My gf's dads 02 Venture van just blew it's headgasket. It's barely 3 years old, with only 53,000 KM's on it. I was wondering if this is a common issue with these vans?? He's only 3 months over his warranty, the dealer isn't sure if they'll cover it.
They told him the labor alone is 11 hrs of work.. Also wondering if the new Uplander/SV6/Saturn Relay use the same V6 3400 engine as the Venture does? If so, they'll be discouraged on buying another GM van probably..
Dark blue 2002 Z24, 2.4 Ltr.
Yes its the same 3400 V6. It shouldnt be that hard changing the head gaskets really. And they normally dont have problems, he might be hauling to much around it sounds like. But if not, its just one in every some engine. Cause not all engines are the same at all.
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I thought the 3400 was replaced with the resdesigned 3500? my mom has the 3500 in her new malibu and I really like that engine, lots of pep
My mom just had her intake manifold gasket go on her 3400. That's the only major problem that I've seen go on the 3400.
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The 3400 isn't really known for bad head gaskets, my mom's 3.4 DOHC in here Monte Carlo never had any problems (knock on wood) with almost 100k miles. But my Dad's Venture just blew a head gasket with 98k miles on it. It was a pain in the ass to do, I don't think it's really 11 hours worth of labor, but it is an expensive job unless you can do it yourself.
Fortunately for me my Uncle is a really good mechanic so he did it for us. He said it usually is close to a $2,000 job. ouch...
Actually, that's the only MAJOR problem with the 3400's... the head gaskets are a known weak point, and GM has discontinued the design because of that.
You can get a full gasket set at GM parts. They're about $130 IIRC USD. They're $175 CDN for the full set.
It is a VERY expensive job unless you do it yourself because there's about 6 hours worth of labour at the dealership involved, because GM dumped everything they possibly could on top of the engine... take off everything including the AC compressor IIRC, and then you can get to the gaskets.
Google it, because I know there are instructions on how to replace the Gaskets, I was contemplating that with my Alero, but after all the bolts were re-torqued the coolant leak went away... strange.
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when i worked at the dealer , i think only 1 3100/3400 ever came in because of head gaskets , and they guy repeatidly drove the car while it was over heating
i didnt alot of intake gaskets on them they tended to leak in the corners , where the intake , block and heads met
Well, good news.
The dealer is going to cover it under warranty.
It goes in Thursday morning. They're going to have to keep it for 2 days they said. So the 3400 was discontinued, and now they use the V6 3500? They'll be happy to hear that..
Dark blue 2002 Z24, 2.4 Ltr.
I have found that is common to find the head gasket bad if you had let the intake go for to long. The intakes usually start to leak after you drive it home of the dealers lot. For the first 20 or 30 thousand it is just an external leak that just sits on the tranny and nver usualy hit s the ground. Then it advances to an internal leak and your coolant mixes with your oil.
Mostlikly you family let it run low on coolant, plus the oil sludeged up the coolant and then over heated and blew the head gasket.
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Use Felrpo gaskets to replace. You won't have this problem any more.
Craig do you have first hand experience using felpro gaskets on 3.1 and 3.4 engines? I have seen a tonn of 3.1/.4's with leaking intakes gaskets and a bunch with rear head gaskets leaking around the passenger side.
The new 3.5 engine is a nice looking piece but I have one on my second hoist with a broken key at the crankshaft for the lower timing chain gear.
Ryan Butchart 1 man, 1 car, 1 lap at a time.
We use felpro all the time. Nothing but, with no come backs at all.
We hav't had any problems with our 3500. Only 5000 km on it so far.
Ah, we only use the GM gaskets or delco but I havn't had any problems yet.
Ryan Butchart 1 man, 1 car, 1 lap at a time.
Quote:
I have found that is common to find the head gasket bad if you had let the intake go for to long. The intakes usually start to leak after you drive it home of the dealers lot. For the first 20 or 30 thousand it is just an external leak that just sits on the tranny and nver usualy hit s the ground. Then it advances to an internal leak and your coolant mixes with your oil.
The van never overheated once (unlike my cav, which overheats all the time).. It just recently started leaking coolant.. As for the intake gasket, they said it's not leaking at all. It's leaking from the head, passenger side near the rear.. Coolant hasn't gotten into the oil yet, so that's good..
Dark blue 2002 Z24, 2.4 Ltr.
