Check engine light and rough idle 2009 Vibe base 1.8

Discuss any maintenance you've done to your Vibe & Matrix and ask how to perform maintenance on your vehicle
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finebead
Posts: 34
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:26 am
Location: Houston, TX

Check engine light and rough idle 2009 Vibe base 1.8

Post by finebead »

The VSC off light was on, as well as Traction Control System light was on. My son was home, and he worked in a Firestone full service shop the last 2 years, on the counter, not a mechanic (although he does a lot of work on his cars). 2009 has 80,000 miles, asked if I had changed the spark plugs, said no. He said 80% chance its the coil on top of a spark plug, 20% chance its the spark plugs, but a cyl is not firing right.

Since the plugs should be changed anyway, we did that, no improvement. I went with some Denso iridium with 1 electrode, $8 a plug.

Then we went and got 1 coil ($80) and tried replacing the coils one at a time. On the second one the engine quit missing. He got the check engine light to go off after playing with the battery cables a little, and it never came back on.

The idle was low. He said drive it around for a while and it should relearn its setting, and it did that after about 20 minutes of stop and go driving.

I am back in business, totally happy.

Wife drives 14 miles each way to work, little go and a lot of stop at lights along Clay Rd. in west Houston. Son said the plugs could be like they had 120K miles on them, not just 80K, since the engine is idling even though not putting miles on the odometer.

I did some searches for check engine light, and while there are a lot of topics on it, I did not see my symptoms or fix like this, so I thought it would be good to put up a post.

I'm at nine years, original owner, second vibe, and the car body is still perfect, sleeps in a garage. I plan to keep it another 4 years, for just putting to work, it seems ideal. Plus when we need to move a few boxes, or small to medium piece of furniture, it fills the bill for a small pickup truck that I don't have (and really don't want).

I enjoy this forum, you guys have helped me out, and I hope this helps someone else out.
Caretaker

Re: Check engine light and rough idle 2009 Vibe base 1.8

Post by Caretaker »

I had those lights on and flashing the day after I had my throttle body cleaned via the "drip method." You know the one that takes over an hour and if done incorrectly results with a large plume of white smoke out the tailpipe as it blows out any carbon dissolved? My lights came on the next day; freaked me out. I took it back and the technician deleted the codes and the lights never came back on. I was going to ask whether one of your family members had secretly performed that cleaning without your knowledge but it looks like you found the solution. When I recently put in new Denso ignition coils to see if I could eliminate the low idle rumble at stop signs, I noticed a more responsive pickup when merging on to highways. It did not fully solve my low idle rumble and I'm convinced short of replacing the entire throttle body, nothing will ever solve it. I've cleaned every other vital part where carbon could hide.
While I have everyone on the phone: I have looked at pictures of a 2015 model year Corolla throttle body versus the 2009 Corolla on the carparts.com website. I'm not seeing any difference. I thought I would get a junk yard one from a 2015 with a lot less mileage if that is the case. Is there anyone on this board who has the means to find out whether the 2ZR engine of today's Corolla has the same exact throttle body model/design as the one in our 09/10 Vibes?
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vibrologist
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Joined: Sat May 10, 2014 8:24 am
Location: Iowa

Re: Check engine light and rough idle 2009 Vibe base 1.8

Post by vibrologist »

Is there anyone on this board who has the means to find out whether the 2ZR engine of today's Corolla has the same exact throttle body model/design as the one in our 09/10 Vibes?
Don't know, but: compare the order numbers for both on a auto parts website. If the parts numbers match than the TB's are the same.
Vibrologist
'05 Vibe

"It is important to know the difference between 'accurate' and 'precise' even if you are neither!"

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10vibe
Posts: 229
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2010 10:52 pm

Re: Check engine light and rough idle 2009 Vibe base 1.8

Post by 10vibe »

Wonder if they did a redesign of throttle body because of the brake booster vacuum line recall:

viewtopic.php?t=31308
2010 Vibe 1.8 auto, fwd, base, air, preferred package, cargo mgt, cargo cover, ultra white.
Caretaker

Re: Check engine light and rough idle 2009 Vibe base 1.8

Post by Caretaker »

I'm not sure the part number lookup on any old website will do it. I recently ordered new floor mats for my Hyundai Elantra Touring (HET). Half of the sites had the OEM mats with the original number. The other half had the mats under a "new" Hyundai part number. I even had someone send me the entirely wrong mats even though they were tagged with the correct/exact OEM part number. I'm guessing that over time, part numbers (stupidly) get reallocated, especially for models that are now defunct (like my HET or the Vibe). I'll try doing some searches on a 2009 and 2015 Corolla to see if there are any matches.

EDIT: OK, checking the Conicelli Toyota website, here is what I got:

'09 Corolla or Matrix: part # 22030-0T040
'15 Corolla or '13 Matrix: part # 22030-0T080 (replaces 22030-37050)

Forgetting the "replaces" number for the moment, why would the '13 Matrix number change to xxx80 from xxx40??? The part number should not have changed on a vehicle that was the same throughout its production run. These are the kinds of numbers that you have to deal with that just don't make any sense.

