'04 Venture 3.4 - Dex-Cool issues?

[oilmaven]

This wasn't one of GM's best efforts...but I still see a lot of them on the road (vs. Windstars...of which I see very few). The Ventures were particularly noted for rust-prone rockers (around here they're pretty much gone from rust...some have had them replaced but most I see are pretty badly rusted out...Montana and Sihouette seem somewhat better in that regard). Various transmission, electrical and the infamous gasket issues make these hard to recommend...but there do seem to be a lot of them still running. The crash ratings would be the deal breaker for me.

 

[hddm3]

ofcourse, no one ever changes it until its too late, then they blame it on manufacturer of coolant

 

[mike7139]

I have a 2001 Grand AM GT and I put Bar's leak stop leak in my coolant 10 years ago when the LIM started leaking. I put another bottle in 5 years ago when I noticed a slight leak again. So far its been holding up. I have never changed the coolant or water pump on my car. Also I never had any issues with my transmission, even though I did quite a few burnouts and a ton of peeling out during the first 3 years of ownership with my car.

I think your friend will get many trouble free miles out of this van. You should keep us updated every few months.