GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

ColonelPanic

+1 on tires. Getting more sidewall may be worth looking into. We've had folks here downsize to 15" for this reason.

For shocks/struts, the general consensus over the years seems that the KYBs ride stiffer and Monroe softer.

ColonelPanic

The ProClip mount has been discussed here a number of times over the years.

https://www.proclipusa.com/collections/ ... -vibe-2003

ColonelPanic

I have no relevant experience to provide, but in a case like that I'd be tempted to switch it to a diet of Valvoline Restore & Protect. Seems to be some sort of magical elixir that will cure all that ails 'em.

ColonelPanic

2003 and 2004 Vibe/Matrix had the same GM radios and bezels. 2005-2008 the radios are not interchangeable, nor are the bezels.. The 2005-2008 Matrix has a Toyota radio and the bezel was redesigned to accommodate the size of that radio and provide a separate digital clock. Stick with 2003-2008 Vibe i...

ColonelPanic

All I've got is to run it through the wayback machine.
https://web.archive.org/web/20190601000 ... /techlink/

TSB's, recall documentation and such can be found at nhtsa.gov. Search for year/make/model and go to Manufacturer Communications.

ColonelPanic

Even if the wheel fits, your current air bag won't. I personally wouldn't risk injury by installing an air bag not meant for the vehicle it's installed in, lots of vehicle-specific engineering goes into these things.

I use an IR remote like it's 1995.

ColonelPanic

It's been a while but I don't recall it being too difficult. That said, you are correct that the plastic is fragile. The tabs on the switches are 3000% stiffer than the thin plastic on the bezel they snap into. Can be a bit of a pain to push in to release. bezel.jpg Just be careful and avoid excessi...

ColonelPanic

$4.069 for premium (93 octane) for the last 2 weeks now, clearly someone is delivering on their many promises.

ColonelPanic

Carquest is still a thing? Haven't seen one in 20 years.

ColonelPanic

You'll never get a consistently smooth idle out of the 1ZZ-FE, they idled like crap even when they were new. NVH has never been its strong suit. +1 on andrewclaus' suggestions. I'd also add a caution to not cheap out on engine mounts if you are replacing them. Find OEM if you can, otherwise there's ...

ColonelPanic

I've done this job three times now. Don't sweat it, we all have to sacrifice one or twelve to the Vibe socket monster that lurks in these cars. Also beware that it enjoys a light snack in the form of HVAC control bulbs as you replace them. First time, I lost the socket and after a thorough search, I...

ColonelPanic

Excellent work on the how-to! 8-) I did this a couple years ago using four new TRQ's. I like that they had the different ones for left vs right for the front so there was no need to modify. Some of them squeak, some pop right before the door is fully open. But they stop the doors unlike the worn out...

ColonelPanic

I haven't used it but Valvoline still has a Dexron III product: https://www.valvolineglobal.com/en/dex-merc-atf/ O'Reilly/Auto Zone/Advance all appear to carry some sort of Dex/Merc fluid. I have Valvoline Maxlife ATF in there at the moment, mainly for convenience since I'm running that in the trans...

ColonelPanic

Does anyone have a number for the recall discussed upthread? You can find recall documents on nhtsa.gov. 08V162000 is the NHTSA campaign ID. Also, go here and input your VIN: https://experience.gm.com/ownercenter/recalls GM made some nice upgrades to their recall site compared to the last time I wa...

ColonelPanic

The cruise part is the easiest. Your 2003 has a cable throttle, so the cruise control setup is much more involved than the 2005+ cars with the drive-by-wire throttle body. Leave the 2003 alone and just go buy a switch for your 2006. It should everything there to make cruise work (unless it's a manua...

ColonelPanic

I haven't seen an '05 cluster in person but it sounds like it could be the headlamps on indicator.

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ColonelPanic

Some slippage with starts in wet pavement. Tread appears fine. That's actually the only complaint I have about the Cooper Evolution Tours. I've had two sets - some 195/65R15 on my last car and the 205/55R16 on the Vibe. Wet weather traction wasn't the best on either, particularly when accelerating ...

