Most common 1998 Chevrolet Venture problems
Share of the 409 complaints; one complaint can involve more than one system. "~" is the median mileage when the problem started.
Chevrolet Venture complaints by model year
Best Venture years: 2005, 2004, 2003. Years to avoid: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000. Compare all years →
1998 Chevrolet Venture recalls (7)
Latches/locks/linkages › Doors › Latch
On certain minivans equipped with second-row bucket seats or captain's chairs and a power sliding door on the passenger side of the vehicle, a passenger using the interior handle to open the power sliding door could be injured.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the power sliding door interior handle on the passenger-side. If the vehicle is equipped with a power or manual sliding door on the driver-side, the interior handle will also be replaced for…
Steering › Rack and pinion
Certain passenger vehicles and Mini vans have lower pinion bearings in the power rack and pinion assembly in which the retainer tabs were not crimped properly. These and some other retainers used in vehicles assembled between January 1, 1996 and October 31, 1997, could fail and permit the ball bearings to escape.
Remedy: Dealers will install a new lower pinion bearing unless inspect of the existing bearing indicates that replacement of the gear assembly is necessary. Owner notification began January 24, 2003.
Latches/locks/linkages › Doors › Latch
Vehicle description: 1997-2001 Chevrolet venture, Pontiac montana/transport, and Oldsmobile silhouette Mini vans equipped with passenger side power sliding doors that were serviced in campaign 01013 (01v-067) from April to August 2001.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect and, if required, install a new power sliding door unlatch actuator assembly. Owner notification began on October 22, 2001.
Latches/locks/linkages › Doors › Latch
Vehicle description: minivans equipped with passenger side power sliding doors. The door closes but May not be latched. If this happens, the power sliding door can open while the vehicle is in motion, particularly when the vehicle ascends a hill, makes a turn, or travels over a rough road surface.
Remedy: Dealers will install a new un-latch actuator assembly to the power sliding door. This recall has been continued under safety recall 01v-264.
Seats › Front assembly › Recliner
Vehicle description: passenger Mini vans equipped with bucket seats or a split bench seat in the second (middle) or third (back) row. The seat latch mechanisms on bucket seats and on the 40% portion of the split bench seat in the second and third rows do not have protective covers.
Remedy: Dealers will install protective covers on the outboard latch mechanisms on all left and right hand rear bucket seats in the second and third row, and to both inboard and outboard latch mechanisms on the center rear…
Power train › Automatic transmission
Vehicle description: Mini vans. These vehicles May have (1) a broken shift cable fitting or (2) loose shift linkage. Consequently, moving the shift lever to a 'park' position May not shift the transmission to 'park'.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect, and replace if necessary, the automatic transaxle range selector cable.
Show 1 more recall
Visibility › Windshield wiper/washer › Linkages
Vehicle description: passenger Mini vans equipped with traction control systems. The windshield wiper linkage arm can contact a brake line which is connected to the traction control system modulator valve. This contact can chafe the brake line resulting in a brake fluid leak.
Remedy: Dealers will install a brake line clip to ensure proper clearance. Also the brake lines will be inspected to any damage caused by this condition and will replace any damaged lines.
NHTSA defect investigations
Federal safety investigators have looked into 7 possible defects involving the 1998 Chevrolet Venture:
Unexpected opening of sliding door
There is no summary currently available
Power-sliding door
Subject vehicles are available with an optional power sliding door.the interior handle is oriented in the vertical position in the door panel and lines up at the elbow level when the occupant is seated in the 2nd-row outboard position.if the occupant holds the interior handle in the thumb up position during power-assisted opening, the arm/wrist can be push back with force against the 2nd-row bucket seat or captain's…
Rear axle trailing arm failure
Analysis of odi and GM data has identified 14 incidents of rear trailing arm failures in model year (my) 1997 through 1999 GM u-vans, including two that allegedly resulted in crashes. The trailing arm design in these vehicles is used in the u-vans from my 1997 through 2003.according to GM, the subject trailing arms can crack or buckle if they have been damaged during assembly, pre-delivery handling, or certain…
Shoulder harness clip
Air bag tear during deployment
Rear axle trailing arm failure
On November 18, 2002, odi opened a preliminary evaluation (pe02-086) to evaluate allegations of rear axle trailing arm failures in the subject vehicles (u-van) which included two reporting crashes.on April 9, 2003, odi upgraded pe02-086 to an engineering analysis (ea03-005) to continue its examination of the issue.
