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2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Mar 3, 2012, 8:00 PM
Post #51 of 64
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Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant
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And we love compliments too............ Thank you ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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.
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
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Mar 3, 2012, 9:31 PM
Post #52 of 64
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Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant
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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.
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MarineGrunt
Enthusiast
Mar 4, 2012, 6:54 PM
Post #55 of 64
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Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant
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You'd be pushing $7000 from this forum alone! Got you thinking, don't I?!! I should've kept my mouth shut.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Mar 4, 2012, 6:58 PM
Post #56 of 64
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Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant
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I've made much more than that at other sites that do charge in years past. I don't do it for the money ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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.
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nickwarner
Veteran
/ Moderator
Mar 4, 2012, 7:03 PM
Post #57 of 64
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Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant
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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.
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MarineGrunt
Enthusiast
Mar 5, 2012, 9:26 AM
Post #58 of 64
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Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant
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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.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
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Mar 5, 2012, 9:46 AM
Post #59 of 64
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Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant
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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
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MarineGrunt
Enthusiast
Mar 5, 2012, 1:37 PM
Post #60 of 64
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Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant
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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!
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techforfree
User
Mar 7, 2012, 6:25 AM
Post #61 of 64
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Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant
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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.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Mar 7, 2012, 6:48 AM
Post #62 of 64
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Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant
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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.
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MarineGrunt
Enthusiast
Mar 7, 2012, 9:54 AM
Post #63 of 64
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Re: 2002 Venture Overheating and Leaking Coolant
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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!
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
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Mar 7, 2012, 10:56 AM
Post #64 of 64
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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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