ColonelPanic

What does the admission fee go to?

We had some awesome Vibe meets in the 00's and all were free. Of course these were at Pontiac dealers who were kind enough to host us.

ColonelPanic

We had to go, considering it was just a short half hour drive for totality. At this location, it will be from 15:06:55 to 15:08:35. Of course the Vibe gets volunteered for eclipse duty. She may be old, ugly and cranky but there's still nobody better to spend a day like today with. :D 20240408_104826...

ColonelPanic

LOL that's perfect.

Also, "past me" is embarrassing.

ColonelPanic

I may be interesested in that, joatmon! Marcie Vibe's cluster has something going on where the temperature gauge bounces up and down off the stop violently at key off. Makes a fair amount of noise depending on how high the gauge was reading. Think one of those springy doorstops. :D (Well, I thought ...

ColonelPanic

Yep, looks like that is the breather hose that connects to the PCV valve. Don't quote me on it, but it looks like maybe this is it? (#12261 in the diagram) https://autoparts.toyota.com/products/product/hose-ventilation-122610h120#popup-1 I had to replace this hose on the '03 when it split on the PCV...

ColonelPanic

Thought all the Vibes had dome light supervision? That looks like the sunroof switch/map lamp assembly. Strange as it may be, while the dome lights would time out after a while, the map light didn't have those kind of smarts. It'll stay on until the battery is dead or the bulb burns out, whichever ...

ColonelPanic

Vibe GTs with the Yamaha head were produced from 2003-2006. Just correcting a small discrepancy that tpollauf stated in the previous post. :geek: IIRC, the earlier GT's was generally regarded as the most desirable as the 2ZZ was detuned toward the end. Was there no 2ZZ Vibe's in 2007-2008? Nope, GT...

ColonelPanic

You might check the weatherstrip for the window on the edge of the door panel. Sometimes for me it's worked its way loose and gets in the way when trying to hang the door panel back on.

ColonelPanic

The boots on our '03 disintegrated like that. Certainly not ideal as being exposed to the elements like that will hasten the demise of the strut.
I replaced the front struts with KYB Strut Plus that came with new everything, including the boots. It was well worth the effort.

ColonelPanic

A failing engine pump isn't something you want to ignore. It could very well end up taking out the turbo encabulator, then you'll really be screwed.

And oil burning "rarely fatal for the engine?" Maybe so, but the catalytic converter might not be so lucky.

ColonelPanic

Good point about the link. I removed it since it was only accessible for last weekend when they were streaming. The Vibe did make a brief appearance in part 1 of season 21 but not a full road test. Hopefully next time. I've seen their Vibe review many times, but it'll be nice to be able to relive it...

ColonelPanic

Motorweek is running another Retro Review marathon this weekend. First up is season 21 from 2001/2002. Something special made an appearance during their segment on the Tokyo Motor Show... Screenshot_20221124-1.jpg Screenshot_20221124-2.jpg It's always fun to revisit how Toyota clearly knew which of ...

ColonelPanic

Chrome door handles. That would be a Muletrix.

ColonelPanic

Yeah, not quite OEM there.

Here's what yours is missing.

The front side bolts into the radiator support (10 mm head) and at the rear there's a threaded rod (10mm nut) that hooks into a hole in the left transmission mount.

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Hope that helps!

ColonelPanic

Here is a thread where we discussed it on the 1st gen. If anything, it'd give you an idea what the washer looks like at least.

ColonelPanic

That's the same situation with the 1ZZ-FE belt tensioner. In order to get the bolt to clear the frame, the right side engine mount is unbolted from the body and the engine carefully lifted using a jack (and a piece of wood between the jack and oil pan.) Not sure if that would be the same procedure h...

ColonelPanic

I swear I know more people that have it now or had it recently than I did during the height of the pandemic.

