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2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant


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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Mar 3, 2012, 8:00 PM

Post #51 of 64 (3819 views)
Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant Sign In

And we love compliments too............ Thank you



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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Discretesignals profile image

Mar 3, 2012, 9:31 PM

Post #52 of 64 (3811 views)
Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant Sign In

Wow! Got a fixed van and a potential buyer. Nice.. Just remember that when us mechanics do brake system repairs, we stand behind our work....literally. <sound of car crashing into a dumpster in the background>





Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.


MarineGrunt
Enthusiast
MarineGrunt profile image

Mar 4, 2012, 5:47 PM

Post #53 of 64 (3795 views)
Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant Sign In


In Reply To
Just remember that when us mechanics do brake system repairs, we stand behind our work....literally. <sound of car crashing into a dumpster in the background>



Well then it's a good thing I'm a boilermaker and not a mechanic! Does that mean I can just stand to the side and hope for the best? We normally just beat the heck out of something with a beater to fix it. When it breaks from doing that we just weld it.

Our counter offer was accepted so it has been a great weekend. Now the wife will for sure be getting a new vehicle in a few months and could use some advice on that. She has kind of been looking at the Traverse, Acadia and Town and Country. Any reason why one would pick one over the other? What do you guys see in the shop more, or should I say the least? Any vehicles similar to these that you would recommend?

I'm glad we don't have to pay a nickel for every question we ask on here. With all the questions I've asked over the past week I'd be broke!


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Mar 4, 2012, 5:57 PM

Post #54 of 64 (3788 views)
Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant Sign In


Quote
I'm glad we don't have to pay a nickel for every question we ask on here. With all the questions I've asked over the past week I'd be broke!





13,187 answers for me and still counting.

And that's only at this site....LOL



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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



MarineGrunt
Enthusiast
MarineGrunt profile image

Mar 4, 2012, 6:54 PM

Post #55 of 64 (3783 views)
Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant Sign In

You'd be pushing $7000 from this forum alone! Got you thinking, don't I?!! I should've kept my mouth shut.


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Mar 4, 2012, 6:58 PM

Post #56 of 64 (3778 views)
Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant Sign In

I've made much more than that at other sites that do charge in years past. I don't do it for the money



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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



nickwarner
Veteran / Moderator
nickwarner profile image

Mar 4, 2012, 7:03 PM

Post #57 of 64 (3776 views)
Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant Sign In

This is probably the longest thread I've ever followed. But oogh ra marine, you have persevered and not only does your van run well the house got a hit shortly after listing. Not often that happens in this market. If you want another minivan I think from personal experience that the Chrysler minivan holds up the best of all the makes. You'll still have to work on them as you will anything out there, but much simpler and with less failure rates than others. But try and talk the wife into keeping her van a bit longer. You just worked hard on it and should get your money's worth out of it. Congrats on the repair and I'm sure you'll be back in the future to see us. Always welcome as well.


MarineGrunt
Enthusiast
MarineGrunt profile image

Mar 5, 2012, 9:26 AM

Post #58 of 64 (3770 views)
Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant Sign In

Thanks Nick....I would've have went nearly as smooth without all the help and advice I received here. We'll probably keep it a little longer but I'm not sure how long. We plan on driving to Florida for vacation sometime this summer. I'm almost positive the van wouldn't have any issues but after researching the Venture before this last repair it seems they are prone to many issues. If were were heading as far south as Palm Beach I wouldn't worry about because I'd just pull it into Hammer Time's garage! We haven't really had too many issues with the van but it just turned 140,000. I didn't notice while working on it that someone had to pull a new wire through the fire wall that runs to the ignition module. Last year we were visiting the in-laws in KY in winter and there was no juice getting to the fuse that's inside the vehicle for the ac and heater control unit. I just jumped it to the rear wiper fuse, since the rear wiper motor doesn't work, in order to be able to have some heat for our drive home. I checked all the main fuses in the engine compartment and they all have juice. I still have to trace some wiring down in order to fix it correctly. I've read that many people have had electrical issues with the Venture. Everything is working fine now but I don't know how many more times I want to roll the dice on it. Considering all the other problems I've read about people having I can't complain at all. Just like anything though, as things get older, the more they start malfunctioning. Then again, after completing this last project, I feel pretty confident when it comes to working on it. I'm not in a big hurry to get rid of it so I'll just see how it goes.


Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Tom Greenleaf profile image

Mar 5, 2012, 9:46 AM

Post #59 of 64 (3769 views)
Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant Sign In

You've probably already said but it's a long thread. Just read top post and you said this would cool down by gauge anyway at higher speeds or when heater was used which is taking heat away.

This now causes me to question the radiator or perhaps water pump just can't pump well enough at low speed OR antifreeze concentration is way too strong doesn't transfer heat well.

Is all shrouding in place? Everything clean where air must flow?

That's where I'd be looking for the trouble. A hot engine that doesn't fill the recovery tank is a clue that it isn't doing its thing properly too,

Tom


MarineGrunt
Enthusiast
MarineGrunt profile image

Mar 5, 2012, 1:37 PM

Post #60 of 64 (3763 views)
Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant Sign In

Thanks Tom....It's all fixed and running great so far (knock on wood). I was able to pull the air duct off and could see where the intake was leaking. I'm pretty sure the intake had been leaking for quite awhile and finally blew out as there was gobs of oil and grime all over the engine. It was possibly the valve covers leaking too. I took about 5 days doing the job because I took my time and cleaned the engine compartment up really good. We will probably be looking for a newer vehicle in a few months (a few years if it were up to me but I am married) so figured a clean engine makes for an easier sale.

So, she's good to go for now and hopefully for a long time. I know you answer a lot of posts Tom so you probably don't remember but you helped me out, along with the others, quite a bit and I really appreciate your time. Thanks for helping me through this repair!


techforfree
User

Mar 7, 2012, 6:25 AM

Post #61 of 64 (3756 views)
Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant Sign In

i fixed a thousand of these..lower intake was likely the leaking problem..BUT....(don't ya hate buts)..also its been my experience that once this 3.4 was run hot the back head warps causing headgasket problems that causes combustion into the cooling system causing overheating problems.I don't know how mech.inclined you are but if it were mine and i spent time to replace the intake gasket i'd spend a lil more time to replace the head gaskets and the problem is solved for good.Its very unfortunate for these vans that the 3.4 had so many problems with this because they were otherwise pretty good vans.
Good luch and hope this helps ya.


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Mar 7, 2012, 6:48 AM

Post #62 of 64 (3753 views)
Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant Sign In

I wouldn't dive into removing heads on an engine when I didn't yet have any indication of a head gasket issue.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



MarineGrunt
Enthusiast
MarineGrunt profile image

Mar 7, 2012, 9:54 AM

Post #63 of 64 (3745 views)
Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant Sign In

I considered replacing the head gaskets while I had it torn apart but decided against after asking a handful of mechanics online and some local mechanics. I guess everyone has a different opinion on it. I was pretty much told that if I know what's causing my current issue don't worry about something that might happen.

I could definitely see where the lower intake was leaking so knew that was the problem. Although it did go a little bit above its normal operating temperature, I pulled over and shut her down right when the temp needle started creeping past the halfway mark. The heater stopped blowing hot air so I knew that something was going on and to keep an eye on it. The temp needle never even made it up to the 3/4 mark so hopefully it never got hot enough to cause any other issues.

If for some reason the head gaskets do end up leaking at least it won't take as long to get down to them. Things are always much easier the second time around!


Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Tom Greenleaf profile image

Mar 7, 2012, 10:56 AM

Post #64 of 64 (3744 views)
Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant Sign In

Sounds good. Remember you are there and noted things we can't of course so it may just be fine and let well enough alone if all is stable now,

T







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