Another 5 Speed tranny problem

[bjman71]

I'm the owner of an 03 vibe with the 5 speed manual transmission. Just recently it started to make a noise, so I took it to get the tranny checked out. I won't know the full damage until next week, but it sounds like a bad bearing. I bought this over a Chevy Malibu for two reasons; 1. It's a lot more fun to drive and (more importantly) 2. I thought, being that this is a rebaged Toyota, it would be reliable. I guess I should have gone with the Malibu. Ben

[Mavrik]

I'd still say your better off with the Vibe then the Malibu. But several members on here and others I am sure have had 03 vibe tranny bearing issues. I worked for a GM dealership when the Vibe first came out and during that time I recall us replacing at least 2. Both Vibes were over 30km on the odometre. I'm at about 37 almost 38 on my 04 5spd vibe... I'm waiting for some noises...

[silver_vibe]

Quote, originally posted by bjman71 »I'm the owner of an 03 vibe with the 5 speed manual transmission. Just recently it started to make a noise, so I took it to get the tranny checked out. I won't know the full damage until next week, but it sounds like a bad bearing. I bought this over a Chevy Malibu for two reasons; 1. It's a lot more fun to drive and (more importantly) 2. I thought, being that this is a rebaged Toyota, it would be reliable. I guess I should have gone with the Malibu. BenI agree, except I wish I had got the Matrix with the longer power train warranty...my bad bearing would have been covered.

[Zeppo]

I guess I have just joined the club of 5 spd manual Vibes with a problem. I have a '03 Vibe which we bought in May '02. It has just over 115,000 km on it. At this point there is no warranty left on the car and I am looking at $1,500 to $2,000 bill for the repair.The symptom is a whining noise similar to the gear noise of an old truck. The noise is there in all gears if you listen closely its just harder to pick up because of engine noise in the lower gears. It is there whether accelerating or engine breaking.Reading some of the other entries on this subject I am hearing that it is a bearing problem. Has anyone got details on which one is failing?Has anyone had any luck with the dealer with a special policy (ie hidden warranty) on these trannies.Is this problem only prevalent in the early build cars. I am wondering because I see entries from a '04 car.Up till now I was very happy with our car but after this problem and a failed catalytic converter (replaced under 130,000 warranty specific to the cat) I am very concerned.

[bjman71]

I'll let you know which bearing it is when I pick mine up from the shop on Thursday. Its going to be a little over $1100. I only had 44,000 miles on it! Hopefully the rebuild will last.

[Rico Rose]

Had a 03 5speed with the tranny problems you are all describing. Turns out it was the main shaft bearing and going to cost $1500-$2000 to repair. Mine was also out of warranty and the dealer said there was not a noted problem with the tranny ( I guess he doesn't check out this site). So instead of fixing the problem and having to worry about it happening again down the road I traded my Vibe in. I looked at GM products including the Vibe and HHR, I get a GM employee discount, but could not come to terms with any dealers. So I bought a PT Cruiser instead. They were giving me $5000 for my Vibe (vs $3500 from the best deal / GM), and with rebates I saved alot of money. Had the Cruiser for a month and traded my wife's Saturn on another Cruiser. We love them. Also all you Vibe owners complaining about the lack of after-market add-ons should google PT Cruiser parts and see what you come up with. This car has become my canvas to customize any way I want to personalize it... So so long Vibe I'll be Cruisin from now on...

[NewNeptune]

Quote, originally posted by bjman71 »I'm the owner of an 03 vibe with the 5 speed manual transmission. Just recently it started to make a noise, so I took it to get the tranny checked out. I won't know the full damage until next week, but it sounds like a bad bearing. I bought this over a Chevy Malibu for two reasons; 1. It's a lot more fun to drive and (more importantly) 2. I thought, being that this is a rebaged Toyota, it would be reliable. I guess I should have gone with the Malibu. BenNoooooo, run far, far away from the Malibu. I had two and they both had transmission issues. The '04 I had started slipping towards when I traded it in. Drove around with a coworker in an 06 and it was going down that beginning path. It always starts out with the tranny hesistating on changing gears, like it's thinking about it.

[Zeppo]

I just got my car back from the transmission shop. The counter shaft bearing had failed. The inner race of this deep groove ball bearing was spalled about 210 degrees around. It showed signs of being exposed to thrust load.There was no evidence of damage to any of the balls or the outer race.I found this to be very unusual because the inner race would have been pressed onto the countershaft and would have rotated with the shaft. Normally it would be worn evenly all the way around because the load would be distributed around its circumference.I am thinking that the inner race had a material defect or maybe a bad heat treatment.I will post pictures of the gear assembly and location of the offending bearing in separate postsHere's a

[KNINE]

Did the manufacturer ever get this bearing problem fixed on the newer cars, or do I have this to look foreward to on my '06 5-speed? I wasn't sure if this was an older model problem, or if nobody with the newer cars had enough miles yet to encounter this.

[badvibes2003]

I own a Vibe 2003 manual transmisson. For about 6 months I had a rattle coming from under the car. My mechanic couldn't figure out what it was. They thought perhaps a bolt had come loose somewhere inside the exhaust system. It didn't get worse until it broke down on the highway this past week. My mechanic told me the differential was all in pieces. I had to replace the transmission as well as the clutch at a cost of $3100. The rattle is gone now, so I figure it was something in the differential. It only has 51,000 miles on it. I didn't take out an extended warranty because it's a Toyota. I thought it would be reliable. Go figure. I'm going to be writing to Pontiac about it. Now, a couple of days after I got it back, the check engine light is on. Another problem?I'm thinking about trading it in for another Honda Civic even though I still owe $5000 on my loan. My son's driving my old Civic with 182,000 miles on it with the original transmission and clutch and only minor problems. I am one bummed out Vibe owner.

[silver_vibe]

Quote, originally posted by badvibes2003 »...Now, a couple of days after I got it back, the check engine light is on. Another problem?...No way! My CEL came on couple of days after I got my tranny fixed too...have you found out what it is? The tranny shop looked at it and claimed it was the O2 sensor, but I'm not so sure. I've reset it twice and it turns back on after about 400-500 miles.I am also considering dumping the Vibe for a Civic.

[Zeppo]

Did you get the DTC that was causing the check engine light to come on. If it was P0420, as it was in mine, the problem is likely with the catalytic convertor. The dealer might tell you that it is the #2 Oxygen sensor (non warranty work) but I would push him to look closely at the voltages of the sensor and compare it to the #1 sensor before the cat.At about 110,000 km my Malfunction Indicator lamp (MIL) I put my scantool on it and it was clear that the oxygen sensor after the cat was mimicing the one ahead of the cat. Basically the cat was not doing its job.I have posted this elsewhere in this forum.Mine was replaced under warranty because the cat has a 130,000 warranty specific to it.