ColonelPanic

Bending the rules here, I know - my excuse is that Vibe was there in spirit. This Stealth was too beautiful of a specimen to not share. stealth.jpg It's been a long time since I've seen paint like this on a first gen. And look at those crystal clear headlights. This ol' gal looks to have lived the b...

ColonelPanic

We haven't really seen a lot of spark plug removal drama over the years, best that I can recall. I changed the original plugs after 12 years and they didn't put up much of a fight. That said, plenty of unsettling creaks were heard while backing the plugs out. I put a tiny amount of anti-sieze on the...

ColonelPanic

Anything below the 299,999 mark where the odometer stops working.

At this point, there probably isn't a whole lot of difference between a 150k and a 200k Vibe. How well (or not) the car was treated over the years would be more of a concern than mileage for me.

ColonelPanic

If you leave it and do nothing, it will only get worse. Can confirm. :lol: lol_paint.jpg This all started with a small area of peeling clearcoat on the center of the hood on the cowl side circa 2015. The failed area kept expanding and the base coat began cracking and flaking off. You have a small e...

ColonelPanic

I usually managed to get by with the battery in place but it's so much easier when it is removed. When disconnecting the battery on these dinosaurs, worst case is the engine will idle like crap for a while until the various parameters are relearned. And if you have an aftermarket stereo, your mileag...

ColonelPanic

I learned about his passing from a Motorweek post. Having watched Motorweek since the mid 80's, it was tough news to process. There's a great story about him here. Well worth a read. BTW there is a retro review for 1997-1998 going on right now on Youtube ( link for that. ) Plenty of good Goss' Garag...

ColonelPanic

tpollauf wrote: ↑Fri Apr 01, 2022 4:44 pm
joatmon wrote: ↑Fri Apr 01, 2022 2:36 am It was twenty years ago today ...
Nice !!! Love the modified album cover Now that's a classic

Holy crap, that flew right under my radar. How did I miss that?

Nice work, joatmon!

ColonelPanic

Happy 20th, GenVibe!

ColonelPanic

A few things. :lol: Replaced the cabin air filter and the blower vibrating the dash badly thereafter. Great! I pulled the blower motor and found one tiny leaf in the squirrel cage. Disaster averted. Changed the oil and rotated the tires. QS high mileage synthetic blend 5W-30 and a Fram orange can th...

ColonelPanic

$5.06 for 93 today. Might not be too bad, however...

As I looked back through my records, the previous high for 93 was $4.37 in 6/2014. For 87, that was $4.27 in 6/2008. That would be $5.54 and $5.19 in today's money, respectively.

ColonelPanic

They've actually done this for a very long time. Washer/dryers & other similar appliances. Ah, yes - "Big Washer." :D 2 years old and "that'll cost more to fix than it's worth." Didn't feel like repeating that cycle so Speed Queen it was. 12 years later it's obvious those ma...

ColonelPanic

And of course, you probably know what's included.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H69jd12q_0U

Ed's channel is great, I love his take on things.

ColonelPanic

Bookworm wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 8:12 pm There's an engineer at Toyota that needs a kicking.

Front bleeder screw - 8mm.
Rear bleeder screw - 10mm (1cm for those who like to simplify)

Yes, that was a surprise the first time I bled brakes. Since then, I have purchased one brake bleeder wrench that can handle both sizes.

ColonelPanic

The Vibe's A/C was weak enough when the cars were new and had everything working properly. Lose the ability to recirculate the air and the A/C is really going to struggle. As much of a pain it is to replace the actuator, personally it's not something I would put off. Once you get the actuator out, w...

ColonelPanic

It's been interesting watching the news alerts change over the years.

Also interesting to see Vibe news stories from abroad where the cars were never sold. Presumably where our dead Vibes somehow go on to live and die another life.

ColonelPanic

I got my booster the day before Thanksgiving. I found it impressive how I developed a headache ahead of my appointment and it stuck with me for days. I suspect my body phoned home a few hours before the injection and received the instructions to trigger the headache. Pretty neat how this 5G stuff wo...

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