The contact owns a 1998 Chevrolet Venture. While idling in traffic or on an incline, the heat temperature gauge fluctuates. The vehicle is also losing antifreeze. The contact has been adding one half gallon of antifreeze per month and does not know why. When the weather becomes warmer, the check engine light illuminates sporadically. The light does not illuminate in the winter. The purchase date and powertrain were unknown. The current mileage was 160,000 and failure mileage was 130,000.

- Glade Springs, VA, USA

I noticed that the vehicles coolant level had been dropping over a period of severla weeks. After having it tested it was discovered that the lower intake manilfold had a slow leak and needed replaced. The vehicle had less than 70,000 miles on it and it seems very unusual for this to happen so soon.

- Norwalk, OH, USA

The 1997-2000 venutures have problems with the engines, the intake gasket breaks down causing anti freeze to mix with the engines oil causing the cam shaft to crack, in our case there was no leaks under the van and there was no warning either the van was running well that morning and when my wife was driving down the street there was 2 short bukles from the van and everything shut down including steering which was difficult to do, is it going to take someones family to die on the side of the road before GM will do anything about this if my wife had been on the highway then there would be no way that she would have made it without being hit, even then she had 3 young children in the van ages 3-8 and was almost hit from behind, because it was an industrial highway speed limit of 50mph and not much room on the shoulder to park. There are many complaints about these vans and yet no one seems to be doing anything. This website has complaint after complaint, www. complaints.com and www.GM-V6lemons.com has hundreds of complaints along with other websites of people experancing the same problem. How many people have to die before anything is done? GM doesn't seem to care even though their dealerships have stated their is a problem with the engines. Engine shut off and failure are serious problems.

- Pawtucket, RI, USA

Water build up into the front head lights and water build up in the engine. Had to replace lights and engine after lights were replaced we had to drill a hold below the light covers so that water build up can drain from hole. Had to replace the engine.

- Lawrenceville, GA, USA

I have a 1998 Chevrolet Venture with 82,651 miles. The vehicle would slowly dissipate coolant, which I replenished as needed. Then a major coolant leak occurred at the engine block. Barnard Chevrolet of churchville, NY 14428 repaired the lower and upper intake manifold gaskets, and the rear head gasket. Each had detiorated from the dex cool, causing the leakage. The dealership refused any customer assistance, despite my providing them with technical service bulletin #03-06-01-010. Although the dealer provided a complete and professional repair, I believe that evidence is quite clear that the dex cool coolant and the gasket materials used by GM results in a defective product, and that GM must pay for these repairs. I also believe that that NHTSA has a responsibility to the american consumer to hold GM accountable. The bush administration seems to have completely suppressed this issue in terms of government followup. What a shame, the lobbyists win again. Middle class americans left with the bill.

- Churchville, NY, USA

Heater not working due to a faulty manifold gasket that allowed the coolant to leak out of the engine of our 1998 Chevrolet Venture. I was told by the service tech that GM is now producing a better gasket to fix the problem. That's great!! I would like GM to pay the $798.67 bill for having to replace the first gasket that was not properly tested by engineering. This problem is very common, and should be a recall item.

- Meridian, MS, USA

I had the coolant flushed one month ago at the local dealer. Driving on the freeway near home, the low coolant light came on. No indication on temperature gauge that coolant temp ever exceeded even halfway through the normal range. The next morning, the van runs rough and has a light coolant smell from the exhaust. Took it to dealer for diagnosis. Dealer said that the intake manifold gaskets failed allowing the van to overheat and blow the head gaskets. Repair estimate is $2500 and with only 88K miles on the van. This is the second time that the intake manifold gaskets have failed. First time the intake gaskets failed was at 45K miles right after I bought it. There was no overheat or head gasket failure on the first incidence.

- San Diego, CA, USA

Cam shaft just broke.

- Booneville, KY, USA

Leaking coolant led to engine failure. GM and dealership try to shift blame to me. They say there is no problem. The vehicle just stopped in the middle of the road. I had to push it to the side of a busy street with a small child inside. The engine oil filled with anti freeze and ceased up without warning. It had been to the dealership to have the low coolant light checked and they just added stop leak and said it would be fine. The lower intake manifold gasket was leaking. This has been well documented for over a year but GM is still in denial. My 1998 Chevy Venture was purchased used in September 2001. The vehicle only had 40,000 miles on it. I brought it to the dealership in Sept. 2002 for 15 point inspection and oil change at about 45,000 miles. This was last day under warranty. In January 2003 the low coolant light came on. I checked the coolant level at it looked almost dry. There was no prior evidence like stains on my driveway. They said good thing I brought it in right away and flushed and filled it and said there was a small leak in one of the gaskets and added stop leak. In may the engine seized up and I needed to replace the engine with a rebuilt one at a cost of $4000. The vehicle has less than 50000 miles on it. The dealership and GM assistance claim no knowledge of this. In July my neighbor who owns a 2000 Chevy Silhouette has the same thing happen and needs his engine replaced. A friend of mine says he had his gasket fixed while under warranty. Please help me and the thousands of others who have been hurt because GM refuses to accept responsibility for what is obviously a manufacturing defect. I feel the only option that I have is to go to small claims court where I probably won't have a chance against general motor?S lawyers. I have a couple of web sites that have been sort of like my support group since my engine failed. I don't know if you are aware of any of them.

