What did you do to your Vibe today?

Salsa Guy · Post by **Salsa Guy** » Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:13 pm

Fixed the recirc door, replaced the cabin filter (the one that was in there came out in pieces), fixed (I hope) the driver side window and removed the tint and put the battery tie down in.

Found out that someone had broken 4 parts inside the driver side door panel, more than likely when they did the tinting. The center lower fastener holder was busted, they tried gluing it. A couple of the clips that holds the window control panel, they tried gluing it also. They Jacked up the Panel window control connector clip. Then somehow broke the bottom 1/2 of clip that holds the window in place. That's why the window wouldn't seal because it would get cocked slightly.

All in all a good day!

It's Miller Time!!

Doug14 · Post by **Doug14** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 2:27 pm

For a while my left front brake was rubbing a little but was hoping to wait until spring to address it. Yesterday afternoon, my brake pedal got quite mushy and the brakes would not work until the pedal was almost to the floor, much further than it ever should go. So this morning the problem did not exist, aside from the normal rubbing, but I took it in because the thought of no brakes is unsettling. The left pad was almost gone, but the right was looking quite healthy. Ended up replacing both front rotors and pads. Looking at the rear drums, the shoes were worn unevenly and one of the cylinders was leaking, so those were also replaced. While the wheels were off I noticed a screw just on the start of the sidewall from the tread on the inside, so I likely will be replacing that as well. But! on a more positive note,I received money for school from Canada Student Loans and am already all paid up until next semester, so I at least had money to deal with this expense.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sun Feb 02, 2014 4:24 pm

Installed Headlight Armor yellow fog light overlays on my mom's Vibe last week. Took some pictures in the fresh snow at a local park yesterday...

thebarber · Post by **thebarber** » Wed Feb 05, 2014 11:59 am

Salsa Guy · Post by **Salsa Guy** » Wed Feb 05, 2014 5:36 pm

Hit LIFT twice!

tpollauf · Post by **tpollauf** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 6:02 am

Due to the demise of the Car Domain website (they completely changed it's platform to where nobody can do anything anymore) I've opened up a new automotive site to host my automotive pics. Click here to check out! https://driiive.com/tpollauf/2009-Pontiac-Vibe-GT/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is a European site (Poland to be exact) and is so much easier & friendlier to post & use

Salsa Guy · Post by **Salsa Guy** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 7:02 pm

Installed a Cosmo Racing SRI today. Hitting LIFT sounds much more impressive!

lannvouivre · Post by **lannvouivre** » Fri Feb 14, 2014 8:05 pm

Magnaflow muffler and exhaust tip.
http://youtu.be/yij7BThpbBA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

lannvouivre · Post by **lannvouivre** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:10 pm

Valve cover gasket and my weird headlights color scheme:

tpollauf · Post by **tpollauf** » Wed Feb 19, 2014 7:25 pm

The weather FINALLY broke up here in NW Ohio (45'F warm

) with sunshine so I gave my Vibe a long overdue bath. In fact, I hooked up the garden hose and treated ALL of our cars to a well needed bath. I also broke down and had to fill up my Vibe again as it was almost on E. Last fill-up was October 1, 2013

It needed jumped as it hasn't been started in a couple months. The new Silverado has been getting used the most with the record snowfall we've had and extremely low temps. The Vibe should start being driven a bit more as the wife will be getting another job soon. For now though it still sits at just over 17K miles

KITT222 · Post by **KITT222** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 5:07 pm

I bought a shiny!

Just the midpipe, but for what I paid, I'll be pretty happy with the stock muffler.

thebarber · Post by **thebarber** » Wed Feb 26, 2014 8:06 pm

LED fogs...

Doug14 · Post by **Doug14** » Thu Feb 27, 2014 6:02 am

thebarber wrote:LED fogs...

How come no more HID fogs?

thebarber · Post by **thebarber** » Thu Feb 27, 2014 11:12 am

Was running hids and no fender liner...wiring corroded on the bulb (I should have taped it up or heat shrank the base of the bulb)

So I swapped to LED's to try them out for my business (Kitchener HID - - find us on Facebook)

lannvouivre · Post by **lannvouivre** » Thu Feb 27, 2014 8:02 pm

KITT222 wrote:Just the midpipe, but for what I paid, I'll be pretty happy with the stock muffler.

The stock muffler is so heavy compared to the Magnaflow one I had installed...argh!

Doug14 · Post by **Doug14** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 6:36 am

thebarber wrote:Was running hids and no fender liner...wiring corroded on the bulb (I should have taped it up or heat shrank the base of the bulb)

So I swapped to LED's to try them out for my business (Kitchener HID - - find us on Facebook)

Ah I see, fair enough.

