The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Venture. The contact stated that while his father was driving at an undisclosed speed on the highway, the vehicle suddenly lost automotive power. No warning lights illuminated. In addition, the contact stated that his father managed to pull over to the shoulder of the road, and upon further inspection, white/blue smoke was seen coming from under the vehicle, and the vehicle later caught on fire from the fuel pump/tank. The fire had leaked onto the floor; however, it had extinguished on its own. A police report was not filed; however, Law Enforcement arrived on scene to direct traffic. The local fire department did not arrive on scene. No injuries were sustained, nor medical attention was sought. The vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to a local tow yard, where it was deemed a total loss by the insurance provider. The local dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 116,000.
Chevrolet Venture fire or smoke problems
29 of the 2,334 owner complaints about the Chevrolet Venture describe fire, smoke or burning smell, most of them for the 1997 model year.
- owner complaints
- 29
- worst model year
- 1997
- typical mileage
- 90,000
By model year
Often reported together
Overheating 5Fuel pump 3Check engine light 3ABS 3Won't start 2Headlights 2Fuel smell 2Engine failure 2
What owners say
In January 2022, I noticed white smoke coming from the engine and a mechanic said it was the water pump that needed to be replaced, so I have it replaced. Recently, I noticed the same white smoke coming from the engine and took it back to the same mechanic who installed the water pump. The mechanic said it was the intake manifold that caused the white smoke. I decided to take it to another mechanic to see if the first diagnosis was correct and that mechanic confirmed the first mechanic's diagnosis and my previous experience with another GM vehicle (1997 Vhevy Lumina) that had the exact same problem: water pump went out and intake manifold also started to fail until the Lumina's engine was fried.
Blown intake manifold gasket. Vehicle did not have an overheating issue, and has been well maintained since I've owned it. Drove across a steep 7 mile hill, temp gauge started moving above normal. I stopped and let it cool down, motor got to about 245 degrees well before any warning lights were able to come on. Started the motor and it sounded different so I popped the hood and the coolant overflow was bubbling. Noticed the windshield started steaming up, and a very rough idle. Shut the motor off and started it again. White smoke coming from the tailpipe. Turn it off again and opened the oil cap and it had the mayo look and smelled of antifreeze. Pulled the dipstick and the oil was brown and separated. Got it hauled home. Did an inspection and antifreeze was all down the block. Took the motor apart and the lower intake manifold gasket was just detroyed. Chevrolet has had nothing but problems out of these 3.4 gen 3 motors. They all need to be recalled and the problem corrected. Doesn't matter if you keep the coolant flushed and oil changed. Head gaskets were in the same shape I changed them too. All together cost me over $1000 between gasket kits, head bolts, intake bolts, coolant, oil, filter, flush, and that was changing the head gasket, lower and upper intake manifold gasket completely by myself. These motors are so hard to work on, I just couldn't afford to have someone do it for me. It's just bad to buy a vehicle and have this problem. Most venture owners have changed head gaskets or intake gaskets more than once. Toyota recalled their 3.0 motors for this problem, why is gm not made to rectify this continuous problem. The van has alot of other problems as well, body rust, headlights you cannot see with, oil seal leaks, steering knuckle problems, sliding door issues, radio problems, electrical problems, signal lights, ABS problems. Fuel pump problems. It's a lemon
I have a leaking fuel tank. It is described perfectly in recall: 07v349000, gm recall # 06230. When I took it to the dealer, they told me because of higher mileage, it is not covered. I then called gm and they told me the same thing. How can you sell a vehicle with a defective part, put it on recall and then not fix it? I am glad I found it before my vehicle caught on fire!
Tl* the contact owned a 2000 chevrolet venture. After being parked for two days, the vehicle suddenly caught fire. The contact mentioned that the fire originated in the engine compartment and caused a garage located next to the vehicle to catch fire. The fire department extinguished the fire. There were no injuries. The vehicle was destroyed. The failure mileage was 115,000.
I have a 2003 chevy venture and when I purchased it, I noticed that the turn signals would start blinking real fast on the dash. When I would look at them on the outside they were blinking fine, as was the dash lights. This happened several times, so I thought that it was just the bulbs themselves. Then on march 29, 2014, I noticed a little puff of smoke come from the headlight area when my wife pulled into our driveway. I also noticed that the passenger side turn/parking light was out. I luckily had a bulb from another car to replace it, but when I took the assembly out and went to turn the connector to replace the bulb, and noticed it was hot. Thinking that something did not seem right, I let it cool down and then removed it. What I saw was the connector that holds the bulb was black and melted. It actually melted to the bulb itself. I looked at the bulb and it was still good, other than the bottom plastic part. The white smoke I had seen was either the connector catching on fire and melting or the melting of the plastic itself. I never saw any flames. I cannot afford to replace the connector, nor would I risk my family's life, so I have no turn signal. Then worse part is the driver side light was doing the same thing as the passenger, but it has since stopped and is working properly now that the passenger side bulb has been removed.
I had a 2001 chevy venture minivan. It caught fire around 2:00am on march 31 2011 what can I do. Talk to chevy with no answer back need help!!!!
Tl*the contact owns a 2001 chevrolet venture. The vehicle was parked and shut off for a long period of time when it ignited into flames. The contact stated that the fire began where the fuel filler neck was located. A police report was filed and the fire department appeared to extinguish the fire. The vehicle was destroyed but was not investigated for the failure. The failure and current mileage was 160,000. Updated 5/2/11 *cn updated 05/11/11
1997 chevrolet venture, caught fire and became fully engulfed causing total damage. *bf according to the police report, the vehicle had engine trouble. (ohio traffic crash report # 10-0318-89)*jb updated 09/13/10
In december 2007 my son parked our 2000 chevy venture van and went inside. 10 minutes later someone told him the car was on fire. It was put out with a garden hose. Fire started in window control panel destroying the door and part of the dash, soot filled interior. Side window and windshield broken due to heat. Windows had not been used due to cold weather. Van was totaled by insurance company.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Chevrolet Venture fire or smoke
Which Chevrolet Venture years have fire, smoke or burning smell problems?
The model years with the most reports are 1997 (7 complaints), 2000 (6 complaints) and 2001 (4 complaints).
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