Biske - 2010 AWD Vibe (Bingbing!)

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biske
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Aug 18, 2017 12:11 pm
Location: NW OR

Biske - 2010 AWD Vibe (Bingbing!)

Post by biske »

So named by my wife. The color reminded her of bing cherries and she recently saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for the first time. I'm a long way from making this one fly though! This car is meant to be our economical PNW adventure car; we found it with 113k miles and no evidence of accident history or heavy abuse.

When I got it, it had these notes from a mechanic:
  • Brake Fluid Moisture: 1%
  • A/C Temperature: 38 degrees Fahrenheit
  • Alternator Output: 13.9 Volts
  • Battery Cold Cranking Amps: 557 (93% charge)
  • Oil appears recently changed
  • Transmission flush needed ASAP
    Image
  • Radio knobs broken; will not turn on
  • Two out of the 12 defroster lines are not working in the rear window
  • Cabin air filter is disgusting
    Image
  • Tires at 5/32nds
  • Rear brake pads at 30% life
  • Dents/scratches underneath
    Image
  • Transfer case leaking (fluids and seals likely need replacing)
    Image
  • Rear differential axle seal leaking
    Image
  • Open airbag recall
  • Evidence of dog hair under the steering column and in door jams; no smell
What I've done so far:
  • Transmission flush
  • Air filter replaced
  • Tires/wheels replaced with 225/60/16 Continental's (the ride is significantly less harsh and we gained a little bit of extra ground clearance; the speedo was about a little off in one direction and now it's a little off in the other)
  • "Quick and dirty" replaced the radio with a Sony XAV-W651BT (not a fan of super glowy radios, we wanted something simple) Image (unfortunately it doesn't sit completely flush, and some stations still don't get ideal reception; there's also static so I need to double check the ground...)
On the radar:
  • Airbag recall. A local Chevy dealership ordered a part, it didn't work, so they're ordering again. My wife refuses to sit in the passenger seat until this is fixed.
  • TC and rear diff fluids/seals.
  • There's a groaning noise occasionally happening from what seems like the right rear that's hard to replicate. I've heard it when backing out of a parking spot, when turning into a drive-thru, when slowing around a bend on the interstate...
  • It handles well overall, but occasionally shifts hard into 3rd or 4th gear. I'm trying to pay more attention to when it happens; it might be nothing, but combined with the super dirty transmission fluid... hopefully I'm just being paranoid.
  • If idling too long in one spot, it will not "idle forward" as expected, it'll just sit there until I give it gas
  • Rear brake pad replacement
  • Determine oil
  • Determine what the next services needed are, and if there's anything specific to this car to watch out for
  • Get the windows tinted
  • Re-do the radio install right and proper. I ordered the Metra 70-2105 harness and ended up with two of them, so I'm thinking of cannibalizing one of them to see if I can pin the steering wheel controls and the dimmer. Tapping the accessory fuse was also annoying and I wonder if I can find the right pin for that too.
Car at present:
Image

So far, we've put shy of 1k miles on it traveling up and down the Oregon and Washington coast. We'll be taking it to the Olympic National Forest this weekend. If you ever see a Vibe like this with a tiny goat sticker in the passenger-side rear window, that's us!
Image

Any suggestions/recommendations are welcome: we want to take good care of the car and hopefully have it for a long time yet.

Do you guys use Toyota dealerships for maintenance? DIY? The mechanic tried to be very thorough, but is there anything else I should be doing/checking for?
KingKrab65
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed May 24, 2017 7:25 am
Location: Charlotte, NC

Re: Biske - 2010 AWD Vibe (Bingbing!)

Post by KingKrab65 »

Welcome and nice looking care.

I am new to the Vibe game also. They are fun cars. I try to do most of the garage stuff myself. They are somewhat easy to work on. I take my cars to a local mechanic if the fix is beyond my scope of abilities or facilities.

To answer your question, I would get both the seals replaced first. Not only to keep the mechanical's happy but also to keep anything else from getting in there. (My college roommate learned about dirt and CV's the hard way.) Others here on this great forum can probably give you better advice.

Enjoy your your car!
2003 Base Vibe
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MacGyver
Posts: 340
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2016 2:45 pm
Location: Ottawa (09 Base)

Re: Biske - 2010 AWD Vibe (Bingbing!)

Post by MacGyver »

Welcome to GenVibe!

The radio as you have installed it, is correct. Because the dash is curved, it has to sit like that in the dash. The Pioneer 7" touchscreen radios actually fit well because the controls are on a ledge at the bottom of the radio.

If you want something different, it would require a lot of custom fabrication. I haven't seen anyone else attempt this yet, although there was one guy on the facebook group who recently said he would take another dash bezel and attempt to modify it to fit a tablet.

Regardless of vehicle, any aftermarket radio requires a steering wheel interface module to get factory steering wheel controls to work. On my 09 base which I added steering wheel controls to, I used the PAC SWI-CP5.

The accessory wire is red (looks pink) and requires one of the pins in the Metra harness to be relocated. viewtopic.php?t=41754 The dimmer wire (+12V when parking lights are on) is the green wire.
2009 Vibe Base
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