Got a flat the other day, screw in the sidewall of my winter tire (driver rear). Since I think its too early to put all the summer rims back on, and I didn't want to use the Donut, I just put on one summer rim and tire. It looks lame but hopefully spring will show up soon and I can put all the other rims back on.

Salsa Guy · Post by **Salsa Guy** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 6:33 am

My daughter driving on ice in a school parking lot. 4WD FTW!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... AOzGJSZins" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

thebarber · Post by **thebarber** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 12:29 pm

adjusted my ebrake today and removed the trailer hitch (which is now for sale for $40 if anyone is interested...)

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 4:06 am

The vibe is officially retired! I bought a 2014 Subaru Impreza, 5spd manual. The AWD is amazing in the snow.

The old and the new:

I gave the Vibe back to my dad as a commuter car, since he'd been drivig his Sierra 3500HD and that beast doesn't exactly sip fuel. I know it's in good hands and he'll take good care of it, plus it was his car to begin with until I took it to school.

thebarber · Post by **thebarber** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 6:24 pm

at least its not a slushbox

and with the winters being so brutal where you are, awd will likely come in handy. whats the bolt pattern on those new imprezas?

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Fri Mar 14, 2014 5:22 pm

You said it, this winter has been awful! We got hit by another storm yesterday, hopefully the last of the year, but time will tell.. They're 5x100, I've already ordered some wheels for it. Keeping it 16" for now, mostly because the all-season 16's I got with it are brand new, but also for pot hole reasons. Road repair is a never-ending process. Will be putting Blizzaks or Nokians on the stock alloys next winter.

New wheels: Enkei M52 in Hyper Black

I also got the Weathertech floor mats for my car, and I love them. Aside from that, I've only really swapped LEDs into the trunk, dome and map lights so far.

Tint and a partial de-badge are in order when the weather warms up. I've also ordered the OEM fog light kit, except I bought Outback lamps instead of the OEM's. The Outback fogs take H11 bulbs, whereas the OEM Impreza fogs take PSX24W bulbs that aren't very bright, plus it's harder to find some good aftermarket replacements. Not to mention the Outback fogs are glass and metal housings, Impreza fogs are all plastic.

kaflex · Post by **kaflex** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 2:25 pm

Finally got my ventvisors and wind deflector for the sunroof installed. Also went to the car wash and had the seats shampooed

lannvouivre · Post by **lannvouivre** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 10:08 pm

So my front passenger's tire took another screw to the tread, making that two screws this year and four total in my front tires. That's the third time the RF tire has been patched, so Discount Tire will no longer be able to patch it. Interestingly, all the screws are Philips-head.

Also had my classmates put on new brake pads and hardware while I put on hub centric rings (Firestone broke all 4 while installing the winter tires/old stock wheels) and cleaned up the hubs.

KITT222 · Post by **KITT222** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 3:11 pm

Maybe mount a powerful magnet in front of your tire to catch the screws. They seem like a disproportionately large problem in your area.

cptnsolo77 · Post by **cptnsolo77** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 3:30 pm

Over the past 2 days I replaced the recirc motor & FINALLY installed my new stereo. I bought a Kenwood KDC-X597 back in December as a X-mas gift to myself & took some time to install today. Im very impressed & It really woke up the Polks & the bass sounds pretty darn tight for 6" speakers.Excellent highs without sounding too harsh. With the factory HU I had to turn down the treble cause it would just pierce my ears. It has a 3 level bass boost option & it sounds GREAT ! Now im really glad I took the time to deaden the doors. I can appreciate the better bass response it provides. Not ground shaking bass ( of course ) but im satisfied. Best setup I ever had in a car

lannvouivre · Post by **lannvouivre** » Tue Mar 25, 2014 8:28 pm

Finally flushed and refilled the cooling system on the Imba Impala, as well as replaced its thermostat and the EVAP canister purge line that I may have murdered in the dark. Oh, and installed the new cabin air filter, which is accessed via the engine bay because THAT MAKES SENSE!

I almost blew a gasket when I opened the door after reconnecting the battery and the bloody alarm went off. Took it for a spin and it didn't overheat. I could not open the radiator draincock and had to instead pull the lower hose off, cursing quite sincerely the whole time. I think I may need to open the air bleeder screw a little and make sure it doesn't have an air bubble in the upper hose, but I doubt it since we drove it for about half an hour tonight with no issue.

