GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

vibedrivermatt

I realize I'm sorta late to the party but I've also been in this situation. What you wanna do is get really, really mad! Then muster up all your strength and fury and kick the heck out of the tire as hard as you can. It WILL come off. Although doing this on a scissor jack may be a bit hazardous. If ...

vibedrivermatt

success! maybe we could have still done this with old genvibe. that is likely

vibedrivermatt

bummer guess not or maybe I dunno how to do it?

vibedrivermatt

[youtube]www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWDQIuBXTMY[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWDQIuBXTMY[/youtube]

vibedrivermatt

Nice! Glad it worked out.

I think a lot of us including myself thought the PCM needed to be replaced. It just goes to show that sometimes it's best to follow your own instincts or at least listen to car talk when in doubt.

Bravo musicmanmu!

vibedrivermatt

Thanks for the reply!I definately have pink collant fluid. For now I'll assume to get the toyota pink coolant should I want to top off the reservoir bottle a bit.I did buy the car new. It's about 4 or more years old by now. I'm pretty sure there isnt a leak in the coolant system. Seeing how the rese...

vibedrivermatt

ahhh nevemind edit post. I see you already found the hotchkis instrutions which I was going to post but I missed it in your last post.

vibedrivermatt

So is it the general consenus that dexcool is not the coolant that was put in at the factory? I have never topped off or done anything with the coolant in my vibe. It appears the reservoir bottle is getting closer to the low mark. maybe some of it has evaporated over the years. Which one should I bu...

vibedrivermatt

Sorry to hear about the PCM. I know its a bit risky but you could try to get a used PCM online. The only problem getting one of these could be replacing the bad part with another bad one. I assume its better to get a hold of a new one if possible. The dealership says the part will cost that much bec...

vibedrivermatt

If it gives you some peace of mind while waiting to go back to the dealership, you could check automatic transmission fluid. There are very specific instructions on how to check it in the owners manual. Checking the fluid is a little is more complicated than I thought it would be.

vibedrivermatt

Really unbelievable things like this sometimes turn out to be fakes. Remember the hug a cat girl? I have my doubts.

vibedrivermatt

sure check out my garage thread to see what was involved in modding the 09 2.4l corolla cai to fit the vibe better. Perhaps something similar can be done with other cai's to fit a 09 1.8l vibe. http://forums.genvibe.com/zero...age=1

vibedrivermatt

OK, but I just realised I forgot to mention the injen cia is only meant 2.4l vibe or matrix. I should let you know before taking a bunch of pics and sending an email.

vibedrivermatt

Hey Mike, Injen makes a cai intake for the 09 corolla. I have bought one of these and modded it a bit to make it fit the 09 vibe. K&N also makes a sri specifically for 09 vibe/matrix. Theres many threads about it around here. I'd like to sell my injen intake for $100 plus shipping. It was used f...

vibedrivermatt

awww dang man. The way I've heard seafoam being used is to put in, let the car idle for ten/fifteen minuets and then change the oil immediately afterwards. I dont have a can of seafoam here with me here at the moment so I cant read the instructions for myself but Im just guessing its not good to run...

vibedrivermatt

there are service manuals for the 09 but you have to get the ones published by GM and they're expensive. Its P/N GMP09S. I wonder if theres books for the matrix that may be cheaper?you can get it at a few places, this site www.helminc.com has them as mentioned here looks like they cost $200 now. I b...

vibedrivermatt

I like to fill my vibe with the 87 lawn mower gas. It doesnt have a high compression engine like a turbo or a tuned a 2ZZ-GE found in original vibe GT's. Also, I'd worry that higher octane gas would cause the engine to run hotter than its supposed to and over time be problematic. I remember hearing ...

vibedrivermatt

TRD makes one for the 09 and up matrix. As long as your not GT or AWD that one is fine to use. As to whether the sway bar actually helps improve performance is a whole other debate. Theres two things I can say for certain about the TRD sway bar, it's red and VERY shiney! I like things that are shine...

vibedrivermatt

Struts for 09 vibes may be hard to order because they're not available at many parts stores yet. Theres a better chance of finding struts for the 09 vibe by looking for toyota matrix struts. These guys have some good insights.http://blog.nwautos.com/2009/0....htmlGoodluck

vibedrivermatt

well 45 may be too mcuh. I like 42 psi as a personal preference. Also, I will usually go back to refine my posts after realising I had said something that might not be great advice for everybody but you quoted me. I feel these tires still had poor traction when filled in the mid 30's. They hydroplan...

vibedrivermatt

Well, I've filled my oem good year RSA's to atleast 44 or 45 psi. The max psi says 51 on the side of the tire. I like to keep my rsa tires around 42 psi, they're getting bald and I'm going to have to be replacing them soon with winter tires. I use summer tires during summer months and the RSA's for ...

vibedrivermatt

Ya I think the second garage gave you a much better quote. $700 seems way too much for that job.

vibedrivermatt

Quote, originally posted by TownDrunk Â»Hey Matt. Thanks so much for the response, it was very informative. One other quick question. Do I need to get a mount that is specific to the strut I am purchasing or will any mount work? I've noticed that the Monroe mounts are more expensive than some of the...

vibedrivermatt

Hello!, I think the monroe struts are good. If you can it's probably a good idea to replace the mounts at 90k miles. I've thought to remember other people saying this is good to do if your replacing struts and are 100k miles or higher. It's only the front mounts that are really expensive. The rear m...

vibedrivermatt

Hey you may wanna disregard that link. According to 92blacktt who posted a thread thats a few links below this one on the tire page, the center bore of the wheel is actually 54.1. I guess its often mistakenly referred to as 57.1 at various online places for some reason. I'm not sure how they manage ...

