02 Venture jerking back and forth in 2nd
 

Hello folks,
I was having real trouble with my 135 K Venture last month slipping out of 1st and struggling to get into 2nd. Really had to finesse it each time. Old van is barely worth anything, so I threw in a bottle of Lucas Stop Slip fluid and that worked great for a week. This weekend I tried to change the EGR valve (also bad) but having taken out a few parts, I couldnt get to it. Put all the parts back, drove this morning, and as soon as I hit second, the car started jerking - losing power for a split second at a time, regaining, losing, regaining. Seems like its slipping in and out of 2nd continuously. OK when I get to 3rd and up from there. This heap certainly isnt worth major repairs. Could I have messed something up working on the ERG (that I couldnt even get to?)

First go back and make sure all your vacuum hoses are connected, and not cracked. Seems unlikely that you messed up the egr if you didn't really even mess with it. The EGR could be stuck open just a bit, always allowing exhaust gasses into the combustion chamber. The trans sounds like it's on it's last leg. You may get a little more life out of it by having it flushed, then after a 100-200 miles, change the oil and filter on the trans. I've gotten a few more years out of my 200,000 mile Venture trans that way. It'll cost you upwards of $200-$250 if you pay a shop to do it, but you could save 1/2 of that if you do it yourself. No guarantee, but that is what I would do if I needed the van for a while longer.