'04 venture intake gasket fixed?

[bdokeefe]

Hi- I had an '02 Venture, my intake manifold gasket leaked externally for about 2 years before starting to leak internally @ 120,000 miles. Wife solved problem by totalling it.

I'd like to replace it w/ an '04. Did they redesign the gasket to correct the problem or is it still there?

For the price overall, decent gas milage, and the fact that you can get a 4-8 sheet of plywood in (extremely tight position to drive home in, but it can be done!), I think the venture is a good value....

Thanks.

['97ventureowner]

The redesigned LIM was released in July of 2002. The 2004 should have the redesigned gaskets .

[bdokeefe]

Thanks.

Anything else to pay attention to when looking at used Ventures? I see a lot of rusted out rocker panels, but we use a lot of salt....

[cjstew4]

After subscribing to these Venture threads for 3 yrs now and with my '97's issues, go get yourself a Honda Odyssey instead which I will do come next major repair or sooner now that I have 166k on it.

[paprius4030]

The service mgr. at our local Chevy dealer told me the 04's have a lot less occurance due to the redesigned gasket but it's still something to keep and eye on. We recently replaced our 99 Venture with an 04. Our 04 came from Maryland so hopefully the rocker panels won't rust out so fast I can't believe our 04 gets 2 mpg's better then the 99 did. In our everyday driving the 99 got 23 mpg and the 04 gets 25

['97ventureowner]

Yeah, the rocker panels are an issue with htese vans, but you know what? So aren't many other makes and models. I live in the Northeast where we use a LOT of salt and there are so many different vehicles out there that have this kind of rust. If you go through this forum, you'll see that the '04s and '05 are less prone to issues. But that could be because of their relative newness still OR maybe GM finally "got it right" ,that's a possibility though as they discontinued that model after 2005. We've always had a saying about GM that once they get the bugs worked out they get rid of that model and come out with something new with all new issues to take care of.

[bdokeefe]

I live 7 miles off the eastern tip of Lake Ontario....
Yep, i know about salt....

My kids asked why everybody in Florida had shiney cars!

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by bdokeefe

I live 7 miles off the eastern tip of Lake Ontario....
Yep, i know about salt....

My kids asked why everybody in Florida had shiney cars!

I'm not that far from you . Say "Hi" to Billy Fucillo for me.