VOL knob failure in 2009-2010 Vibes

[Old Tele man]

Curious, how many people have had problems with failure of the VOL knob on their "standard" AM/FM radio (not the upgraded Kenwood radio)?

[dayday]

It's also an issue with the tuning knob, and mine was broke when I got the car with 17k mi. on it. It was replaced under warranty. Just out of curiousity, what's the story with the Kenwood radio you mentioned?

[Zimm]

mine is hanging on perilously. hopefully it goes around the holidays when i am planning on having other warranty work done so i can get this round of build quality fails out of the way at once...

[09vGT]

My volume is fine, but I can't say the same for the TUNE knob. I mostly use the steering wheel controls to operate my radio anyhow.

[vibenvy]

We have yet to have any issues with the volume or tune knobs on either of our 09 GTs.

[trask]

Tuning Knob is broke on my 09 GT.

[star_deceiver]

Mine still work fine!

[frankiemenz]

I repaired the volume knob on my 2010 Vibe today, there was a very accurate procedure on genvibe. I bought 2 just in case, still have 1 new one in my personal vibe inventory lol. it is very easy to remove the radio, it was tedious removing the circuit board in order to replace the broken knob, several 3mm hex head screws had to be removed to access the knob. Overall not a bad job if you have some experience replacing audio components, there is a very accurate and detail oriented set of instructions on genvibe, I found the more detailed version after I was done, I took a bunch of pics with my iphone only to see pretty much the same pics on the other members thread on this forum, lol always after you are done right??!! E-mail me if you want more specific tips/hints.----Frankps these knobs are 6.95 from the dealer, part # 19204643

[frankiemenz]

http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=42502 this should be the link to the fix for this symptom

[beemerphile1]

Mine failed last week. I haven't been able to figure out what has happened to others but here is my story;The knob is still attached although it is no longer centered in the cover hole. As the knob is turned it sort of wobbles instead of turning smoothly. Sometimes it will adjust the volume and other times it spins with no result.I'm still under warranty so it will be GM's problem.

[TONY TAT2]

So far I havent broken anything. Still havent tried the CD player,or got the acc pedal redone,or put the clips in to hold the floor mats down. I rotated the tires about 3 months back & havent put the hub caps back on. Guys in work asked about the hub caps, I told em thay got stolden at Home Depo

[Eloi]

The knobs on the factory radio of my 2009 Vibe were still working fine when the unit got removed to make room for my new Pioneer AVH-P3300BT.

[ParknVibe]

My volume knob broke I think June 2009 during a very HOT day. They replaced the whole radio. The new radio knob is still holding up. I just do not push on/ off the switch anymore. Just leave it on.

[journeyforce]

I have not had the knob break but am preparing for it. I bought 6 knobs(you never know when GM will stop making them and I plan on keeping the car for a while) I took two of them and dremeled the lip on the back of the knob away so that I will not have to remove the face panel of the radio again to remove the knob, it will come off when pulled. (the lip is the reason if will not come off and has to be taken apart to do so)I can tell you the reason for the easy breaking of the knobs. Somebody decided that the knobs should light up so to do this the knob had to have transparent plastic in the middle of it molded together, this caused a brittleness that was compromising the strength of the knob.In every other car I have owned the knobs were not lighted, so i don't know why GM decided to do this on the Vibe I advise everybody to buy a set or two of extra knobs to put away while you can if you want to keep this radio

[dragon64]

Not had any issues with the knobs as of yet. The only issue I have had with my radio is random noise even if the radio is off. It's like bad static/ poor reception of a radio station orAlternator whine but it comes and goes whether its the radio, CD, aux input or Onstar. At other times all audio cuts out. At other times its random static on seperate speakers. It is almost like a bad ground on an external amp. No solution as of yet but disconnecting the Onstar has reduced the frequency ofthis audio issue.

[frankiemenz]

I would agree about not using the on/off feature of the volume knob, simply turn it down to nothing and this will extend the life of the knob dramatically, i never broke my knob untill using the push on and off feature that's when it broke.--Frankps-if you plan on keeping the vibe the spare knob idea is a good one

[Old Tele man]

...ours is still under the factory 3-year/36,000 mile warrantee, so it's GM's problem for now....success! After waiting two weeks and hearing nothing from the dealership, it only took one day for the new radio to arrive and be installed. Unfortunately, they didn't put ANY partnumber on the workorder/receipt, so I wasn't able to get a GM number for the Pontiac AM/FM/CD radio...anybody know what it is?

[vit]

Mine broke last summer, replaced under warranty. Unfortunately, you get a refurb unit with your preset stations gone... Didn't even use the knob much as I like the steering controls.

[frankiemenz]

Yes and a refurb. radio can effect a sattelite radio subscription too, which could make the knob repair a better option if out of warranty. I would try to get a 3mm socket for the little bolts on circuit board if you are gonna try this repair.

[iNik]

I tried taking my radio apart to do this fix, and gave up once I got to the circuit board and still had more to take off. Just a PITA. So I put it back together a hit the broken knob with a hammer. A bit of plastic and epoxy later and there's a usable, if a bit ugly, volume knob. It'll hold me until I put in a new HU.

[trb]

Yes, I agree. After I bought a new knob from my Chevy dealer, I was wondering if I could just Dremel and cut apart the old knob to take it off the radio, and then cut the retaining lip off the new knob like someone else on here recommended. That way the new knob can slip right on without taking the radio apart.