A bit of history - my inlaws bought a Chevrolet Venture 2002. At almost
100,000 kms, they needed a new cylinder head. First GM tried to tell
them it wasn't covered in the warranty, but eventually they did repair
it under warranty.

A couple of months ago a friend, who knew I had a 2002 Montana, asked
me if I had any problems with the cylinder head - he said they're
"famous" for this problem. I didn't worry about it though... yet.

I took my van into the dealer yesterday to have the brakes checked
before the winter and guess what? I need a new cylinder head. $3000 to
fix it because I'm past the warranty now. I have to wait to have that
fixed, so I can save up the money.

Obviously there is a defect in the manufacturing of these cylinder
heads but GM won't admit it.

By the way, had the brakes checked although I did not notice any
problem with them. After they replaced pads and rotors and adjusted the
rear drums, the brakes feel like crap. I actually went though a stop
sign because I could not stop. I will be screaming at the dealer today.

I heard on the news that Kirk Kerkorian has dumped his GM shares -
hmmm, could it be he knows they're headed for trouble? Despite being a
second generation GM loyal customer for years (I've never bought
anything else), this was the last North American vehicle I will ever
buy. With the problems I've had on my last 3 GM vehicles, together with
the fact that their newest car is being assembled in South Korea, it's
time for me to buy a good import.

Has anyone else experienced problems with the cylinder head in either
the Montana or the Venture? I want to try and prove to GM that this is
their problem.

Thanks for letting me post!

suzette.leeming (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote:
Without knowing what engine you are talking about your information is almost
worthless.

suzette.leeming (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote:
Ok. Thanks for the info.
3.4 = That explains it. AFAIK, head problems are fairly rare but they have an
intake problem. Same for all the GM 60 degree engines.
You might want to put "intake leak gm" into Google.

Plus there is no such thing a 3000.00 for a new head, something is mssing
here.
"« Paul »" <" =?x-user-defined?Q?=AB?= Paul
=?x-user-defined?Q?=BB?="@houston.rr.com> wrote



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suzette.leeming (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote:

I've seen plenty of head "gasket" failures on these engines. But no actual
"cylinder head" failures. And it doesn't cost 3000 dollars to replace both
cylinder head gaskets. You also need to have someone who is knowledgable
have a close look at the head gaskets. The 3.4 engines have head gaskets
with two little tabs (part of the gasket) that stick out from the block/head
parting line. It's very common for a very slight leak to develop right at
this point, you end up seeing dried up dexcool on these tabs. If this is
all you are experiencing, I wouldn't bother spending the money to fix
this. But if you have an actual gasket failure, you will usually see the
coolant leaking from the front of the right cylinder head gasket. In this
case, the gasket has split along the outer edge. This is very common.

As far as your brakes, your experience is common if the tech that
did the brake job "didn't" properly machine the rotors. You need
a good finish on the rotor in order to have brakes that work
properly. You will probably find that the brake feel will improve
as you continue to drive it. If not, take it back and get it fixed!

Ian