Safety belt assembly failure
Odi identified 59 reports with the alleged defect.odi was able to contact 44 of the 59 consumers in order to determine the specific cause of the latch problems.of the 44 owners contacted, odi determined that four failures were due to an out-of-tolerance latch plate, and that 23 failures were due to a displaced buckle housing cover.the remaining 17 failures had indeterminable causes.of the 59 reports, there were…
What 1998 Chevrolet Venture owners say
Engine & cooling all 111 →
I purchased a 1998 Chevrolet Venture new for approximately $27,000. After 4 1/2 years I had to replace the lower intake manifold gasket at a cost of about $500. I maintained the vehicle to the manufacturers specifications even changing the oil every 3 to 4000. On labor day 2003, a little more than 5 years after I purchased the vehicle, I broke down returning from a family vacation with the car packed and my three kids. The car had to be towed to the nearest Chevrolet dealer. 75 miles from home. Bottom line the cam bearings spun in the engine and the dealer said the car was worth $300 as is. It needed a new engine at a total cost of $6150. GM customer service agreed that this was premature engine failure but that the engine had 72,000 miles and according to GM the life expectancy of that engine is only 100,000 miles. …
1998 Chevy Venture, engine light came on, pulled over engine tapping & smoking. No oil light or change in temp, gauge observed. Had to walk on interstate 1.2 miles took ride from unknown couple, had van towed. Diagnoses was: intake gasket collapsed, causing connecting rod to go through engine. Dealership & GM customer care refused any assistance. Overwelmed by severity of this gasket problem readily available on the internet. We replaced our engine with a used one, that is all we could afford. It definitely was the faulty gasket that caused our engine to be replaced. When this first happened, no dummy light came on, nothing to even tell me there was a problem, such as low oil or service engine. The mechanic who replaced our engine told us he has seen several Chevy Venture vans with the same exact problem we had. …
Lights all 59 →
Tl contact owns a 1998 Chevrolet Venture. The contact shifted the gear into park and shut off the vehicle. The vehicle rolled away while she was assisting a child with exiting the vehicle. The contact ran to jump into the vehicle and noticed that the gear shifter was very unstable and had a lot of "play" or wiggle. She depressed the brake pedal and the vehicle came to a stop. Prior to this failure, the tail lights failed in February of 2007. At that time, she was informed that she needed new circuit boards. Within a year, the failures recurred. The circuit boards burned out and the dealer stated that the plug for the boards was burned out as well, which would cause the failures to continue. The failure mileage was 130,000 and current mileage was 168,000.
The 1997-2000 venutures have problems with the engines, the intake gasket breaks down causing anti freeze to mix with the engines oil causing the cam shaft to crack, in our case there was no leaks under the van and there was no warning either the van was running well that morning and when my wife was driving down the street there was 2 short bukles from the van and everything shut down including steering which was difficult to do, is it going to take someones family to die on the side of the road before GM will do anything about this if my wife had been on the highway then there would be no way that she would have made it without being hit, even then she had 3 young children in the van ages 3-8 and was almost hit from behind, because it was an industrial highway speed limit of 50mph and not much room on the shoulder to park. …
Steering all 36 →
Tl* the contact owns a 1998 Chevrolet Venture. The contact stated that while making a left turn at approximately 5 MPH, the steering wheel seized without warning. The failure recurred several times. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated that the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 09e005000 (steering). The failure mileage was 122,000.
I own a 1998 Chevy Venture van. I recently took it in for a recall for a defect on the steering rack and pinion (NHTSA campaign id number : 02V286000). The dealer would not replace the defective component because the van has a salvage title. I was notified that "the bearing is about to fall out" and the entire rack and pinion was damaged due to the defect and has to be replaced at a cost of $600. I called GM and was informed that it was their policy not to do recalls on vehicles with a salvaged title. This is a defect and a safety issue regardless of the salvaged title and I think GM should be responsible for fixing it. There is also another safety recall on the transmission (NHTSA campaign id number : 98V131000) that is a problem on my particular van. About a year ago, a 5 year old friend of the family was playing in the van (without our knowledge). …
1998 Chevrolet Venture engines & fuel economy
| Engine | Transmission | Drive | MPG city / hwy / combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.4L 6-cyl | 4-speed automatic | FWD | 16 / 23 / 19 |
EPA ratings. Class: Minivan.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 1998 Chevrolet Venture a good car?
Based on 409 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the 1998 Venture rates avoid: 2.1× as many complaints as a typical year of the Venture at the same age. It is one of the Venture years we suggest avoiding. Complaint counts don't account for sales volume or individual maintenance, so have any used car inspected before buying.
What is the most common problem with the 1998 Chevrolet Venture?
The engine & cooling — 111 complaints, 27% of all complaints for this model year, most often about engine. Next are the lights (59) and steering (36).
How many recalls does the 1998 Chevrolet Venture have?
There are 7 recalls for the 1998 Chevrolet Venture, the most recent from December 22, 2004 (latch). Recall repairs are free at any authorized dealer — check whether yours has been done with the VIN recall check.
What are the best and worst years of the Chevrolet Venture?
The best years by complaints, compared at the same age, are 2005, 2004 and 2003. Years to avoid or approach with caution: 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000. See the full Chevrolet Venture years comparison.
At what mileage do 1998 Chevrolet Venture problems happen?
The median mileage reported in complaints is about 82,000 miles; 12% of problems with a recorded mileage started before 50,000 miles.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.