GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Charles (in GA)

Quote, originally posted by heathersharmony Â»I have a question regarding the bulletin by Toyota on why more oil was needed. Why isnt the Matrix mentioned when that is the sister car to the Vibe?I wondered the same thing. Cannot give you a good answer. Its apparent that 1ZZ engines of this time peri...

Charles (in GA)

Forgot to add, the four large bolts that retain the K frame are screwed into large steel blocks that are welded inside the frame. Impossible to replace or repair. I looked at them closely and they appear to have helicoils in them from the factory. I would not use locktite on them, as there is a chan...

Charles (in GA)

Rear sway bar installed. Not much to see. The rear axle design is incredible to say the least. Two trailing arms, pivoting on rubber bushings, and connected near the pivot point by a V shaped piece of steel, V opening facing aft. Independent movement of the rear wheels twists this V shaped piece of ...

Charles (in GA)

Comparison view of old and new front sway bars. The new bar is bent differently. With the vehicle off the ground, the steering rack end boots actually rub the bar slightly when you operate the steering. On the ground, there is a fair amount of clearance however.

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Charles (in GA)

This is a reverse of the view above. Here we are looking up and forward. You can see the steering rack the aft motor mount and the O2 sensor and exhaust pipe going up to the manifold. Sway bar is bolted in place and it is time to raise the subframe back into place.

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Charles (in GA)

Here is a close up view of the subframe and steering rack from the front. You can see the new sway bar (very red) and I have labeled the steering rack and differential and aft motor mount. The steering rack is secured with bolts installed from the top, down into welded in nuts inside of the subframe...

Charles (in GA)

Attached is a view from the front of the subframe after I lowered it and positioned the new sway bar. The steering rack is suspended to the exhaust manifold with some wire on the passenger side. Note how it is in "thin air" about 4 inches above the subframe.

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Charles (in GA)

Well, to add to this, the Hotchkis instructions are a little overkill. There is no need to disconnect the forward/center motor mount or the center support from the radiator back to the subframe. Leave the front end of this brace connected.I made a motor support from a piece of unistrut and a couple ...

Charles (in GA)

There are four mounts. One on each "end" of the motor/trans assembly, thus far left and right, one in the front, directly behind the radiator, where the engine and trans meet, and the fourth one is about impossible to see, let alone access. It is located also in the middle, on top of the s...

Charles (in GA)

Quote, originally posted by Mark Â»I might be willing to take that under-utilized POS off your hands for you. Thats why I bought the car. It was a one owner by a retired couple who no longer needed two cars. It had 50K on it when I bought it at the end of last September. I replaced a '99 Plymouth Br...

Charles (in GA)

I have aluminum wheels, the drums are quite visible thru the wheels. I noticed the rust right away after I bought my Vibe (and it had been garaged and was exceptionally clean underneath). I removed the drums and bead blasted them clean in my blast cabinet, and sprayed them with flat black BBQ grill ...

Charles (in GA)

Quote, originally posted by heathersharmony Â»Do you think it would be a good idea to have my pistons and rings checked for buildup?Thanks!HeatherI would first put some miles on it, to get a real idea of oil consumption and gas mileage. If your oil consumption is reasonable, say 1Ã‚Â½ qts or less in...

Charles (in GA)

Quote Â»So, 2003-2004 Vibes should be avoided, due to this oil issue?I would say it all depends on the mileage on the engine, type of oil run in it, If and when the new dipstick was installed, how the car was operated, and several more.I bought a '04 base model. It had 50K mi on it. When I saw the i...

Charles (in GA)

It sorta sounds like your car may be a victim of the low oil level problem.In this thread http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=45577 I document the installation of a new dipstick for the base Vibe engine, that has different markings that raise the oil level by one half quart. Others here provided...

Charles (in GA)

Picked up the new bolts today from the GM dealer.(Toyota bolt was too long for reasons I don't understand, so I had GM dealer order them, much cheaper too) I made sure I ran all four down all the way by hand. Rather than locktite, I decided to use antiseize to insure they would come out next time an...

Charles (in GA)

OK, pics will come later......... Buuuutttttt................Need a couple of answers from someone who has installed the TRD fr/rear sway bar kit............The front bar has two holes in the ends of it. I assume they are to allow the installer to select how stiff the bar is. End hole would mean les...

