1997 Chevrolet Venture: engine stalls while driving

Filed Jan 27, 2006 · Engine · 172,000 miles · IN

Had head gasket replaced last year. Recently the van stalled and was told that anti-freeze had been leaking into the cylinders, and I needed a new engine. Was also told that the new engine not only could but would have this same problem at some point. Was also told that this is a common problem among these vehicles.

Filed Oct 12, 2005 · Engine · CT

This happened twice the first time the coolant was leaking into the oil due to a intake manifold gasket failure. I replaced this at a cost of 25.00, luckily it was covered under my extended warranty. The second time this happened was in july of 2003 I had just gotten onto to the highway with my two 5 year old daughters suddenly the car just slowed down as if to stall white smoke everywhere.. It turned out to be the manifold gasket again but this time the engine went and I had to get the engine repaired at a price of $4400.00. My mechanic though at least guarantees me on this engine of 3 years or 75000 miles. More of a warranty than gm gave me. I will never buy american gm products again. The second time it occurred, I was only 1,000 miles over on my extended warranty, but not yet up on the years and gm and the company offering an extended warranty didn't do anything to help me out. Gm refused to help out at all.

Filed Aug 12, 2004 · Engine · 112,876 miles · PA

While driving between 65-70 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. When this occurred the vehicle lost power steering and brakes. The vehicle was towed to the mechanic. The mechanic performed a diagnostic test which indicated that the engine had locked. The engine has to be taken apart to identify what caused the lock. The oil pan was full when this incident occurred.

Filed Jul 19, 2004 · Engine · CA

Vehicle stalled while driving. Also, coolant was leaking from the intake manifold gasket. This could be related to what was causing the vehicle to stall. Dealership will be contacted. *ak

Filed Feb 17, 2004 · Engine · 95,000 miles · ME

My chevy venture with 95,000 miles, with no prior warning, rather suddenly overheated and stalled as I was pulling it over on the interstate. Thankfully there was a level, grassy shoulder so I could pull all the way off the road, as the heavy truck traffic was quite intimidating. This was in maine, on a very cold day, and I was alone with my 4 small children, about 45 minutes from home. Tow truck driver couldn' t take all of us, and there were no taxi cabs. Thank god one of my friends with a van (ford!) was able to come get us. We had to wait in the cab of the tow truck for 45 minutes for my friend to come from home to where we were stranded. Got the van back from the dealership with a $2800 repair bill (apparently we got off easy, usually more engine damage is sustained in this kind of thing) diagnosis: failure of intake manifold gasket (which dealership admits is a "design flaw", resulting in these problems for too many owners) resulting in a flooding of engine with antifreeze, sudden temperature change warping the head. If this is such a common problem, I wish it had been recalled for a replacement before this incident. Chevy needs to know that its minivan products are almost always driven by moms with large families who cannot afford (financially or safety-wise) to break down so dramatically and without warning. My children and I were terrified that day--if it had stalled 5 seconds sooner, we would not have made it off the road. Thank you. Marcia hyde.

Filed Feb 16, 2004 · Brakes, Engine · 40,000 miles · NY

From about 40000 milesproblems with the temp gauge indicating engine running hot when in fact it never was and coolant was adequate mechanic never able to figure out 60000 intake manifold replaced 90000 miles engine losing power and stalling engine block cracked possible and head gasket. Brakes noisy with a grinding feel in the pedal lights on dash on & off ABS and coolant low when no problem exists! Car pulls to left and hard to steer in a puddle horn almost impossible to activate. Directional and hazard lights flash when brakes applied.

Filed Jan 15, 2004 · Engine · 77,500 miles · 00

The following is a letter sent to gmc on 1/18/03. Gmc did not do a thing to help out with the defect. Note that [xxx] is the owner of the vehicle. My name is [xxx] - his son - I am filing the complaint on his behalf. ----- sir / madam: due to a significant manufacturer's defect in my gmc venture, I was forced into a dangerous situation where I could have been seriously injured. At an intersection on hastings street - one of the busier streets in vancouver - my vehicle unexpectedly stalled leaving me helpless, without power. Several mechanics assessed my minivan concluding that, for no normally expected reason, the camshaft snapped in half, rendering the vehicle inoperable and causing significant, irreparable damage to the engine block. Attached to this letter is an analysis of the engine failure conducted by a mechanic with 23 years of experience. Having purchased five new exclusively gm vehicles in the past, specifically a pontiac sedan, a pontiac station wagon, a chevrolet van, an oldsmobile calais supreme and my present venture minivan (wolfe chevrolet oldsmobile, vancouver), I consider myself a loyal gm customer. Being a lifetime gm customer I'm disappointed and surprised by the extent and magnitude of my minivan failure. I realize that the warranty has expired, but I believe it to be completely unreasonable for a camshaft to snap after only 5 years of light to moderate use. As such, I feel it is only fair and reasonable that gmc, being consumer minded, reimburse me for this manufacturing defect. The total cost for repairs is ~ $4600. Please contact me at [xxx] or [xxx] to discuss further. Sincerely, [xxx] VIN: [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Oct 21, 2003 · Engine · 87,000 miles · FL

While driving at any speed and without warning engine would stall, causing the consumer to pull over. Dealer stated that intake manifold cracked, and coolant went inside the engine.

Filed Sep 30, 2003 · Brakes, Engine · IL

While driving at 30 MPH and without warning engine would stall, causing the consumer to pull over. Also, brakes were not working properly.

Filed Sep 5, 2003 · Electrical · 140,000 miles · AL

Travelling ~40 MPH, applied brake, engine stalled. Restarted immediately. Proceeded one quarter mile, applied brake to turn right, engine stalled, restarted immediately. Repeated multiple times. Took to independent mechanic; could reproduce problem but not locate source. Took to dealer: unable to reproduce problem.

Filed May 8, 2002 · Engine · NY

Car overheating and stalling in traffic could cause an accident. Part on national b/o and not a recall. Vehicle down. 48,000 parts needed through out this country. Should this be a recall?

Filed Nov 25, 2001 · Engine · CA · crash

On december 30, 1999, I dropped my chevrolet, venture to puente hills chevrolet dealer for regular maintenance. The dealer!/s technician found a hole in the air cleaner housing. Based on the dealer!/s diagnostics, the hole was burned by exhaust heat. Since the dealer had no part available, the technician just simply taped the hole as a fix. A few months later, the minivan!/s engine started to stall occasionally when the van was decelerated before the red light, left or right turn. I sent the van to glendora chevrolet dealer twice, one was on march 12, 2001, and another was on may 15, 2001 with no success. Dealer was not able to duplicate problem, and did nothing (obviously, they didn!/t do enough testing). On october 14 of 2001, my wife got an accident due to the engine stall when she exited from a freeway. I sent the van to puente hill dealer next day, asking to check the engine stall problem and, at the same time, to replace the air cleaner housing. It took the dealer several days before they were able to duplicate the engine stall problem by the service man, mark fetterman, during his road test, but has no clue why the engine stalled. Eventually, the dealer found that the hole burned by exhaust heat was very close to an engine sensor and they guessed that the hole might cause the engine stall problem. The dealer!/s guess was correct. After a new air cleaner housing was installed on october 19, we never have the engine stall problem again.