I seriously love my car so much more than the Impala. The Impala makes me want to cry blood when I can't get the radiator cap off with my bare hands.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Wed Mar 26, 2014 1:47 pm

This wasn't today, but several days ago I hurled obscenities at it.

NOT looking forward to this operation after the pain my Vibe caused me so many years ago. But hey, here's to better luck this time.

So far - as expected - the left bulb responds to "The Fonz" treatment. But I went ahead and ordered 4 bulbs. I'll replace both (and have extra in the event something falls into the abyss which is likely.) If not, I'll see if the bulb will fit the rear defrost switch which has been out for a number of years.

lannvouivre · Post by **lannvouivre** » Wed Mar 26, 2014 4:43 pm

ColonelPanic wrote:This wasn't today, but several days ago I hurled obscenities at it. NOT looking forward to this operation after the pain my Vibe caused me so many years ago. But hey, here's to better luck this time.

So far - as expected - the left bulb responds to "The Fonz" treatment. But I went ahead and ordered 4 bulbs. I'll replace both (and have extra in the event something falls into the abyss which is likely.) If not, I'll see if the bulb will fit the rear defrost switch which has been out for a number of years.

Make sure the words you use cause paint to slough off, otherwise it won't know you mean it.

The HOT PSI in the passenger's rear tire of the Impala was found to be 12.5, which is a little lower than the 40 PSI of the front tires.

cptnsolo77 · Post by **cptnsolo77** » Sat Mar 29, 2014 12:18 pm

Finally have a pic of my stereo install. It may not look like much compared to the double DIN touch screens etc, but I wanted a detachable face. Plus I get a small cubby with the extra space. Sounds fantastic.

tpollauf · Post by **tpollauf** » Mon Mar 31, 2014 6:02 am

Washed both Vibes VERY thoroughly

We finally had a decent weekend day to where I was able to turn the driveway into a wash/detail "pit stop". In fact, I washed all FIVE of our GM vehicles. One of our neighbors even wanted me to wash her car (never did it). Wanted to attempt to put some wax on a couple of them but they were so dirty that I never found the time. Man those vehicles look so darn good when they're clean

Oh, then I actually drove mine to the rink (playoffs are going on now) and the Vibe holds my hockey gear perfectly! It also finally turned over 18,000 miles. I'm SLOWLY catching up with the rest of you Vibers

Rayven01 · Post by **Rayven01** » Mon Mar 31, 2014 9:15 am

Saturday night I finally had a chance to try sleeping in the Vibe. Took my son to a Cub Scout camping trip and when we went to set up the tent the plastic cap the poles insert into just disintegrated. Luckily it was just him and I, and he's short being only 8 years old, so we rolled out the mats and sleeping bags in the back of the Vibe. He was on the driver's side and I put the passenger seat down as well and was able to stretch my 6'3" frame out with plenty of room to spare. We slept surprisingly well. Getting in and out was kind of awkward (through the back doors was easiest) but overall it was much better than any tent I've ever slept in. Considering it was 26F outside when we woke up, we were much warmer in the car than all the tent campers were, which was another bonus. I meant to take a picture but forgot. I wouldn't hesitate to do this again at a rest stop on any solo trip to save on motel fees.

When we got home on Sunday I performed a much needed wash, clay bar and wax. The clay bar really only removed a few stubborn flecks in a couple of small areas since I kept up with washes pretty well last year, so I think next year I'll just do a spot check with it as needed. The wax was long overdue. I should have done a full re-wax in the fall.

lannvouivre · Post by **lannvouivre** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 8:14 pm

Compression tests, dry and wet:
1 was 155 psi (dry); 195 (wet)
2 was 180; 200
3 was 180; 210
4 was 150; 190

lannvouivre · Post by **lannvouivre** » Thu Apr 03, 2014 12:44 pm

Got $15 worth of carpet padding and put it under the spare tire to help muffle the noise for the sake of passengers that feel the need to never ever hear the car actually run or rev. Seems to have helped a good deal, and I still have plenty to do the doors.

lannvouivre · Post by **lannvouivre** » Sun Apr 06, 2014 5:35 pm

Finished reworking the harness. Tomorrow, it begins.

thebarber · Post by **thebarber** » Mon Apr 07, 2014 6:05 pm

thought about washing the GT today...

...that's about as far as I got...

thebarber · Post by **thebarber** » Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:19 pm

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sat Apr 12, 2014 12:26 pm

Last Sunday I re-installed the summer wheels and tires on both Vibes.