Charles (in GA)

Never, ever use Dexcool in anything. Even engines that are built to use it eventually have problems. Engines that are not built to use it, will have serious problems. If you have Dexcool in an engine, drain it, disconnect the lower radiator hose, get it all out, fill it with water, run it, drain it ...

Charles (in GA)

Quote Â»Wow missing a bolt thatÃ¢Â€Â™s crazy. When I installed my sway bar I did have to loosen the front ones a lot and remove the rear ones make sure you have a jack ready to support the K and a long crow bar to pry it open to slip in the bar. When putting it back together make sure all the bolts ...

Charles (in GA)

Here is the bolt I removed from the RH side to see what it looked like.Its a 1.5mm thread pitch, I think its 14mm diameter.Charles

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Charles (in GA)

The K frame is attached to the body with four large bolts. The two forward bolts are directly above the lower suspension arm, the arm even has a hole thru it to allow a socket and extension to access the bolt head.While figuring out how difficult it would be to change out the sway bar for the TRD on...

Charles (in GA)

I ordered the TRD sway bar kit for the '03-'08 Matrix today to install in my '04 vibe FWD base model.HAS ANYONE CHANGED THE FRONT SWAY BAR WITHOUT REMOVING THE K FRAME?????? I'm beginning to regret spending the money as it looks like alot more work than I planned on. Also bought the front tower brac...

Charles (in GA)

Does anyone know when the new gasket was introduced into production?I have a low mileage (55K) '04 base model and if it has the old type gasket, I'll at least want to procure one and have it on hand.Charles

Charles (in GA)

The "before" quantity is 3.8 qts. The "after" quantity is 4.2 qts.Charles

Charles (in GA)

Need to read your owners manual, your GT may require a higher octane. The manual will tell you. Some cars do not run well on too high an octane also. I have a 2.0 Plymouth Breeze that runs like crud on BP Ultimate and then I looked in the manual and it said to never use anything higher than 87, as i...

Charles (in GA)

Went out and pulled my plugs today. About 55K mi on an '04. Plugs were rather tight coming out, lots of rust looking stuff on the threads. They were Denso branded, Carefully wire brushed the threads with a fine aluminum wire brush and used the tip of a knife blade to get some of the stubborn stuff o...

Charles (in GA)

My limited experience (bought a '04 last September and have put about 5500 miles on it since then) is that I see a drop in mileage when I run a tankful of gas from Pilot or Loves travel centers. Name brand gas, mostly BP gives me slightly (.2 to .4 mpg) better mileage on average.I'm not a fan of She...

Charles (in GA)

micbarric was the first to post the info on the TSB about the oil quantity increase, from 3.8 qt to 4.2 qt. I brought this up again in my thread.....http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=45577with detailed pics and info. No reason was given for the oil level increase in the TSB. I ran the new high...

Charles (in GA)

Just go to the local parts place and buy one. I prefer a Purolator Pure One Air and oil filters.Don't forget the cabin air filter, just above and forward of the glove box also. People forget they are there, or don't know.I take a sharpie and write the mileage and date on the end pleat of the filter ...

Charles (in GA)

Well, I reached 5,000 miles the other day (since I got the car and changed the oil the first time), so I changed the oil filter, and put the old dipstick back in, ran the engine, and added about 10 oz of oil to bring it to full. I'll run this at least 5000 mil to the oil change and see how the gas m...

Charles (in GA)

I have discovered since purchasing my '04 base model with Auto trans, in late September '11, that it is impossible to consistently fill the vehicle. The mileage was all over the place. Finally backed up and set up and Excel spreadsheet entered all the fillups since the beginning.I have it calculate ...

Charles (in GA)

Second tank full on the new dip stick and I had 31.56 MPG and that was packing the tank more than I have in the past.What I'm discovering is that this car is difficult to fuel consistently to the same "level". You don't want to pack the tank, that causes problems for the carbon canister an...

Charles (in GA)

Just to report back. Before installing the new dipstick I had run two tanks of gas thru, and had 31.6 and 31.7 mpg on them. After installing the new oil dipstick I have run another tank full thru, and got 30.88 mpg. This tank was ethanol free gas (should have been better mileage) and may have been w...

