I get to join the broken window club!

[ColonelPanic]

Yay! When you roll the window down to halfway, a rather violent SNAP! is heard. Sounds like you take something metal and slam it hard up against the glass. I think we all know what this problem is, golly gee, not like it hasn't happened to a zillion other people here! I'll see what the dealer says about it Monday, this better be covered under the extended warranty. I haven't been kicking the door around, or the wind hasn't blown it open beyond what it should have, blah blah blah. It was doing this last summer then quit, and suddenly it reappears and is worse than it ever has been to the point where I'm thinking the glass may shatter. At least I don't have to schedule another appointment, since I'll already be spending my day at the dealer on Monday as it is. I just can't get a break, this is really, really miserable...

[damronjr]

My DS window does it every time. It'll go sooner or later, but I know the dealer won't warranty it. I'm sure they'll tell me the RAAMmat I have in the door caused it.

[ColonelPanic]

Oh, what a feeling TOYOTA! So, they take the door panel off and find that the bolts that come loose did in fact back themselves out. They were tightened.I sat down in the car and rolled the window down. Halfway down, it went SNAP! and the window jerked, and now I have a nice tear in my tint. Yeah, they fixed it alright.Got the service advisor back out there, and the damn thing wouldn't do it again. So, I went on my "merry" way and I'll be damned if the stupid thing started getting in a bind again. Drove back to the dealer, got the service advisor out there. In the usual Sir Knocksalot fashion, the thing wouldn't do it. The door was open, so I had him sit down in the car and close the door, THEN by golly, it finally started snapping and popping. Scared the crap out of him. They have ordered a window regulator and told me not to use the stupid window... But I'm on my own for getting my tint replaced because the car didn't come with it so they said they won't do anything about it.I hate this car. Hate it, hate it, hate it.

[jimincalif]

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic » Scared the crap out of him. Hope they'll be ordering you a new seat too?

[ColonelPanic]

Yeah, that's on order. But man, it was a smelly ride home!

[ColonelPanic]

Well, well, well, how's about that eh?... Looks like a third trip back at the very least and another week's wait because of my schedule is required before I can use my damn window again. The new regulator didn't seem to help it any. So, I brought up the "new and improved" door check to them, which they have ordered. And now my tint has five nice gashes in it. It isn't ever going to end, is it?

[scherry2]

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic » But I'm on my own for getting my tint replaced because the car didn't come with it so they said they won't do anything about it.the window regulator caused the window to shift causing the tint damage. let the dealer know after you get the regulator replaced, that when you get the paperwork from GM to rate the dealership on their service you are going to enter poor for service and explain why. that will (removed) the dealer off. maybe they will try to make it right since it is their fault.

[Jahntassa]

Find a postal worker, pay them some money to get ticked at the dealership. Sit back and watch. Also, make sure they have your car at the time so THEIR insurance has to pay for the bulletholes and hopeful explosion when the postal worker 'accidentally' tosses a grenade into your backseat.

[Atomb]

Quote, originally posted by Jahntassa »... bulletholes...Quote, originally posted by Simpson's Car Dealer »Those aren't 'bulletholes'.....those are SPEEDholes.

[the1stacekiller]

I'm having the exact same problem.. as I lower the window there is a violent SNAP.. its pretty loud.. I also have a tint.. but no damage so far.. can this problem be fixed by my self?? if its just a screw or bolt that needs tightening can I do that myself??I really really don't want the dealer to rip me off then ruin my tint..I have power windows and this only happens on the left door.thanks

[ColonelPanic]

I don't see why you couldn't do this yourself. The bolts I was referring to earlier, I don't know where they are though. I tried a quick search but didn't find much, I'm about out the door so I couldn't investigate any further. But the bolts didn't fix mine, so if yours is as bad as mine is, you may or may not get lucky on this one. Now, if you end up needing the door check wich may be a very good possibility, here is the thread from Partsguy. I don't think that is beyond the ability of average folk like us to replace either... But the part is pretty expensive, may be best to have them replace it if you're still under warranty. I know how you feel about the tint though.

[the1stacekiller]

Thanks for the reply.. I found the how to (using search) on how the part is the cause of this problem.. I will cut (or try bending) that little piece this weekend ..

[ColonelPanic]

Good to hear it. Hope you can get it squared away!I just discovered tonight that the snapping is happening with the passenger's side window now constantly, previously was a hit or miss sort of thing so I didn't figure I could get them to do anything about it. But now, every time. So I'll be bringing that to their attention when I go in to get the driver's side window fixed. Who knows how many visits that side will require before it stops sucking. Maybe by winter, I'll have everything fixed so I can be able to roll my fricken windows down on this junker! A guy can dream.

