I have a 2000 venture with 9,000 miles. My grandparents bought it new and hardly ever drove it, and when my hrandfather died 3 months ago, I got the van. At first the noise was not at all noticable, but now I can hear the ticking noise when the engines cold, but as the van warms up, the sound goes away. What is this? My neighbor has a venture and hers also does it... What can I do to stop it? Is this a damaging condition? Thanks!

 

Has the oil been changed recently? Change the oil with the recommended oil for that year Venture and see if the ticking improves any.

 

I have 140 000 miles on mine and it has similar sound when cold, but it goes away quickly.

It appears to be rocker arms and there doesn't seem to be an easy way to resolve this issue.

I change oil every 3000 miles.

 

My Silverado did that. I run a lighter oil in it in the winter.

 

The noise is not the rockers, although it is easy to think that. the noise is actually your lifters. You are not causing any engine damage, it's just a noise that as the engine gets older, will continue to be more noticeable. What I did in my wife's van was to use two quarts of Lucas synthetic oil additive and fill the remaining 2.5 quarts with which ever 5w30 synthetic oil you prefer. the 5w30 you can run all year long. If you use 10w30 like either the oil cap of GM says to use, the noise will get a lot worse very quickly. doing oil changes this way does make it cost more up front, like around $40 to do it yourself, but you only have to change the oil once a year..... or about 12K - 15K miles. Hope this helps you out.