vibedrivermatt

Yes, if those are first gen prius wheels they will fit on an 03/08 vibe according to this nifty website. I think a 45mm offset would be fine they might just look a bit recessed in the wheel wells. I believe 39mm is the offset of the stock vibe 03/08 16" wheels? They do look cool. The shipping f...

vibedrivermatt

Quote, originally posted by J_TO_ENVY Â»According to this auction on eBay, the 2009-2010 Vibe hub bore is indeed 60.1mm. The offset on the 18" GT wheel is +39. And it appears that it too has a "J" rim profile...ah, thanks your awesome! I was just flipping through my vibe manuals looki...

vibedrivermatt

Ah thanks. I can see how all of those contributing factors would give 16" wheels poorer performance. Quote, originally posted by J_TO_ENVY Â»Ugh... my 16" steelies weigh a ton... I can't even imagine how much 17" steelies would weigh .oh tell me about it. One time I weighed my 17"...

vibedrivermatt

Hello genvibers, I'm interested in acquiring some 17" steel wheels for my 2009 vibe. The internet searches I've been doing have turned up some results but I'm hoping to get some feedback from the wheel experts on this.Why would I want 17" steel wheels you may ask? Well, to put it simply, I...

vibedrivermatt

Merry Christmas! HOHOHOHO!

vibedrivermatt

nice.

vibedrivermatt

well looks like you did a lot more research into this matter than I have. The main thing I looked for when picking up brake grease were the words "brake grease" and "synthetic". I ended up picking up this stuff. Seems to work fine for me although I only did one caliper out of laz...

vibedrivermatt

Quote, originally posted by Salsa Guy Â»Cutting coils seems like a bad idea. Lowering coils are cheap enough. In regards to lowering coils ruining your struts I find that interesting. In vibedrivermatt's case who's to say his struts weren't going bad anyway? No offense dude!Oh no offence taken. I ju...

vibedrivermatt

Yea, I agree with Kincaid 100%. Cutting the springs will not give you a stiffer springs but just the look of a lowered car with crappy handling performance. But even using aftermarket springs will still ruin your stock struts over time. I'm finding this out after owning TRD lowering springs with sto...

vibedrivermatt

nittanydoug and I were talking about STAGG struts but it seems theres not a lot of feedback about them. I wonder if they could be a good alternative to KYB GR-2's which are more expenisve? http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/...43556

vibedrivermatt

my fav but I dont have alot of pictures.

vibedrivermatt

hmmmm stagg.. I looked around for them on car forums, a few people who have them say good things. Perhaps its a similair to KYB? I'm finding KYB's get mixed reviews all over the place. Seems like people either are really happy with them or think they're terrible. The tokico HP stuts look really good...

vibedrivermatt

Yea I also check rock auto for prices. THe prices on rockauto should be as good as anywhere else unless you find a sweet deal somewhere. I'd go into a car quest and ask them how much they could get them for. That way its free shipping to the parts store. :D I've heard good things about the KYB GR-2 ...

vibedrivermatt

hmmmm new engine huh? thats a bummer. I wonder if the engine could be repaired instead of having to a new engine? Maybe it needs a vavle job or a new timing chain/adjusment? Although I'm not too privy of the repair procedure for a vibe with a ticking engine or high milage. Is it high milage? Goodluc...

vibedrivermatt

Ah thanks for the post! I'll definately be referring to this. My car still has all original wiper blades on it. They really dont work well I'll have to replace them all.

vibedrivermatt

hey even tho this issue has been solved I wonder if this could be fixed by resetting the cars ECU. To do this you would just need to remove the negative battery terminal, leave it off for ten minuets and then put it back. Then start the car and let it idle for another ten minuets or at least I think...

vibedrivermatt

OH wow! I had thought those holes for the rotor would be on all vibes regardless of model year. I remember some cars from the 90's even had those holes for the removing the rotor. Kinda thought it was a standard thing but this is not so.

vibedrivermatt

nice. yea somtimes doing DIY is the most satisfying.

vibedrivermatt

oh I dont put anti-seize on the threads. how I broke the second stud is pretty goofy like how the the first one was broke. I was getting tired trying to tighten the lugs down with a ratcheting wrench so I decided to put a long cheater pipe on it to make the tightening easier/faster. This broke the s...

vibedrivermatt

Quote, originally posted by Entelodont Â»Nice tutorial, and the pics help to inform. Is that a brass mallet? A lot of DIY'ers are lacking the proper tools, not the case here. Thats actually an ESTWING steel hammer that belongs to my dad. I was happy to learn its a made in USA tool. I'd always though...

vibedrivermatt

Hello, I also have a 2.4l but with 5 speed. My engine is a little noisy around the idle but im sure its normal.I wonder could the noise your hearing be just regular engine noise? are you sure its pinging? getting a CEL? is it running ok?maybe bring to car in to get it checked out if your definately ...

vibedrivermatt

Awesome!! glad I've seen this thread. I've recently been hearing a clunking comming from the right front passenger side of my car. It seems to happen when the suspension is doing an up and down motion like when going over a pothole or speed bump, or whenever the suspension travel is being used to th...

vibedrivermatt

Hello

,yes the drain plug that you would buy from a parts store for a 2009 toyota matrix will be the same one you need for a 2009 pontiac vibe. Also the correct size gasket for the drain plug is an M12 size gasket. http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=41248

vibedrivermatt

this must be a question that wikipedia can answer! wiki to the rescue!

vibedrivermatt

That looks like it will fit but, I wouldnt bother. you've already got progress rear sway you should be good. There are a lot of other things you could do to improve hadling instead of going for that after market front sway bar. Ive just heard they wont do too much.

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