[the1stacekiller]

Well today I fixed the problem! me & my Dad took the door panel off.. saw the problem (the blocker was hitting the window) and we grinded a little bit off.. 10 mins later everything was assembled and no more snapping! an easy fix that I would recommend that anyone can do with a basic grinder..just follow the how to in the General Forum on how to take off the door panel (actually alot easier than I expected)unfortunately I already have 2x small scratches on my tint I told my mom not to open the window but it was too late.. they are small and I can live with them..THIS IS AN EASY FIX TO A COMMON PROBLEM YOU CAN DO IT YOURSELF! until the replacement blocker is under $20 I would just grind off the offending piece..cheersMartin

[ColonelPanic]

Gee fricken whiz, this car has been in the shop more times for this damn window than many of your cars have been in the shop during the duration of your Vibe ownership! They replaced the door check, now the window works just fricken peachy when the door is closed. Considering the sensitivity to door position, I checked it from every bloody angle it swings open. Closed = ok, all the way open = ok, halfway open = ok.But just barely open it and roll the window down... SNAP!What the hell is it that is doing this crap? They've replace the door check and window regulator. WHAT ELSE IS THERE IN THAT STUPID DOOR TO REPLACE????? Do they have replace the entire door? Or what, is the GLASS flimsy and is BENT? Geez...The are replacing the door check for the passenger side and need more time to work on the driver's side.

[Mavrik]

unfortunatly techs are not designers. They can only fix whats there with whats replaceable. If yours has a design flaw... not much the guys can do.

[ColonelPanic]

Yeah, unfortunately. The techs aren't designers. I'll give you that. If they were, the cars would probably be more reliable since those guys are some of the few that would know what they can do better, since they see this stuff so often.But I can't buy the design flaw only for my car deal. There's nothing special about my car - it is built from the same engineering, parts, and labor as everyone else's. To me, if a design flaw with something is present in one car, it is going to be there in all of them which share the designs and components. Yeppers, just look at all the shatterin', poppin' and clickin' people have griped about over the years. That's the design flaw, it certainly isn't normal and is a safety hazard seeing how it can cause bodily injury. What did they do? They came up with new parts, procedures, or whatever to apply to vehicles which exhibit these concerns. And they work for everone else but me, apparently. I don't hear anyone else who got the "fix" complaining that they're afraid to roll the window down after having the "fix" done.So in short, I must say this is a broken component, not anything associated with a design issue that they're not going to be able to correct. It never did it until recently, so something has happened inside that door. I just don't understand what the problem could be, and I could care less anymore, I just want the stupid thing fixed. That's always been too much to ask for with this car though.

[ColonelPanic]

ARRGH!This piece of crap STILL isn't fixed! They put the door check in on the passenger's side and that seems to have resolved the clicking but the passenger's window now pops when it gets 1/4 of the way down. But at least it isn't anything significant.The driver's side window, they don't know what the hell is going on with it... They want me to bring it in AGAIN for the snapping when rolling the window down when the door is slightly open."We've never seen anything like it" they say. Yeah man, no *bleep* I give up.

[ColonelPanic]

Nope, no go man. I do qualify for the nonconformity part of it: Four unsuccessful repair attempts. But after 3.5 years and 74,000 miles, I'm far, far away from the 18 months/18,000 mile limit on lemon law claims. Lemon law has never been an option for me with this car, that has been frustrating! I didn't start having problems until until after 30,000, so even when the car was newer it couldn't have helped me any at all.Trading was, and continues to be my only option since they can't fix it.

[scherry2]

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »Trading was, and continues to be my only option since they can't fix it. I can get you the GM in the driveway discount still. if you go GM

[ColonelPanic]

I'm sure my dad would be pleased, I feel he's about to disown me if I put something non-GM in my driveway. But I cringe with the thought of dealing with these numbnutz again, that's for sure. So I'd definitely do myself a favor by finding a different GM dealer to conduct business with.How much off can I get with the certificate? Bottom line, I can't spend a penny more than $14,500 for the new car thanks to what this Vibe has done to me. That doesn't leave me with many choices.

