09 Vibe electrical problems

[Dave0401]

Okay, I have an 09 Vibe 1.8 base model. 2 weeks ago the electric steer was not working and the car would not start. Tested both the battery and alternator, both bad replaced both. Tested both before reinstalling and they tested good. After installation Air Bag light was illuminated and no electric steer. Had both battery and alternator retested on the vehicle, not enough voltage to test. Replaced the battery and alternator with new ones again, had them tested before installing them both tested good, the new ones I took off both tested good as well. With the new battery and alternator reinstalled had voltage tested again because the Air Bag light was still on and the power steer was still not working. With the car running I had 11.77 volts at the battery and 12.1 at the alternator. I pulled all fuses and relays and all were good. While the vehicle was running I pulled the AM1 fuse, had a surge of voltage from the alternator to 13.1 volts, still below where it needs to be. When the fuse was out ABS, Brake Light, Air Bag Light and Check Engine Light all came on. Turned off the vehicle, reinstalled the AM1 fuse, all the lights went out when I restarted it except for the Air Bag light. I am now at a loss of what could be the issue. I also disassembled the under hood fuse/relay box to check the 120 Amp Alternator fuse, no problems with it either. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Zimm]

i recently had an issue with an electrical gremlin with my '10 base. i'm not sure if they're related but if it can help, i'd like to put in my 2 cents.

i have had 2 no-start issues. the first was preceded by a couple weeks of little things like the stereo flickering on and off for a couple seconds at a time. no issues with starts until 1 time it just wouldn't. replaced the battery, assessed what i could. no luck. a local shop diagnosed it as a loose ground from the negative battery cable to the frame. the guy ran a screw through the wire into the connection point and that solved that.

until about 6 months later. this time, no flickering stereo or anything. just went out one morning, turned the key and got a single click. this time, the guy discovered the ground issue (since i told him about the first problem) and when checking the wire, he said it felt "weird." he disconnected the wire and opened up the insulation and found it all corroded inside. he fabricated a replacement and everything is good as new.

what may benefit you is that he told me how he diagnosed the bad ground issue: he connected one end of a jumper cable to the negative terminal of the battery. the other end he grounded to the engine. the car started right up.

he said that while a loose ground wire is a fairly common no-start problem, my corroded one was the first he'd ever seen. i can't believe that i'm the only one out there with this issue so maybe it'll help you or someone else.

[Dave0401]

Thanks Zimm, I look at that in the morning.

[tpollauf]

They say that 90% of all electrical problems are due to faulty grounds! I can certainly relate to that over the past 40 years of my driving life! Not that it may matter but has your Vibe been subjected to a nasty corrosive environment? Salt/brine in the winters? Salty ocean breezes along either cost? What's the mileage? Any chance the Vibe was a flooded car earlir in it's life? Things to consider. Good luck

[Dave0401]

Currently stationed in Hawaii. As far as I know, no flooding issues, and I'm pretty sure the car has been here it's entire life.

[Dave0401]

Update to my electrical issue, Removed everything and started over. No Luck. Checked all the fuses again, All good. Looked up an 09 Toyota Matrix and looked ad the fuse diagram to see if I missed anything as compared to the vibe diagram, all good. Decided to replace two good fuses, IGN and ECU1. Problem solved. Even though those two fuses looked good, evidently one of them was bad. Today is day 1 so we will see how it goes over the next couple of weeks. I'll keep this updated.

[SWC2003Vibe]

Today is day 1 so we will see how it goes over the next couple of weeks. I'll keep this updated.

How's it holding up?