Soon to own Vibe #2...

[98se5speed]

Been a while since I posted anything on here (not that I ever posted much), mostly because we haven't owned a Vibe in over a year. But it looks like that is about to change this weekend. Back story, our 03 Vibe was totaled last year. We ended up replacing it with a Subaru Forester. Not because we didn't want another Vibe, but we just couldn't find one in the price range we wanted. We had paid $4600 for our 03 Vibe in early 09, which was an absolute steal at the time. 2 years later, prices were still really high. So we scored an 03 Forester for $4600. It needed a little work, but has been a great car. A tad on the thirsty side, but boy is it great when it snows. Of course, this year has had record-low snowfall in Chicago. Go figure. I've been driving a 94 Accord wagon, and our trusty/rusty old 95 Nissan Quest minivan. But I've always said "if the right Vibe shows up, I'll sell both of these cars." Well, earlier this week I found this on craigslist: 03 Vibe, 81k (or 126k, depending on if it was rolled back or had a previous title error), blown engine. Something went wrong in the cooling system (blown hose, who knows) and the owner drove it until it stopped. Otherwise in great shape inside and out. Black isn't my favorite Vibe color (I loved our silver/grey model) but the wife thinks black looks best. Main favorites, it has the alloy wheels and sunroof. Our silver one had neither. So for $2000, I'm picking it up Sunday. I'm not even going to bother trying to rebuild the engine, I imagine it's totally cooked. I actually found someone selling a 1ZZ-FED engine out of a 2000 MR2 for a good price, I'm likely going to pick that up next week after I get the car. Hopefully no surprises in that swap, the seller tells me I'll just have to swap the intake and exhaust. Hopefully neither of those were damaged when the original engine was overheated. Well that's it for now. More details after I get the car home. Here's a few more pics...

[vibenvy]

Welcome back! Sorry to hear about your first Vibe getting totaled, but congratulations on the "new" one ! Good luck with the engine swap.

[tpollauf]

Welcome back Looks clean on the outside and glad to see you are motivated to repair this Vibe and give it new life Post lots of pics and let us know how the progress went

[star_deceiver]

Looks to be in decent shape! Good luck with the swap!

[98se5speed]

Thanks for the words of encouragement! Hopefully all goes smooth picking it up tomorrow. It's about an hour from my house, so I'm showing up with a tow dolly, having seen only 12 pics or so. Seems like a winner though.

[journeyforce]

Congrats on your replacement Vibe. I would not think the intake and the exhaust manifolds would be damaged at all. It is a 4 cyl engine so the intake is outside the engine and no coolant should be running through it like a 6 or 6 cyl engine. Unless the engine caught fire or blew up in pieces the intake should be good to go. The exhaust would be the same way, Just be sure you get a new gaskets for the intake and exhaust.Oh be very prepared to replace some or all the exhaust mounting studs, the hot and cold cycle of engine would have fused the bolts. Spray with generous amounts of PB blaster or some other penetrating oil and let it sit for a day or so and slowly unbolt the boltsGood luck

[98se5speed]

No fire or "blow up", at least none the seller ever noticed. I imagine all external items should be usable. I am dying to see this thing in person. Soon enough.

[djkeev]

Congrats on the purchase!!During the swap... do NOT reuse any heater, radiator or other coolant hoses from either the old engine or the replacement engine. Also DO purchase your new hoses from a reputable place such as NAPA, yes, you pay a few more bucks but you want QUALITY rubber items. The best would be to go to Toyota or Pontiac and get the OEM hoses, it will cost even more but you'll have proven quality products. Put on a NEW (again OEM or proven brand) water pump. BTW, I'm NOT a fan of auto parts from stores such as Auto Zone or similar "budget" auto parts stores. You most often get what you paid for and it often isn't a good thing!This is the 2nd engine I've heard about becoming toast due to coolant loss in just the past few weeks. I think that the lesson here is to be very aware of your temperature gauge and to check your coolant a bit more frequently as these cars age. The other one had a weeping water pump which eventually lost all its coolant and over heated resulting in complete engine failure!Dave

[Blueridge9]

Glad you found another Vibe and can get out of the thirsty Subaru b4 gas prices go to $4.00+ by Memorial Day. I also think the Vibe seats are more comfy than the Subarus I've tried.Good advice from Dave for all of us. I will keep a better eye on the temp gauge too.