[lmjcat]

Eventually your window will shatter out if you continue to put it up and down. We had this unfortunate (and frightening) experience with my wife's 2004 Vibe the day we purchased it. We took it back to the dealership and they replaced the window but had no explanation. No amount of printed testimony from this web site could convince them to do any further investigations into the cause without "GM red flagging the problem" so I took off the door panel and looked into it myself. To do this, remove the srcew (behind a small, square cover) by the door lock/handle, and another screw down in the recessed handle where you pull the door shut. Remove the small triangular speaker cover at the lower front corner of the window by pulling it straight towards you (assuming you have one). Then, carefully pull the panel out and up. It's held to the door by re-usable round white plastic rivets.There is a sheet of plastic that has to be pulled away so you can see into the door panel. The glass is glued into two clips on a metal rail. The clips either brake (POOR DESIGN) or the inferior glue does'nt hold the glass in place. I was able to manually pull the window out of the re-glued dealership "fix". When the window comes free from the retaining clip, it can jam within the door panel. Forcing it up or down (especially with electric windows) will cause it to jam and brake or scratch. I used GORILLA brand glue and it seems to be holding very good so far. I live in a region of the U.S. where we experience very high and low climate temps so I need to keep an eye on the bond.I checked the other doors and for some strange reason, their design better. Good luck and hope I have helped.

[03_Vibe]

Well today I fixed the problem! me & my Dad took the door panel off.. saw the problem (the blocker was hitting the window) and we grinded a little bit off.. 10 mins later everything was assembled and no more snapping! an easy fix that I would recommend that anyone can do with a basic grinder..just follow the how to in the General Forum on how to take off the door panel (actually alot easier than I expected)unfortunately I already have 2x small scratches on my tint I told my mom not to open the window but it was too late.. they are small and I can live with them..THIS IS AN EASY FIX TO A COMMON PROBLEM YOU CAN DO IT YOURSELF! until the replacement blocker is under $20 I would just grind off the offending piece..cheersMartinDoes anyone know where the Blocker is located or what it looks like. I am having the same problem and I think this will fix it but I just need to know what I should be looking for. Thanks in Advance!

[altimar]

This thread is really old. Pontiac has since issued a recall. Print this document and bring your car to a dealership for them to fix it, gratis.

[ColonelPanic]

Holy bump, Batman! My ol' Vibe has been someone else's problem since May 2006. I'd say they got the recall notice, I sure didn't. But they keep sending us warnings about Kari's car, however we're waiting until they've done tons of these before we allow them to tear into her perfectly functioning car... since mine gave me so many problems I really don't want to go through with this again.

[03_Vibe]

I took it in for the recall and the bolts are tight. I even took the regulator out but I still hear the window hitting a piece of metal about 2/3 of the way down. Another person said that they grinded down the window blocker but I don't know what to look for to grind it down. Does anyone know where the blocker is located or what it looks like? Thanks!

[galvanator]

Not sure what the "window blocker" is but they may be referring to the door check (which is the part located inside the door jam that keeps the door from opening too far). Try opening your door all the way (must be completely opened) and rolling the window up and down. If the window operates normally then the problem is most likely the door check because it only interferes when the door is closed or partially closed. I found some great pictures posted by another member (see below) that show exactly the same thing--which is also what happened in my girlfriends Vibe. I fixed it by cutting off the part of the door check that intereferes with the window and it works great. You will need to remove the door panel to remove the door check, but it's not that hard. I have also heard that the door check has been redesigned to eliminate the interference but when I checked with the dealer they were very expensive so I don't plan on replacing the ones in my girlfriends car unless I have a problem again.To see the photos posted by Nate66 click on the link or copy and paste into your web browser:http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=15971Oh, and by the way we took my girlfriends car to the dealer for the recall prior to my opening up the door panels to see the problem myself. They replaced the window regulator/clip screws per the recall but said that the interference problem was not related and that we need to replace both front window regulators and motors, plus the passenger side window and it would cost about $650!!! Needless to say, I will never go back to the dealer again!!!

[03_Vibe]

Great. I will try that this weekend. Thanks for the Response!

[galvanator]

Good luck! Let me know how it turns out.

[03_Vibe]

Galvanator you ROCK! That fixed the problem. Thank you so much!

[galvanator]

Good news, I'm glad it worked for you!

[Vibr8tr]

I remember having the issue of the noise on the drivers side window, and always being scared it would shatter. I took it in and they replaced everything while I was still under warranty.When I traded in my vibe, the only broken window was a crack in the windshield

[sideshowalan]

Wanted to add that this thread helped me out a lot this weekend.The passenger side window was binding on the way up and down. Took the panel off and found my regulator and motor were in good condition.There is a plastic clip on the window that bolts to the regulator, this came unglued from the window on one side. Had to take the window out of the door and reglue the clip with Gorilla glue as recommened by a previous poster. I thought I messed it up when I put it back in because it was still binding, but the glass just wasn't seated in the rubber gasket correctly. Once I put the window in correctly and bolted up the newly glued clip, everything worked perfectly.Thanks Genvibe.