. Enjoy. You won't regret it.

[Ophir]

We bought the Venture, following many recommendations we got including the two from here.

Here's a photo of our first venture, after the disasterous 1998 Caravan.
http://www.autotrader.com/dealers/vi...&ac_afflt=none

[broughy84]

I have had nothing but trouble with our venture...two sets of intake gaskets, plenum gaskets, head gaskets, vacuum hoses, tps, iac, heater hoses have blown out of the back of the thermostat housing...they squeak and rattle, I personally would not recommend a venture to my worst enemy. but that's my

Make sure the recalls have been taken care of before you buy it. They will fix em for free anyway...I know there is a recall for brake lines and steering rack and pinion, but i am not sure exactly what years they are for.

[zzoltan]

I've owned a 2000 Chevy Venture for about 4 1/2 years now. My only two complaints is the rear brake & turn signal lights and poor inside door panel. I seem to burn out the lights on the rear light fixture more than I should. Now I have a problem with one of the brake lights not working. I'm still trying to resolve that problem. With regards to the door panel, the driver side door panel came loose unexpectly and with no apparent reason. Overall the Chevy Venture serves me well.

Good luck.

[mmorales]

I have to agree with broughy84. We have a 2000 Venture and I hate it! We have had lots of problems with it, and it always seems to be something that other people are experiencing but no body knows how to fix. Nothing frustrates me more than coming on this board and reading about all the other people experiencing the same problems I am experiencing...just leads me to believe that the Venture is poorly made.

[umina]

I've got a 99 Montana (same as venture) and love it. Only put 10K miles on it since purchase, but it is a real trooper. Only had to put new rear shocks (replaced load leveling POS thingies with regular shocks) and rear tires (Firestone suck!!). All in all, if the van was properly maintained by previous owner, you should have minimal trouble with yours.

[base11]

HI
I own a 2001 Venture and dont recomend them. Automatic door has stopped working once or twice, the handle on the rear hatch (inside) broke off and as mentioned in another thread the head gasket is now leaking internally at only 70,000 kms, thats like (40,000 miles).
Not to impressed.

[AJT1961]

I have a 99 Venture (purchased new) and am close to 140,000 miles. I love mine. Once you debug them (ie. head gasket problem and occasional steel wooling of the side door electrical contacts), they are incredibly durable and reliable vehicles. They have lots of cargo room and lots of power, even though they are kind of ugly even for a minivan. Mine has not once left me stranded, burns not a single drop of oil, and still runs smoothly with the original water pump, alternator, hoses, shocks, struts, drums, rotors, and calipers. I did replace the front axles myself at around 115,000 miles with rebuilt units (total cost $130 US), and had the dealer change the plugs and wires at around the same time. My head gasket failed at around 60,000 miles but it was covered under warranty. I also had to replace one tailamp assembly because of a burned out contact. I used to buy new Caravans and they always felt like loose unreliable junk by 70,000 miles, at which time I'd trade them in. And the caravans always chewed up front brakes, particularly on the right side. Never thought I'd keep a car past 80,000 miles, much less 140,000 and rising.

[jamx13]

I bought a 2000 Venture a few months ago. It has some of the inherent problems, like occasional hard shifting & troublesome tail lights (which I was able to fix), but other than that, I really like it.

The hard shifting is common with that particular model transmission, so it's not necessarily just a Venture related problem. The tail light problem I've found (with the help of this forum) is somewhat common & has been mentioned on here several times. If you scroll down a bit, you'll find a couple of posts about these 2 issues & possible fixes.

Other than that, I'm happy with it. It's comfortable, rides nice, looks reasonably good (for a minivan) & is much better than some of the alternatives (i.e. Caravan, Voyager, Windstar, etc). Plus it's roomy enough to bang the ol lady...LOL!!

[AJT1961]

I've never had a hard shifting problem -- my 99 has always been silky smooth. In fact, it is so smooth you barely notice it. If you are having a hard shifting problem you should read back and research it further. I think I recall someone mentioning a recall for certain years for transmission reprogramming because of hard shifting, and another thread that talked about faulty tranny modulators. The one quirk that my tranny does have is that when you shift from neutral to drive, you must give the tranny at least 2 seconds to fully engage before trying to accelerate or it will slam into gear so hard that you think the tranny just dropped out of the van. That is probably normal though for all GM trannys.

[jamx13]

From what I've read, the hard shifting in the 4T65E tranny can usually be fixed by replacing the PCS (pressure control solenoid). However, I've read other reports of people having the PCS replaced & the problem remains. The other possibility is the MAF (mass air flow) sensor. This was discussed in the post titled "2000 Venture kicks".

I believe I got the following info from this site, unfortunately I can't give credit to the original poster cuz I don't have his/her name (sorry)...I saved it as I file so I wouldn't have to dig for it. I guess it won't hurt to post it again:

GM has a bulletin on this condition - the repair is to replace the PCS solenoid inside the trans.

