1997 Chevrolet G Van

Routine

Owners filed 6 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the power train › automatic transmission. No safety recall has been issued.

What fails
ComponentReportsCrashesFiresInjuries
Power Train › Automatic Transmission3
000
Vehicle Speed Control › Cruise Control1
000
Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Antilock/Traction Control/Electronic Limited Slip1
000
Fuel System, Other1
000

What owners reported

Newest filings
Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Antilock/Traction Control/Electronic Limited Slip
Filed May 26, 2005154,000 milesMA

DT: PROBLEM WITH ABS BRAKES BEGAN IN 2003. AFTER REPLACEMENT OF ABS SYSTEM THE ABS LIGHT CAME ON. WHEN WARNING WAS LIT THE ABS SYSTEM FAILED. MECHANIC SAID THAT CONTACT WOULD HAVE TO PUMP THE BRAKES. HOWEVER, IN RAINY CONDITIONS BRAKES SEEMED TO CAUSE EXTENDED STOPPING DISTANCE, AND PULLED THE VEHICLE TO RIGHT. MECHANIC STATED THAT THE ABS LIGHT WAS COMING ON DUE TO COMPUTER PROBLEM. CONTACT BELIEVED THE COMPUTER WAS CAUSING THE ,PROBLEMS DUE TO THE COMPUTER BEING PLACED OUTSIDE NEAR THE TIRE. *AK

Power Train › Automatic Transmission
Filed Sep 20, 200379,500 milesGA

I OWN A 1997 CHEVY CUSTOMIZED VAN. I HAVE JUST HAD TO HAVE MY TRANSMISSION REBUILT WITH JUST 79,000 MILES. I HAVE HAD NOTHING BUT MECHANICAL PROBLEMS WITH THE VAN, MOST DURING THE WARRANTY PERIOD. I'VE REPLACED 2 STARTERS, 2 FUEL PUMPS, 1 SPEEDOMETER, 3 BATTERIES, AND FUEL LEAKS OVER THE YEARS. THERE WERE ALSO 2 RECALL ITEMS, ONE DEALING WITH THE FUEL SYSTEM. ALL OF MY WORK HAS BEEN WITH LOCAL CHEVY SERVICE CENTERS, BUT NOT VERY HAPPY. AT AROUND 55,000 MILES, WE HAD A PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION JUMPING OR SHIFTING ROUGHLY AT LOWER SPEEDS IN TOWN, BUT IT WAS INTERMITTENT. THE SERVICE CENTER SAID WE WOULD NEED A NEW TRANSMISSION AT A TREMENDOUS COST AT THAT TIME. MY QUESTIONS AT THE TIME ABOUT WHAT WAS THE CAUSE AND WHY AT SUCH A LOW MILEAGE WERE NEVER ANSWERED FULLY, AND I CHOSE TO CONTINUE DRIVING THE VAN. THE RECENT PROBLEM HAPPENED AT 79,000 WHILE CROSSING AN INTERSECTION, WHICH MY WIFE WAS LUCKY. THERE HAD BEEN A BIG BANG, AND THE RESULT INITIALLY WAS A LOST REVERSE GEAR. I HAD IT TAKEN TO A REPUTABLE LOCAL TRANSMISSION SHOP AND WHEN I WENT TO TALK TO THE MECHANIC, FOUND OUT THE PROBLEM I WAS HAVING WAS WELL KNOWN THROUGHOUT THE INDUSTRY. AS A MATTER OF FACT HE HAD 5 GM VEHICLES AT HIS SHOP FOR THE SAME PROBLEM WITH BASICALLY THE SAME MILEAGE ON EACH. NOW WHEN I STARTED TO RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET, I FIND MANY PEOPLE IN THE SAME SITUATION I AM, AND IT SEEMS THEY HAVE NO WAY TO GO, BECAUSE GM DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THERE IS A PROBLEM, OF WHICH I BELIEVE THEY HAVE KNOWN ABOUT

Power Train › Automatic Transmission
Filed Aug 18, 200368,569 milesPA

PROBLEMS WITH 1997 CHEVROLET G-VAN TRANSMISSION.*MR THE CONSUMER HAD TO REPLACE HIS TRANSMISSION 3 TIMES BECAUSE OF LEAKING. CHEVROLET HAS ONLY ISSUED A BULLETIN FOR 1991-1995 GMC TRUCK G VANS REGARDING A LEAK IN THE REAR EXTENSION HOUSING BUT THE PROBLEM IS STILL OCCURRING IN THE 97 MODELS. THE CONSUMER IS ASKING TO BE REIMBURSED FOR DEFECTIVE TRANSMISSION IN THE AMOUNT OF $1979.45. *CB *JB

Power Train › Automatic Transmission
Filed Jul 26, 200325,000 milesMI

I HAVE A 1997 CHEVROLET G VAN HIGHWAY DRIVEN WITH ONLY 29,000 MILES AND THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTS HARD FROM 1ST TO SECOND GEAR ONLY WHEN HOT. DEALER FOUND A DEFECTIVE VALVE BOBY ASSEMBLY.TIMED OUT OF WARRENTY COST $900 TO REPAIR. THE TRANSMISSION SHOULD HAVE LASTED DLONGER THAN 29,000 MILES. THIS IS A MANUFACTURING DEFECT WHICH WAS NOT FROM WEARING OUT.*AK

Vehicle Speed Control › Cruise Control
Filed Jan 2, 200342,000 milesAL

CONSUMER STATES THAT WHEN CRUISE CONTROL IS ENGAGED THE VEHICLE CONTINUES TO ACCELERATE, INSTEAD OF STOPPING AT DESIRED SPEED. VEHICLE IS A 1997 CHEVROLET CG11405 VAN. TS

Fuel System, Other
Filed Mar 8, 2002MD

CONSUMER RECEIVED A RECALL NOTICE, AND TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE MANUFACTURER AND WORK WAS COMPLETED, CONSUMER STATED THAT FUEL GAUGE BEGAN FLUCTUATING AFTER THE THE RECALL WORK WAS DONE, THE FUEL GAUGE WILL JUMP FROM FULL TO 1/4 TANK WHILE DRIVING. *YH

6 of 6 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 1997
YearComplaintsRecallsFiresDeathsAssessment
20080200Routine
20070200Routine
20060200Routine
20023000Routine
20011000Routine
20003010Routine
19993000Routine
19982000Routine
1997 — this page6000Routine
19951000Routine
19941100Routine
19931000Routine
19923000Routine

Compare every G Van year →

Reading this record

No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.

Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.

Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.