[98se5speed]

Well, Subaru is sticking around, that's what the wife drives. This new Vibe is for me. Unfortunately, my purchase of the Vibe is contingent on selling my Accord first. I had a very serious buyer coming this morning, who informed me he plans to look at another Accord wagon first, then he will call me to decide. So likely no Vibe today

[rpmljm]

The older Vibes are really better in our view. We have a 2009 and a 2004. We have had both since they were new. We have had fewer problems with the 2004 and it has more deluxe features that came standard that the 2009 did not have such as fold-down front seat to accommodate long items, roof luggage rack, hatch-back window that opens, better visibility. Te only thing we like better about the 2009 is that the ride is a bit smoother, vinyl around wheel wells, and side moldings.

[98se5speed]

My wife and I rented a newer Vibe in Maui back while we had our 03. I thought the same things. Smoother, quieter, but just just felt "off" from what I like about the 03. Biggest thing is the seating position in relation to the dash. New model makes me feel much lower. And yes, the hatch glass is a big downer for new models.Didn't bring the Vibe home today, but went and saw it since we were in the relative area tonight. A few more scratches on the body than I was hoping, but overall clean and straight. Interior is the real gem, no filth, smells, rips, burns, worn panels, etc. Should be a great car once I drop a new engine in. Sadly, the 00 MR2 engine sold before I could pick it up.

[98se5speed]

Happy to report, Vibe2 is home. No real surprises in the pickup, other than a flat tire that wouldn't hold air, and a tiny parking lot incline that was a lot steeper than we thought. Nothing a spare tire and tow strap couldn't fix. She looks good out in the driveway, other than the donut being installed on the front right wheel. All will get better soon.

[paulclassa]

Try plane the head $65. $ headgasket & bolts $50 first & pray that bottom holds befor you take engine out I paid $1800 for a overheated 04 but bottom needs wotk so I bought a engine & tranny out of a wreak $1100 yea that's tooich I know but I was desperate to drive the vibe the only way I could fund it was to sell my Saturn I made $1200 more than I paid for it so the way I look at it I got the power plant for free , I did the work myself & saved a lot of money if you need help ask me I have put 150 miles on it now I need $80 to get computer scanned & errors fixed or erraced & get check engine lite off & cure the low idle issue now I have taken old engine apart & called for prices to bore oversize $125 & turn crank $125 & pistons & rods & bearings $200 well it's on my mind maybe I'll even buy another vibe befor I fix the old engine but I do know I am in love with the look on the 2005 getting away from Aztec front look of 2004 front end

[djkeev]

IF you've got the time, the space, and the skills, seeing as to how you have the car at home. Just for giggles start figuring out what is wrong with the engine. You are completely guessing right now about it's problems.The cost of taking it apart is basically zero $$'s Keep in mind one overheated engine had a broken camshaft gear pin which ended up bending valves.Pull the valve cover, take a compression test, see what is going on. If needed pull the head and check out the valves. It's also easy to drop the pan on these with the engine still in the car. Pop a few bearings and see what they look like and what the crank journals look like. You may be able to do a budget overhaul for comparatively few $$'s vs a used engine.......that may need a rebuild.If you decide to rebuild it, my advice is to stay away from budget auto parts houses and use either genuine Toyota parts, NAPA parts or other known quality units. Use OEM hoses, belts, water pump, bearings, rings, valves, etc.Yes, doing so will indeed cost hundreds more than comparable parts from say Auto Zone or similar place BUT you are getting quality merchandise......and believe me when I say it DOES INDEED make a difference in the long run.Good Luck!Dave

[98se5speed]