00-07-30-002B JUL 02 A/T - 4T65E Harsh Shifts/Shudders/Slips/DTC's Set

Slips, Harsh Upshift or Garage Shifts, Launch Shudders, Flares, Erratic Shifts and Intermittent Concerns, DTC P1811 or P0748 Set (Replace Pressure Control Solenoid Valve Assembly) 00-07-30-002B - (07/19/2002)

Here is what a shift adapt is!!

Adapt Function
The 4T65-E transmission uses a line pressure control system, that has the ability to adapt line pressure to compensate for normal wear of the following parts:

The clutch fiber plates
The springs and seals
The apply bands

The PCM maintains information for the following transmission adaptive systems:

Upshift Adapts (1-2, 2-3 and 3-4)
The PCM monitors the automatic transmission input shaft speed (AT ISS) sensor and the vehicle speed sensor (VSS) in order to determine when an upshift has started and completed. The PCM measures the time for the upshift. If the upshift time is longer than a calibrated value, then the PCM will adjust the current to the pressure control (PC) solenoid valve to increase the line pressure for the next shift in the same torque range. If the upshift time is shorter than the calibrated value, then the PCM will decrease the line pressure for the next shift in the same torque range.

Steady State Adapts
The PCM monitors the AT ISS sensor and the VSS after an upshift in order to determine the amount of clutch slippage. If excessive slippage is detected, then the PCM will adjust the current to the PC solenoid valve in order to increase the line pressure to maintain the proper gear ratio for the commanded gear.

The TAP information is divided into 13 units, called cells. The cells are numbered 4 through 16. Each cell represents a given torque range. TAP cell 4 is the lowest adaptable torque range and TAP cell 16 is the highest adaptable torque range. It is normal for TAP cell values to display zero or negative numbers. This indicates that the PCM has adjusted line pressure at or below the calibrated base pressure.

Clearing Transmission Adaptive Pressure (TAP)
Updating TAP information is a learning function of the PCM designed to maintain acceptable shift times. It is not recommended that TAP information be reset unless one of the following repairs has been made:

Transmission overhaul or replacement
Repair or replacement of an apply or release component (clutch, band, piston, servo)
Repair or replacement of a component or assembly which directly affects line pressure
Resetting the TAP values using a scan tool will erase all learned values in all cells. As a result, the PCM will need to relearn TAP values. Transmission performance may be affected as new TAPs are learned. The PCM must also relearn TAP values when the PCM or the transmission is replaced.

Basicly what this says is the PCM is a learning PCM, it learns the drivers habits and learns the wear of the trans over time and uses this info to change the shift points to be less noticable.

After any trans repairs the shift adapts have to be cleared and relearned.

************************************************** ****

Here is a little info about your code of P1811!

Circuit Description
The transmission pressure is modified by an adaptive modifier which controls the shift execution time. This test checks the time required to accomplish the shift. If the shift takes longer than 0.65 seconds and the adaptive modifier cannot shorten this time, then a counter increases by one.

If the PCM detects a counter value of 2 during one trip, then DTC P1811 sets. DTC P1811 is a type C DTC.

Conditions for Running the DTC
The shift is adaptable.
The 1-2, the 2-3 or the 3-4 shift adapt cell has reached its limit.
Conditions for Setting the DTC
The 1-2, 2-3 or 3-4 shift is longer than 0.65 seconds, twice in one trip.

Action Taken When the DTC Sets
The PCM does not illuminate the malfunction indicator lamp (MIL).
The PCM commands maximum line pressure.
The PCM freezes shift adapts.
The PCM records the operating conditions when the Conditions for Setting the DTC are met. The PCM stores this information as Failure Records.
The PCM stores DTC P1811 in PCM history.

Conditions for Clearing the DTC
A scan tool can clear the DTC.
The PCM clears the DTC from PCM history if the vehicle completes 40 consecutive warm-up cycles without a non-emission-related diagnostic fault occurring.
The PCM cancels the DTC default actions when the fault no longer exists and the ignition switch is OFF long enough in order to power down the PCM.

Diagnostic Aids
Ask the customer about possible overloading, exceeding the trailer towing limit, or towing in overdrive.
Ensure that the PCM has the latest calibration update.

[umina]

Has anyone replaced the pressure control solenoid themselves, or had it replaced by a shop (not a dealer)? Wondering what the replacement procedure is like or cost at a garage? The symptoms described above are what i've been experiencing. Garage shifts i'm assuming is shifting into reverse or drive from park, and it is a hard shift. I ahd this problem with a 97 Lumina for 35K miles before I sold it, so I don't think this is life threatening, just annoying.

[eenaef]

We bought ours used from an anal kind of guy that did all routine maint. He even replace the battery (at the dealer) just because the old one was 4 years old and he didn't want to have any problems with it. It had 52,000 miles on it when we got it. We have just put on 17,000 miles on ourselves and love it. Having a problem now with it stalling after starting but then it starts and runs fine after that. I give it a thumbs up. Good luck.