Charles (in GA)

For those of you who have trouble with the English system of measure, here is the business end of the stick with a steel scale, Metric measure, for comparison of old and new sticks.Charles

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Charles (in GA)

Here is the business end of the dipstick, with a steel scale, English measure, to show where the marks are for both new and old versions.Charles

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Charles (in GA)

Here is the handle end of the sticks, with a steel scale, English markings, just to show that they are the same length and aligned.Charles

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Charles (in GA)

Here is the handle end of the sticks. Note that there is NO marking of any sort either on top of the stick, or anywhere inside the finger ring, that might indicate that it is a new version stick. Shame Toyota doesn't put part numbers on the stick like other manufacturers.Charles

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Charles (in GA)

In another thread, micbarric posted a link to Toyota TSB 0134-08 which announces an upgraded oil dipstick for the 1ZZ-FE motor. http://forums.genvibe.com/zero...8.pdf The purpose of this is to add 1/2 qt of additional oil capacity to the engine, raising the oil refill capacity (with new filter) from...

Charles (in GA)

Quote, originally posted by micbarric Â»There was a Toyota TSB released in 2008 which mentioned an 'upgraded' dipstick to increase the oil level:Thanks for the TSB. I looked at my dipstick last night and it doesn't have the "dark square" or whatever that mark is that signify a new and impr...

Charles (in GA)

About three weeks ago I purchased an '04 vibe, base model, auto trans, red (Salsa is the GM name for it), Graphite color interior, factory aluminum wheels, Power group value package (so says the window sticker which I also have), nothing special. It was a one owner, just under 50,000 mi and the owne...

Charles (in GA)

New here, looking around.If the screen is just that, designed to catch pieces and chunks, and nothing more, has anyone tried the Wix 58964 inline trans and PS filter kit?http://www.wixfilters.com/filt...58964Its 25 micron, so it should help get some of the particles out of the fluid.I just bought an...

Search found 40 matches

Re: Super black carbon buildup in tailpipe (heathersharmony)

Re: (Charles (in GA))

Re: (Charles (in GA))

Re: (Charles (in GA))

Re: (Charles (in GA))

Re: (Charles (in GA))

Re: (Charles (in GA))

Re: (Charles (in GA))

Re: Engine mounts: Where are they? (lannvouivre)

Re: My Spark Plugs After 117,000 Miles (Mark)

Re: rust behind the back wheels (behindthelens)

Re: Super black carbon buildup in tailpipe (heathersharmony)

Re: (zaxellord)

Re: Super black carbon buildup in tailpipe (heathersharmony)

Re: Ordered the TRD sway bar kit (Charles (in GA))

Re: 2009 Vibe (DocDoug)

Re: And what else did I discover while under the car?????/ (mac99d)

Re: And what else did I discover while under the car?????/ (Charles (in GA))

And what else did I discover while under the car?????/

Ordered the TRD sway bar kit

Re: Idle dropping when on the brakes. (sideshowalan)

Re: (burrpenick)

Re: gasoline (Ocean14)

Re: My Spark Plugs After 117,000 Miles (chadhgraves)

Re: gasoline (fpsfreak)

Re: My reflections after 150,00 miles on the 2003 base VIBE 1.8 engine (tgferg67)

Re: Replacing the Engine Air Filter (chadhgraves)

Re: (Charles (in GA))

Re: The Official "What's Your Gas Mileage?" Thread (J_TO_ENVY)

Re: (Charles (in GA))

Re: 03-05 Upgraded Oil Dipstick for 1ZZ-FE Motor (Charles (in GA))

Re: 03-05 Upgraded Oil Dipstick for 1ZZ-FE Motor (Charles (in GA))

Re: 03-05 Upgraded Oil Dipstick for 1ZZ-FE Motor (Charles (in GA))

Re: 03-05 Upgraded Oil Dipstick for 1ZZ-FE Motor (Charles (in GA))

03-05 Upgraded Oil Dipstick for 1ZZ-FE Motor

Re: I changed my oil (micbarric)

New Owner, New Member here