This past Wednesday, all 8 calipers for Project PowerStop arrived, so since it was a beautiful day outside, I decided to immediately disassemble them so they're all set to go to the powder coater when the time comes.

EDIT

Forgot to mention that yesterday was the 5th anniversary of when I got my Vibe

!

kaflex · Post by **kaflex** » Sat Apr 12, 2014 1:29 pm

Front brake upgraded

also made an appointment for inspection and yet another recall...

Thanks to vibenvy for posting about their brake upgrade, without 'em I prob. wouldn't bother looking for drilled rotors, I paid under $130 shipped for the front set.

thebarber · Post by **thebarber** » Sat Apr 12, 2014 5:33 pm

tpollauf · Post by **tpollauf** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 5:31 am

OUCH !!!

I don't like the look of that picture Barber!

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 5:37 am

kaflex wrote:Front brake upgraded

also made an appointment for inspection and yet another recall...

Thanks to vibenvy for posting about their brake upgrade, without 'em I prob. wouldn't bother looking for drilled rotors, I paid under $130 shipped for the front set.

Looks great! Makes me even more excited to get all the brake goodies installed on our Vibes!

You're very welcome! Since I had never seen anything on here about any upgraded brake parts for the 2009-2010 Vibes, I knew I had to post all the info that I had worked so hard to uncover so others could have it at their disposal. That is one of the main points of GenVibe afterall

!

thebarber wrote:

What happened!?! Is everyone okay?

circuitsmith · Post by **circuitsmith** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 12:24 pm

Changed the chain tensioner o-ring. Wasn't dripping, but oily in the "neighborhood".
Didn't use any RTV sealant, so it will come off easy next time. $2.xx for the ring.

Flushed the power steering fluid with Dexron VI.
Siphoned the reservoir, disconnected the return line & put in jar, put a piece of hose on the upper res. nipple and pinched it shut with vice grips.
Lifted front wheels off ground with floor jack. Filled reservoir with new fluid.
Turn to the left, turn to the right, refill reservoir, repeat until I used 1/2qt.
Start engine for just a second to move old fluid out of pump, refill reservoir.
Left, right, refill until what came out was clean red.
Drain reservoir, re-attach return line, refill.
Start engine, turn left & right, stop engine, top off reservoir, done!
Didn't need a helper because I could stand outside the car & reach in to turn the wheel while watching the reservoir.

jake75 · Post by **jake75** » Mon Apr 14, 2014 2:47 pm

To the chagrin of all the car lovers on here, I had my 2009's semi-decade 5 year outside/inside (first ever) car detail done using a $79 Groupon. I don't shine my shoes very often either.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Sat Apr 19, 2014 7:09 am

Last week, had a caliper seize. Tried to pull the wheel to diagnose but I couldn't get one lug nut off -- snapped the freakin' stud.

Maybe it welded itself on, even though the car was driven for <5 mi at < 50 mph in this condition, that wheel sure got hot.

All others came off easily.

I didn't feel like tackling it myself so I let the shop up the street handle it. I have only put pads on the front/had my mechanical put shoes rear, no other brake maintenance ever has been done. So it got a couple calipers (passenger side as a precaution,) brake hose on the overheated side, rotors, pads, flushed the same brake fluid it left NUMMI with, new stud and generic lug nut.

Since they didn't have the fancy lug nut that has exterior threads for the wheel covers, I've been driving around for a week with the faux lug nut duct taped as to not bang itself around. Went to GM for a proper lug nut. Of course, not stocked. $10.56 after tax. Put that on today (after fearing that I might not be able to get that one off without snapping that stud since they really cranked them down.)

Last tank FE was 34.2, a little better than usual so if it's not a fluke the brakes must have been dragging for a while.

KITT222 · Post by **KITT222** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 8:53 am

My usual advice would be to just lose the hubcaps and paint the steelies. But the Vibe hubcaps actually look good, so I guess a new lugnut works.

New brakes! Powerstop drilled/slotted rotors and pads up front! They feel much better than what I had. Now I need some paint for the calipers, so it won't look so ugly.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 12:05 pm

Looks great Nick! Just one more thing to make me look forward to getting our new brake parts installed even more

!

thebarber · Post by **thebarber** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 12:23 pm

via con dios, vibe

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 12:33 pm

thebarber wrote:via con dios, vibe

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 3:32 pm

Yikes... You're here to tell about it, so the Vibe did its job.

Just be glad you weren't in the Matrix next to yours!

thebarber · Post by **thebarber** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 5:26 pm

ya, we had the whole family in the car

the matrix was hit by a semi truck...woman is in critical condition in a nearby city