2000 Venture Intermittent Starting Problem

[authenticy]

This is my second post regarding this topic. I am just praying someone could have another suggestion. I have a 2000 Chevrolet Venture LT that will not start sometimes. When I go to start the van I turn the key on were the lights come on the dash board but as I finish turing the key the rest of the way it is absolutely dead, no crank or nothing just dead. I have replaced the starter, the ignition switch, the neutral safety switch, the passkey module, checked the battery connections and even the relay box on top of the battery and I think that is about it. All totaling about $700.00 and its still doing it. I took the ignition key off my key ring because someone suggested that maybe there was something interferring with the frequency of the passkey and for the past week it did not act up, until today when I put the key back on the keyring. I took the key back off the key ring and it didn't make a difference. I sat and messed with it for about 5 minutes and opened and closed the power door and then it started. Does anyone have any other suggestions or help. We are planning a trip in 27 days and really don't want to take a vehicle that starts when it feels like it.

[gls02]

I have read the other post about the problems you are experiencing , you sure are having your share of bad luck. How old is the battery? I have read about people having problems with the power door and other things acting up because the battery voltage is low. A 5 year old battery is not worth keeping, I just replaced my battery in my other car this past summer, the battery was 4 years old and gave me no warning.

The P0300 mentions a lot of things to check and one of them is the coil packs (the things that provide the spark to the sparkplugs). If the battery was low your coil spark could be low and a misfire condition might occur.

I don't know for sure, I am just giving it my best guess. If the battery is old replacing it now before going on a trip is the best thing.

Keep us informed so that we can find out what's wrong in case our vans act up in the same way.

[authenticy]

I have had the battery checked and it is okay.

[kellytim]

Originally Posted by authenticy

This is my second post regarding this topic. I am just praying someone could have another suggestion. I have a 2000 Chevrolet Venture LT that will not start sometimes. When I go to start the van I turn the key on were the lights come on the dash board but as I finish turing the key the rest of the way it is absolutely dead, no crank or nothing just dead. I have replaced the starter, the ignition switch, the neutral safety switch, the passkey module, checked the battery connections and even the relay box on top of the battery and I think that is about it. All totaling about $700.00 and its still doing it. I took the ignition key off my key ring because someone suggested that maybe there was something interferring with the frequency of the passkey and for the past week it did not act up, until today when I put the key back on the keyring. I took the key back off the key ring and it didn't make a difference. I sat and messed with it for about 5 minutes and opened and closed the power door and then it started. Does anyone have any other suggestions or help. We are planning a trip in 27 days and really don't want to take a vehicle that starts when it feels like it.

Just Curious if you found out what the problem is? My wifes van is doing the same thing. When she turns the key to the on position, all the lights light up. But when she turns it to start the vehicle, all everything goes dead. After a couple of times trying it, it starts? Just curious.

Thank you
Tim

[196868camaro]

Originally Posted by kellytim

Just Curious if you found out what the problem is? My wifes van is doing the same thing. When she turns the key to the on position, all the lights light up. But when she turns it to start the vehicle, all everything goes dead. After a couple of times trying it, it starts? Just curious.

Thank you
Tim

I am having a simular problem w/my 97 venture. The van has power until the key is turned to the start position then everything goes dead. I left the key in the on position and went to the main fuse relay box above the battery. I then started to remove this box to expose the battery keep in mind the key is still on. When I pulled the box out and turned it over everything came back to life. I heard the fuel pump kick in and the headlights came back on. This has repeated at least 4 times. The only way I get power back is by manipulating the box. Well at this time I have made sure the contacts to the battery are good and cleaned even the ground cable to the firewall. I have even pulled the Fuse relay box apart and looked for corrosion in all of the contacts used grease and put the box back together. I am keeping my fingures crossed at this time to see how long it lasts. If it fails again my next step will be to replace the box. I do not know what else to do and do not trust the van for my wife to drive. Everything leads me to believe that the box has corrsion inside of it that I can not see. I have called the dealer and a mechanic I trust and they told me that this is not a known problem. I hope that there is someone who knows how to fix the problem because there is no warning when it is going to happen. Very Very fustrating.

[smithte]

I had the exact problem with my 1998, and replaced everything as mentioned in the above posts. I still had the same problem, so I looked at the grounds. They looked ok, but I cleaned them up using a wire brush and sand paper. Battery was new so no need to clean that, but cleaned the engine ground(passenger side front panel), and ground going to frame( by the radiator).
No problems since, starts everytime!!

[Jeff_mayse]

I have the same problem with my 98 Chevy Venture starting. The only difference is, my van has stalled at times or the lights have flashed or blinked. I just wonder if anyone noticed the other problems with their van?

[rr14rr14]

Same problem here...1998 venture
Key in ignition when turned to starting position appears to shut off all power. Problem was intermittent, but is occuring more frequently.
Checked battery, as well as all grounds, still same problem. Problem occurs more frequently on cold days then warm days.
Acts like a dead battery, but had a new battery put in 2 years ago.
It is an AC Delco battery, has everyone else who has had this problem had an AC Delco battery?
Checked the wires under the drivers seat as well, all looks well.
Fuses all good.

Anyone have any more ideas??

[196868camaro]

I did not have those problems.
It has been 10 days since I have last worked on mine and all seems well. It has been starting fine.
Only time will tell.

[196868camaro]

Originally Posted by rr14rr14

Same problem here...1998 venture
Key in ignition when turned to starting position appears to shut off all power. Problem was intermittent, but is occuring more frequently.
Checked battery, as well as all grounds, still same problem. Problem occurs more frequently on cold days then warm days.
Acts like a dead battery, but had a new battery put in 2 years ago.
It is an AC Delco battery, has everyone else who has had this problem had an AC Delco battery?
Checked the wires under the drivers seat as well, all looks well.
Fuses all good.

Anyone have any more ideas??

I am using a 75 month NAPA battery.

I did not notice outside temperature causing the problem more frequently. I am in a bit a of a cold snap right now and lows are in the teens and the van is starting. I also did not notice a relationship with moist air.

[DRW1000]

Add me to the list. My wife has a 99 that does the same thing on occasion. She turns the key and all of a sudeen the battery acts dead. One time she was at a mall and she called me I came over and decided she needed a boost. I put the positive cable on the relay box + and the negative on a part of the engine/chassis and it started right away. I don't really believ the battery was dead. That was about a month ago. Today she tried to start it and it just acted like id did not have the energy to crank the engine. I opened the hood and was going to boost it when it started to crank a bit more (she was still in the car). The battery obviously had energy but it would only crank on occasion. Finally it started without a boost.

In reading the thread and considering what happened a month ago I am thinking that there may be a ground problem. When I boosted it all I really did was take the ground cable fromn the battery to the block out of the equation and the problem went away.

Has anyone any new information??

[authenticy]

Just thought I would let you know that we finally figured out what the problem was. As it turns out we had a few loose wires going into the fuse box at the end of the dash. pk3 and pcm fuses to be exact. We actually found out by sheer luck because I had taken out the cabin air filter and a leaf dropped down into the blower fan so hubby got down under the passenger side floor and proceeded to get the leaf out and the van shut off, so he hit the floor again and the van shut off again and as we proceeded we figured out the problem. Thanks for all the helpl...