Thanks for the tips, guys. With the prices I’m seeing on used engines, I am leaning towards a rebuild now. I definitely need to spend some time finding out exactly what failed in my current engine. My biggest fear is something hard to detect coming back to bite me later. I don’t want to spend a bunch of time and money getting the current engine running, only to find there’s a hairline crack somewhere that I didn’t see. I’ll have to ask my friend who owns an engine machine shop what he thinks. He’s the one that will be doing a lot of the work anyways. And no doubt he orders high quality parts from his suppliers. I’m not spending a bunch of time and money to do a rebuild with Autozone-grade parts. I only go to those places for the most basic of supplies, or if they have a good price on name-brand items. I originally had an engine from a 2000 MR2 lined up for $750. That engine sold before I could buy it. However, the seller is installing it into someone’s car, and claims the engine he’s pulling out runs well, but burns a lot of oil. Says he will sell me the oil-burning engine for $150. He is supposed to send me a video so I can see/hear it run. For the $150, it puts me at ease that it hasn’t been overheated, and I can do a rebuild and have it like new. Well, these pics are nothing much better than what I got from the seller, except it’s in my driveway. I suppose that adds some joy for me

[tpollauf]

Quote, originally posted by 98se5speed » I am leaning towards a rebuild now. Smart move if you stick with this plan. At least with a rebuild you'll know the history of it vs a used one where you're gambling with someone elses word Nice donut tire on the front passenger side At least it was a good spare for you to roll it home on. Keep us all updated as you make progress & good luck

[zaxellord]

Quote, originally posted by tpollauf » Smart move if you stick with this plan. At least with a rebuild you'll know the history of it vs a used one where you're gambling with someone elses word Nice donut tire on the front passenger side At least it was a good spare for you to roll it home on. Keep us all updated as you make progress & good luck Rebuild is only as good as the person(s) doing the rebuild

[98se5speed]

Yeah, no question a rebuild is better for a car I plan to keep for quite a while. I was just hoping to avoid the extra labor, and bothering my friend with the engine shop. But he hasn't done me any favors in quite a while, he'll gladly accept my beer donations. Car was sitting on flat front tires, as it's been dead since November. Driver's side inflated no problem, passenger side must have came off the bead as the air was rushing right out. Luckily we didn't need 2 spares! Donut was good enough to push it out of its parking spot, and get it up onto the tow dolly. Both front tires are worn pretty bad, looks like the set was never once rotated. Rears are nearly new. Guess I'll start looking around for a cheap pair. Just a bummer to see my "new" car out in the driveway, looking sorta beater-ish with the donut installed!

[98se5speed]

Oh, my friend with the engine shop is a real pro. Only occasionally drinks malt liquor while operating his honer. He's had his own shop for about 10 years now, grew up building engines for his family's boat racing team. While I know building a simple V8 can be a lot different than something like a 1ZZ, he knows what he's doing.

[djkeev]

You would be way ahead of the game to pull your engine, drop it off with your buddy and pay him dollar bills instead of beer to rebuild it. even if a used engine will cost $1200 and to have him rebuild your current engine will cost $2000. It may cost a few more pennies but in the long run it is a much smarter layout of cash that will serve you for many worry free years.My 2 centsDave

[98se5speed]

No question, a properly rebuilt engine is a better idea than dropping in something from the junkyard. My friend's labor is free, this is a good buddy I've known since I was 5. Obviously his parts vendor prefers cash. I've got him pricing out a rebuild for the $150 oil-burning engine I found. Hopefully not too crazy. The timing components sorta scare me, I bet the chain, guides, etc isn't cheap. Guess I could also try to get some prices from my friend at the Toyota parts counter. Probably very expensive, even with an employee discount.

[vibenvy]

Glad to see you finally got the "new" Vibe home ! Looking forward to seeing your progress on getting it up and running. Best of luck!

[98se5speed]

Vibe2 project is going well, just dropped the new engine in last night. Now to bolt it in and connect everything. Might have it running this weekend. http://forums.genvibe.com/zero...age=3