NHTSA Complaint #10063626 — 2000 CHEVROLET VENTURE

VENTURE 3.4L W/49.9K - COOLANT OVERFLOW WAS EMPTY AND HAS BEEN LOW SEVERAL TIMES.AFTER WEB RESEARCH, I FOUND MANY OWNER (3.4L ENGINE OF ANY MODEL CAR/VAN) COMPLAINTS AND AN INTAKE-MANIFOLD-LEAK WEBSITE AND ON YOUR NHTSA WEBSITE WITH COMPLAINTS OF GASKET PROBLEM AND A POSSILBE RELATIONSHIP TO TEXECO DEXCOOL COOLANT. AT THIS TIME, GM HAS A BETTER INTAKE GASKET DESIGN AND SWITCHED TO PRESTONE COOLANT SINCE LAST YEAR. THEY SEEM TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE DISCRETELY. I ALSO LOOKED MORE CLOSELY AT MY ENGINE AND NOW SEE (INTAKE) LEAKS/WETNESS BUT SMALL. MARCH 22, 2004, I HAVE CONTACTED GM ASSISTANCE - 800.462.8782 (LINDA COOPER - SERVICE REQUEST #1-200466551) AND DISCUSSED MY SURMISE OF THE COOLANT LOSS AND A PERVASIVE PROBLEM WHICH MORE COMPLAINTS SHOULD OCCUR AS MORE VEHICHLES MILES GO BEYOND 40K. SINCE MANY WEBSITES DESCRIBES IN DETAIL AND PUT UP PICTURES OF THE LEAKS, THE GASKETS DEFECTS AND RELATED PROBLEMS IF NOT MONITORED AND ALLOWED TO RUN AT POINT OF LOW COOLANT WARNING COULD LIKELY CAUSE OVERHEATING, OIL DILUTION, ENGINE DAMAGE AND OTHER PROBLEMS. WITH ALL THIS INFORMATION, GM WOULD NOT ACKNOWLEDGED A KNOWN PROBLEM, PROBLEM FAMILIARITY, NOR ALLOW ANY WARRANTY REPAIR BECAUSE THERE IS "NO RECALL" IN PROCESS. I WAS THEN CONFERENCED-CALLED TO A LOCAL DEALER WHO OFFER ME 10% DISCOUNT FOR A ~$600 PLUS COST OF REPAIR TO ANY OTHER PROBLEMS FOUND. THIS IS NOT AN OPTION I PREFER, AS THIS PROBLEM OCCURS OUT OF WARRANTY, 2ND OWNER OF CAR, I DO MY OWN MAINTENANCE WITHOUT USE OF THE DEALER SERVICES; OTHERWISE I MAY HAVE GOTTEN THIS FIXED UNDER SOME/PARTIAL WARRANTY BUT I WAS NOT GIVEN THIS OPTION. BUT IF THIS IS A DEFECT WHICH WILL ONLY OCCUR "AFTER" WARRANTY COVERAGE, EVENTUALLY EVERYONE WILL HAVE THIS PROBLEM. IF I GO TO A PRIVATE SHOP FOR A MORE COST EFFECTIVE REPAIR, GM WILL ONLY REIMBURSE ME, ONLY WHEN AND IF THERE IS A RECALL. *AK