Transmission Failure problems of the 1997 Chevrolet Venture

Had a very loud banging sound in rear of van after turning van off, this has been going on for sometime but we have been unable to pin point the cause. While driving on the expressway may 4, 2003 (at 55 mph), transmission failed, causing a very violent forward jerk. After doing some research, I found that this seems to be a somewhat frequent occurrence in this model. Please investigate this situation before someone gets severely injured. This occurred 2 days after having the recalled repair done to the rack & pinion steering.

I have a 1997 Chevrolet Venture and I have had a lot of transmission problems since I bought it. I got the vehicle in 2003 used. The day I bought it the transmission failed. I had it taken to the dealer and watched them take a new transmission out of a crate and put it in. After that it was back in the shop 3 more times over the next year for problems. When I would go through a yield requiring me to speed up such as getting on the interstate it would rev up as if it were in neutral , almost causing me to get hit on several occasions. When I would take my foot off the gas and then try again it would grab and take off. All three times they rebuilt the whole transmission. Now the shift sensors are going out and even the local dealer said this should not be happening at only 35,000 miles. Even though the transmission is still under warranty, the dealer that put the transmission in has purged their system and my information was kicked out and I cannot find the original paperwork. What can I do to keep from having to pay for a defective internal transmission part that is expensive to have put in.

Transmission failure - mechanic stated the transmission failure was due to premature wear of the second drum clutches due to the fourth clutch supports main bearing being out of correct position. Failure was likely due to production error. We have the actual transmission part as proof that it was misaligned when installed from the manufacturer.

Ref: complaint #761127 we also experienced a transmission failure on a 1997 Chevrolet Venture that required a replacement transmission. There were less than 60,000 miles on the vehicle at that time - now there are 140,000 miles on the vehicle with a rebuilt (gm warranty) transmission. I also had a 1997 Buick (gm car) that had warranty work to replace/repair the transmission (twice) and a complete failure of the transmission that required replacement of the transmission (which was less than 200 miles outside the warranty but was not covered under the warranty). My grandmother also had a 1997 Buick where the transmission failed with less than 40,000 miles (but outside the 3 year warranty period). I would think it unlikely that so many 1997 cars would exhibit transmission failures with low mileage unless there was a specific manufacturing problem with 1997 gm transmissions.