Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (headlights, tail lights, turn signals, interior lights).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 1998 Chevrolet Venture owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
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. …
I own a 1998 Chevy Venture minivan and on the date specified I was out with my family ( a snowy evening) when I went to apply the brakes and my turn signals on my dash went to a solid green. As I approached the red light a person in the car next to me advised me that I had no taillights. After getting home I did some research on the internet and found that this is a widespread problem where if moisture gets into the connector on the brake light assembly, it will cause the ground connector to short out and cause the brake lights to do some crazy things as well as the cruise control to disengage at certain times.
Anti-look brake system light came on and stayed on. Other lights are now flashing whem brakes are used. The main brake, signal and running lights have stipped working. The only brake lights working now are the LED lights on the rear door. System is acting like it has a short or grounding condition. Unable to use this vehicle and is parked. Unable to repair this due to being on a fixed income. Vehicle was inspected and past the last part of April 2004.
In feb./March 2004, right headlight assembly lens fell off, exposing lamp to weather. In July 2004, left headlight lens fell off. We had to replace the entire assembly in both cases. Cost about $160 each time. Dealer installed new assemblies and told us the failure is due to adhesive breakdown but not covered by Chevrolet. The vehicle is a 1998 Chevy Venture ls with 75000 mile in feb and 80000 miles in July.
The glass and back piece of the headlights were glued together. The glass came off the headlight. Due to failure in the glue composite. Need to check all vehicles using that lot of glue. Each head light cost $88.78. Consumer wants to be reimburse for manufacture defect.
Dt: the contact states when applying the brakes both headlights separated from the vehicle. He replaced the headlights in the vehicle. The vehicle has not been inspected to determine why this happened. He has not contacted the manufacturer. Updated 11/30/05.
The headlight lens has moisture inside it. I feel this effects the lighting at night as it certainly must obstrict the light beam. The headlights on this vehicle are the worst I've ever had on a vehicle even without this defect. The car was purchased from wheels inc. Leasing. I simply went to seif chev. To initiate the complaint and see if there was a fix. They referred me to a Chevrolet cust. Complaint nbr. [phone]. Icalled this number and talked to a customer rep who took my complaint to investigate. He gave me a file nbr. 990559403. This call was made on 10/29/99. I did not hear anything further and on 11/18/99 I again called chev. Cust. Svc. And referred to the file number. The person put me on hold and called seif chev. He then came back to me and said there was nothing that could be done. …
I noticed that my headlight cover was missing and couldn't figure out what had happened. I started looking at the other headlight cover and it fell off in my hand. I noticed that they had been glued on and the glue had dried up and was cracked no longer holding on the cover. I came in and called Chevrolet but they wouldn't do anything since it was out of warranty (just barely). They don't make just the cover - you have to buy a whole headlight assembly (ripoff -$90). I went online to a Venture owners message board. I found message after message about this same problem with other 98 ventures. Obviously Chevrolet/GM is ignoring it. It was pointed out to me how dangerous this can be if the cover is gone and moisture gets to the halogen light it could explode injuring anyone close. Not only that but someone could be injured if the headlight cover flies off while driving. …
Consumer' s gas tank is on straps. When stopping there is a 2 second delay, then there is a rumbling noise where as the gas gushes to the back of tank, causing the tank to move against the chassis. The dealer installed rubber bushings between tank and chassis to minimize sounds. Vehicle will do this every time unless the tank is full or low. Vehicle has been serviced at least nine times for this problem, Chevrolet acknowledges the problem, and says they do not have a solution. In addition, the front driver's seat has been replaced. Also, the window fell out from the sliding door because the latch was installed up side down/the headlight assembly was replaced due to loud whistling whenever driving more than 50mph. (dimmitt Chevrolet dealership-[phone]).
Headlight complaints in other Venture years
Frequently asked questions
How common are headlight problems on the 1998 Chevrolet Venture?
NHTSA has 59 complaints about the lights of the 1998 Chevrolet Venture, 14% of the model year's 409 complaints. The component named most often is headlights (47 mentions).
Is there a recall for 1998 Chevrolet Venture headlight problems?
No. NHTSA lists no lights recall for the 1998 Chevrolet Venture, though it has 7 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 1998 Chevrolet Venture headlight problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 91,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 0 crashes, 1 fire and 0 injuries to lights problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
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.