02 Chevy Venture 3.4L - Main Fuse Block

Ok, I'm just having a bad car month.

So I got this 2002 Chevy Venture van, 3.4 L. I'll say up front, I'm not a GM fan, and wouldn't have owned one again if it weren't a really, really, really, good deal from a trusted source.

Nevertheless, I had it about a year.

73,000 miles.

Took it in to an area dealer for brakes and an intake gasket, at their advisement, which was leaking dexcool into the crankcase and ruined the lifters, etc.. A four digit repair bill.

A half hour out of the dealer shop and the dash lights and ceiling console comapss/clock go haywire. ABS lights on, batt light on, odo led out. Crazy stuff.. Start it cold, no gauges, engines racing a bit. Odd transmission behaviour, you name it.

Take it back to the dealer this morning.

First they say it's a pinched wire.
Then they find a blown fuse. Alternator fuse. replace, redrive, and blows again.
Then they tell me I've got bad main fuse block (power distribution block).

I ask them for root cause. They say it's shorted internally. "these things go" they say.

I call around eight other dealers and a non dealer shop manager friend on the other side of town. Nobody stocks these. Nobody orders these much. Nobody relpaces these regularly.

Therefore there doesn't seem to be much problematic history with this part on this vehicle.

I maintain, the dealer toasted something while doing the intake gasket and dismantling the top end of the motor. They are claiming no responsibility. The vehicle was absolutely fine electrically when they received it.

They still can't tell me root cause. Like it was caused by the mystic smoke fairy. Needless to say this is highly suspicous. I'm not even convinced that if the fuse block is replaced, that it doesn't get toasted again.

Anybody out there ever had a main fuse block short on an 02 Chevy venture van?

 

Look to see if they left off the main ground cable from the engine to the frame. I looked up some complaints on that dexcool and alot of people have complained. http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/gm_dexcool.html

 

So after three days of the dealer insisting that the fuse block was defective and my struggling with them, they suddenly changed their tune to say the fuse block was now fine and that it was an oil pressure sensor and fuse.

An excellent example of why we all need to DIY, cause the dealers aren't all that.

It was funny as the only rural Chevy dealer in Burton Ohio clammered up and down about the years of mechanic experience and they're top technician being in the top national 5% of Goodwrench schooled mechanics.

Aparently there're well schooled in shotgunning parts until the problem goes away. Only one problem with that $$$$....

I do have to give them a bit of credit in that after the other $1600 in repairs they did throw in the $100 oil sensor to shut me up.

Unfortunately, they wouldn't explain why the fuse block was suddenly now ok... When I probed to make sure it was ok, they got pretty darn defensive. I guess we just need to trust these guys... NOT!

This was by far my worst dealer experience ever.

However I continue to DIY on my Toyota which was built for easy maintainance, and rarely ever needs it.