Neighbor's new 03 Venture

[daves87rs]

My neighbor just picked up a 2003 Chevy Venture as the "family beater" (they have two sedans, need room for other stuff) It's a base ext version with 95k. They bought it from an older coupe in their early 60s who bought a new Caravan. He wanted suggestions oh what he should do to keep it running.


The bad- rust(rockers, under door), same coolant/ATF in car (though both looked fine and clean) brakes are soft.


The good- the engine looks good under there, no burning or leaking oil(they did a good amount of highway driving),new tires, drives and runs just fine (no issues there)

Besides the fluids not being changes, the van looks pretty good for the price he paid. The red paint is still nice and shiney too...


Suggestions to give him?

 

[mrsilv04]

3.4 - Intake gasket?

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
3.4 - Intake gasket?


Thinking about that one...thought the engine is in surprisenly good shape..

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
3.4 - Intake gasket?


100k is usually the limit.Not a fun job by any stretch of the imagination.Been there done that,never again!

 

[tmorris1]

You are almost guaranteed to have to replace the intake manifold gasket and head gaskets on these engines.

 

[mrsilv04]

Originally Posted By: tmorris1
You are almost guaranteed to have to replace the intake manifold gasket and head gaskets on these engines.


Was the 3.4 ever a "safe" engine? (towards the end of its run?)

 

[Trav]

When i did the 2002 venture i swapped the heads for a pair of rebuilts,the best felpro gaskets cost a good bit for this engine.
Working one the engine in that vehicle is heart breaker.

 

[Papa Bear]

I believe the 2003's after early April were newer gaskets, IIRC.

"He wanted suggestions oh what he should do to keep it running." ..... crossing fingers and toes may help.

Drive it over to Windsor and have one of StevieC's Krown buddies give it an undercoat treatment. I believe it's $129 Canadian.

 

[Colt45ws]

Big +1 on the Intake and head gaskets. More so if the coolant has never been changed.

 

[Trav]

+1 on the rust proofing.To keep it running i would just change the fluids and run it until the intake leaks then dump it.With rot setting in the van isn't worth the $$ in a major repairs IMO.
I would change the coolant,replace it with Peak green and add 2 tubes of bars leak gold or GM tabs.

 

[JimPghPA]

Ask previous owner if intake gasket was done. And also TRY to get details such as when it was done, and or who did it. If you are lucky it was done with the most recent updated gasket. If so it should not go again.

If it has a temperature gauge tell them that if it runs in the right side of the gauge (past center) for more than a very brief time that it must have the cooling system flushed. These gauges are a good way to not spend extra money of flushing the cooling system before it is required but still do it in time to prevent damaging gaskets and possibly more on the engine. Also if they pay attention to the temperature gauge they avoid getting stranded because of over-heating.

 

[JimPghPA]

What you want to determine, if the intake gasket was done, is if the most recent revision of gasket was used. I would go as far as asking the mechanic at the place that did it if it was done.
The date that it was done (if done) is a good clue as to what revision was used.

 

[Cutehumor]

if these engines gaskets typically go bad around 100k, your neighbor bought it with 95k miles. ugh..that's not a good sign

 

[ls1mike]

Everything in the 3.4 got updated in 05ish. Heads, intakes and their gaskets.

 

[JimPghPA]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
if these engines gaskets typically go bad around 100k, your neighbor bought it with 95k miles. ugh..that's not a good sign


Our 2001 Impala with a 3.4 had that gasket go at 32K and again at 45K. At 32K we had the first revision put in under waranty. At 45K we had the second revision gasket put in cost us about 700 with all the other tune up parts we had put on at the same time.

I would think there is a good chance that any 3.4 close to 90 or 100K would have had this gasket done in the past. And if it was done with the latest revision it should be good for the life of the vehicle.

 

[JimPghPA]

BTW, if they want to keep it reliable and have the money to spare they should pull the starter and alternator.

For the starter, clean the commutator on the starter, be sure there is some depth to the insulation groves between contact sections. As the contact section wears down it will get to a point that the groves are too high. Replace the brushes, and bendix on the starter, and put a very small amount of grease on the ends of the shaft.

For the alternator replace the brushes and bearings.

Then put a new serpentine belt on with a new tensioner and idler pulley.

Replace fuel filter.

If required replace air filter.

Check all hoses and vacuum lines. At that age with that many miles I would flush the cooling system, replace thermostat, and gasket, replace all hoses and put on all new clamps. Be sure to re-tighten all clamps in about 3 months, they will all require about 1/4 to 3/4 turn after the hoses break in. If you do not do this one time re-tightening 3 or more months later, they usually blow off within 18 months.

I always put on a new water pump after flushing an engines cooling system. It seams they always go bad within a few months after a flush and you end up loosing new fluid. Just put a new pump on after the flush and you will know it ok for years of use.

With 95k miles it is time to replace plugs and wires.

Also fill the tank and put in two cans of SeaFoam.

 

[bigmike]

My parents own an 03 Venture with roughly 110k miles.

Problems:
IMG replaced
Rear wheel cylinders replaced
Electronic side door recall completed
Battery replaced
Glove box door latch broke
Driver's seat plastic broke
Passenger grab handle and visor broke
Needs shocks

It's been reliable. Lots of little things look bad, but overall it's a decent vehicle.

 

[tmorris1]

I have a 98 Montana. Same engine.

38K intake manifold and trans valve body (Warranty)

Numerous injector cleaning (now seems to be better) as long as I run a cleaner every so often. I think we had some bad fuel in our area for a couple years.

96K plugs/wires water pump/belt

120k intake manifold again.

165k head gasket (Installed the Fel-Pro problem fixer gaskets)

 

[JimPghPA]

Our 2001 Impala with the 3.4 when it had about 38K miles on it, seamed to require seafoam in gas every few months or it would fail to start in the 3 trys the remote start limits itself to. Also had codes like a cylinder was missing. The dealer told me it was probably a cloged fuel metering valve for one of the cylinders. I could pay him a lot to clean or replace them or just put seafoam in the gas.

The seafoam did cure it but, it kept came back and each time there was a shorter interval when it would run good.

I had our mechanic replace the fuel filter and the problem did not come back for a couple of years. Then we had some fail to start on first try with remote in the winter. That progressed into fail to start two times in a row when very cold. Then we had a fail three times in a row. The remote goes into a timed lock out after that. I is some kind of anti-theft thing. Anyhow I put seafoam in the gas and it now starts every time.

It seams seafoam in the gas about every six months is all the injectors require. If you are using seafoam more than once every 4 months I would change the fuel filter because that probably is the problem.

 

[L_Sludger]

Originally Posted By: tmorris1
I have a 98 Montana. Same engine.

38K intake manifold and trans valve body (Warranty)

Numerous injector cleaning (now seems to be better) as long as I run a cleaner every so often. I think we had some bad fuel in our area for a couple years.

96K plugs/wires water pump/belt

120k intake manifold again.

165k head gasket (Installed the Fel-Pro problem fixer gaskets)
Really sounds like a nightmare motor.