I'm not smart enough to know if the brake booster line is tied into the throttle body. Assuming it is, I would guess that just because they moved a port, the same hoses in my car must plug into the ports whether it was redesigned or not, correct? It isn't like they put an extra port on the TB to satisfy the cold climate breaking issue...?....?...
10vibe
Posts: 229
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2010 10:52 pm

Re: Check engine light and rough idle 2009 Vibe base 1.8

Post by 10vibe »

Caretaker wrote: I'm not smart enough to know if the brake booster line is tied into the throttle body. Assuming it is, I would guess that just because they moved a port, the same hoses in my car must plug into the ports whether it was redesigned or not, correct? It isn't like they put an extra port on the TB to satisfy the cold climate breaking issue...?....?...
Should not be an issue. Just maybe slightly different routing of vacuum line. They might of redesigned and deleted the spacer plate. Could be the difference in part numbers.
2010 Vibe 1.8 auto, fwd, base, air, preferred package, cargo mgt, cargo cover, ultra white.
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vibrologist
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Location: Iowa

Re: Check engine light and rough idle 2009 Vibe base 1.8

Post by vibrologist »

Good point , Caretaker!
Vibrologist
'05 Vibe

"It is important to know the difference between 'accurate' and 'precise' even if you are neither!"

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=43476
finebead
Posts: 34
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:26 am
Location: Houston, TX

Re: Check engine light and rough idle 2009 Vibe base 1.8

Post by finebead »

Caretaker wrote:When I recently put in new Denso ignition coils to see if I could eliminate the low idle rumble at stop signs, I noticed a more responsive pickup when merging on to highways. It did not fully solve my low idle rumble and I'm convinced short of replacing the entire throttle body, nothing will ever solve it. I've cleaned every other vital part where carbon could hide.
Followup after a month. The pickup from stop lights is MUCH BETTER with the new plugs and the one new coil. Before, the idle was a little suspect, sometimes it would dip low, then recover to normal about 700 or 800 RPM. The idle is much better, we no longer see the dip to 500 RPM and a feeling the motor might die. The clean acceleration from stop lights is so much fun to feel, I want to drive wife's car more!
finebead
Posts: 34
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:26 am
Location: Houston, TX

Re: Check engine light and rough idle 2009 Vibe base 1.8

Post by finebead »

Follow up after 6 months. Check engine light came on again, rough idle, pulled the code (P0303) and it was cylinder 3 this time (the last number is the number of the bad cylinder), cylinder 2 last time. Got a new coil ($80 at Advance Auto, Borg Warner part), installed, problem corrected. Son said, well you just as soon internet order 2 more as they will likely go out (85,000 miles on it, but it idles a lot, more like 110,000 on the engine). I got 2 Delphi coils (made in China) for $31 each, arrived in 5 days via USPS. Popped them in, easy deal. I had to use pliers on the tab to pull the little wiring connection off the back of the coil, but no biggie, just go easy.

The idle is very smooth, as is acceleration.

I had this other weird issue on starting, it sounded like a whirring or fluttering sound in the motor. After I replaced the last 2 coils and all are new, the fluttering sound on starting went away. I'm guessing this was some sort of timing issue with a cylinder not firing correctly. Posted just in case anyone else encounters this.

P0303 HONDA - Cylinder 3 Misfire Detected
Possible causes
Valve adjustment
Faulty spark plug 3
Clogged or faulty fuel injector 3
Faulty ignition coil 3
Fuel injector 3
harness is open or shorted
Fuel injector 3
circuit poor electrical connection
Ignition coil 3 harness is open or shorted
Ignition coil 3 circuit poor electrical connection
Insufficient cylinder 3 compression
Incorrect fuel pressure
Intake air leak

Read more: https://www.autocodes.com/p0303_honda.html

I also bought an inexpensive code reader ($20) and will look up the codes on the internet. Seems like a good idea with a 10 year old car. It can also reset the check engine light.
Caretaker

Re: Check engine light and rough idle 2009 Vibe base 1.8

Post by Caretaker »

I hate to ruin your turkey dinner, but you probably wasted your money on getting the Delphi ignition coils, and whatever brand the other one was. Many believe, as does my mechanic, that Toyota and Honda engines are finicky about not getting what they want, and that is Denso and/or Hitachi plugs and ignition coils. Moreover, I'm not surprised that you wrote back that your idle issues had returned. Expect them to do so again. I've cleaned and replaced everything under the hood except for the throttle body itself. While my idle is much better and acceleration is better than when it came out of the dealer's lot, my car still will "low idle rumble" when it is fully warm and I do lots of short stop and go driving (think lots of stop signs in a shopping center). My car has run the best since repairing the timing cover gasket leak. However, even though the low idle went away for a month, it slowly came back. A lot of this has to do with the computer learn procedure. The computer has a mind of its own in an attempt to make the car run as lean and fuel efficient as possible. Although it continues to be intermittent and happens 10% of the time, I don't think my car will ever fully stop doing the "stop sign rumble". For now, I have to live with a car which is running great at 110,000 miles, and which often feels like an electric car as it sits silent and still at most stop lights.
finebead
Posts: 34
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:26 am
Location: Houston, TX

Re: Check engine light and rough idle 2009 Vibe base 1.8

Post by finebead »

Coming up on 2 years since I replaced the first coil on top of the spark plug, and 1 year since I replaced the last 2, and I am still happy with this repair. The idle is the best it has ever been, and the check engine light has never come back on. When a stop light turns green, acceleration is quick and smooth and while this is my wife's car, I enjoy driving it whenever I do. This made a big difference.
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