Hi I had a 1999 chevy venture with the bad lower intake manifold gasket which i replaced.The family got bigger so i decided to purchase a new 2003 express with a vortec 4.3 v-6 engine (due to the engines being around for a while, reliable ).The van had 9 miles when we took it home.There was a good vibration coming from the floor boards when in low rpm driving it.( when you let off the gas no vibration, meaning no problems with tires right).We took it to the dealership garage,they said all 4 tires weren't balanced.We took the van home still had the vibration problem,engine also lacked power and seemed to be getting bad gas mileage.Then 2 days later engine started starting hard in the morning chugging for about 5 minutes( misfiring smells like paint burning).To my horror, I took the off radiator cap white sludge inside around the filler neck and brown sludge on the bottom of cap with very little anti freeze in radiator.Took van back to dealership told service director looks like the same problem i had with 99 venture.Picked up van 2 days later they said the antifreeze was low due to evaporation and a ring and pinion in rear end was causing vibration. Took the van for a ride vibration is gone, more power.But, I think they are lying to me about the problem and worried about engine damage caused from leaking gasket. Can anybody let me know if they had any problems with newer 4.3 v-6 and what do you think about the problem.Thank You for your time
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20 years ago