- Niagara Falls, UN, USA

Car began losing coolant at about 20000 miles. Had to keep topping coolant tank. Presented to local dealer at 35,500 miles to be repaired. Coolant sensor replaced, problem persisted. Wife's car (1999 Venture) began having same symptom, researched and found that this is a widespread problem with intake manifold gaskets (recently redesigned by GM). This problem can allow coolant to mix with oil, and oil with coolant. Can result in sudden catastrophic engine failure (camshaft breaks due to insufficient lubrication). Stranded vehicles will present multiple safety hazards.

- Oxford, MI, USA

Leaking intake manifold gasket leak. Leaking coolant. Repair estimated to be $800 by elco Chevrolet in ballwin, Missouri. We discovered through research on the internet and talking to mechanics at a local auto repair franchise that this has been a problem with the Chevy Venture vans. We are looking for relief from GM-this is not the first problem we have had with coolant leaks in the van and are now wondering if this problem was undetected and we have been repairing other items needlessly (water pump, etc.) when this was the true source of the problem. We are very concerned about the future of the engine on this vehicle with this problem.

- Chesterfield, MO, USA

1998 Chevy Venture, engine light came on, pulled over engine tapping & smoking. No oil light or change in temp, gauge observed. Had to walk on interstate 1.2 miles took ride from unknown couple, had van towed. Diagnoses was: Intake gasket collapsed, causing connecting rod to go through engine. Dealership & GM customer care refused any assistance. Overwelmed by severity of this gasket problem readily available on the internet. We replaced our engine with a used one, that is all we could afford. It definitely was the faulty gasket that caused our engine to be replaced. When this first happened, no dummy light came on, nothing to even tell me there was a problem, such as low oil or service engine. The mechanic who replaced our engine told us he has seen several Chevy Venture vans with the same exact problem we had. We had the servive done at D&N garage 4929 South M-76 West branch, mi 48661, the owner is nelson smith. The phone # is 1 800 203 8504. It cost us almost $1600. To replace the engine, we lucked out finding one that had only 40,000 miles on it. Nelson made sure to put the new gasket on this engine. The GM dealership here refused to help. Where we bought the van refused to help, the GM helpline just very rudely told me it was my problem.

- West Branch, MI, USA

Kept loosing coolant - initial pressure test did not detect leak. Asked them to check intake manifold & gaskets. They detected leak. Cost to repair - $673. Do not know yet if any damage was done to engine.

- Memphis, TN, USA

At 60,000 miles my Chevrolet Venture started to leak coolant and I took it to my local Chevrolet dealer and they said that the intake manifiold gasket needed replacement. Cost approx. $800 including cooling system flush and tax. Dealer said that GM was not paying for all or part of the repair and in fact they have not commented to it's dealers about the failure of the intake manifold gaskets at all. Obviously GM does not want to admit a problem with the 3.4L engine. My research finds that this is a very common and costly problem with these vehicles.

- Kokomo, IN, USA

Current problem is leaking coolant with ticking sound in engine at startup until engine is warm. Diagnosed by dealer as blown head and intake gaskets. Estimated cost is $1300 for gasket replacement and another $660 if head is cracked. Mileage is 83350. Many other reports exist of this problem in Chevrolet Venture with some leading to engine failure. 3.4L V6.

- Frederick, MD, USA

Developed engine coolant (dex-cool) leak at intake manifold. Dealer mechanic stated that the repair will cost $500 to replace the $3 gasket. Also stated that this was a common problem.

- Cortlandt Manor, NY, USA

Engine coolant is leaking into engine. Suspect bad intake manifold gasket, after exhaustive research on web.

- Lawton, OK, USA

Since purchasing this van I have had numerous problems, with the most recent being an engine replacement. This problem stems from the bad design of GM's intake gasket which breaks down and causes anti-freeze to leak into the engine causing premature wear and/or replacement.

- Vassar, MI, USA

My 1998 chev Venture was getting coolant into the motor oil which caused it to start ticking.I took it to the dealer and they said it was the intake gasket. They fixed the problem which cost me $1500. Three months later the engine blew up.I had to get a reman.engine which cost $4000.I feel because of the faulty gasket this lead to my engine problem.

- Ashland, OH, USA

I bought my 1998 Venture in Nov. Of 2001. It had 66000 on it. It seemed to have the smell of antifreeze. In December of 2002 someone told us that the gaskets were noted for leaking. My husband replaced it, and gave it an oil change in Feb. It was thick and dark orange in color. It started knocking when you accelerated. So once again my husband has it torn apart and found the crank shaft is coming apart due to the antifreeze leaking into the engine. Now I am paying on a dead horse. We can't afford to get it repaired. It would be nice if GM would recall this.

- Hillsdale, MI, USA