What did you do to your Vibe today?

thebarber · Post by **thebarber** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 9:11 am

Amusingly, I filled up the car to 8.58L/100km (27.4usmpg) with the rack....we'll see how I do on the next tank....I'll likely be filling up Tuesday, lol

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 1:59 pm

I painted the engine oil dipstick handles black on both our Vibes. The yellow stood out way too much. I'll post pictures later after the paint dries and I get them re-installed.

Dairgo · Post by **Dairgo** » Tue Sep 15, 2015 3:31 pm

I don't have a picture yet.... but who says the cowling has to come off to take off / put on a strut bar....

Friends and I didn't have time for that tom foolery. We loosened and pulled the original with a bit of flex in the cowling, and with that same flex, got the new one on, tightened everything down. Got a good feel for what 37 ft/lbs was on the front bolts and got the rear ones to that same tightness with a wrench. Took maybe 30 mins, and this eliminated that annoying body roll.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 10:33 am

Dairgo wrote:I don't have a picture yet.... but who says the cowling has to come off to take off / put on a strut bar....

Friends and I didn't have time for that tom foolery. We loosened and pulled the original with a bit of flex in the cowling, and with that same flex, got the new one on, tightened everything down. Got a good feel for what 37 ft/lbs was on the front bolts and got the rear ones to that same tightness with a wrench. Took maybe 30 mins, and this eliminated that annoying body roll.

Pictures or it didn't happen

!

Here are some pictures of the newest "mods" to our Vibes...

Plain Black Plastic Rear License Plate Frames

Black Painted Engine Oil Dipstick Handles

I decided that the "Route 66 - Enjoy The Ride!" license plate frame I had gotten from the Route 66 Museum in Pontiac during the 2015 GenVibe meet was just too much with the Route 66 license plate, so I found a pair of plain black plastic frames on eBay for $8.99 shipped. The plain black looks much better and matches the black of the lower rear fascias nicely!

The yellow of the oil dipstick handles was bothering me because it stood out so much against the black, silver and red of the rest of the engine bay, so I sprayed them with satin black Krylon Fusion and solved that issue. I am very happy with how the engine bays look now

! The only thing left to do with the engine bays is to replace the last little bit of yellow on the radiator caps with these

!

Dairgo · Post by **Dairgo** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 11:13 am

My proof, along with window vent pictures, and my crummy vinyl on the engine cover, gonna have to redo those... hehehe

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 11:19 am

Lookin' good Ian! Could you post some pictures of the rear bumper protector? I'm trying to decide whether that's something I want to get for our Vibes or not.

Dairgo · Post by **Dairgo** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 11:51 am

sure can.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 12:23 pm

Thanks! I'm kind of leaning towards getting them. We already have a few marks here and there on our rear bumpers, but these would at least prevent any further damage, plus I like that the pattern on it is the same as the GM floor and cargo mats.

trb · Post by **trb** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 1:14 pm

Since I put on two of the new tires and wheels I got from jamesmetairie and rotated the old ones to the front, I've had a bit of vibration in the steering wheel. No big deal, just needed a re-balance I thought. Then last week one tire was down almost 20lbs! After I aired it up, it lost about 10lbs a day, but I could not see any nails or screws or anything. So I took the GT to my local Discount Tire since they do free flat repairs, and might as well get them balanced. I figured it would be about $20 for the balancing or so.

So I told them to balance the fronts and fix the flat. They pulled the tire off the wheel to patch it, and it had the remains of a staple poking two holes through the tire, near the inside edge! Bummer, time for a new tire, but luckily I had another brand new one from James that matched the other two I just put on. Went home to get it, and since two of the wheels I got from James had more curb rash than the originals on my car, I asked them to swap the tires to the better wheels. So they dismounted and remounted/balanced two of my tires, and balanced the other two. I expected to pay probably $50 or so for the tire swaps and balancing all 4 since I did not buy the tires from them. But no, no charge at all! I'm ordering a 4th new tire to match the other 3 from them so when it comes in, I'll have two new and two almost new tires on the GT.

As always, I am impressed with the service I get from Discount. They had like 4 guys working on my car and they were on the ball and got everything done perfectly, down to torquing the lug nuts. No wonder I buy almost all of my tires from them.

ctgottapee · Post by **ctgottapee** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 8:30 pm

vibenvy wrote: Here are some pictures of the newest "mods" to our Vibes...

Plain Black Plastic Rear License Plate Frames
I decided that the "Route 66 - Enjoy The Ride!" license plate frame I had gotten from the Route 66 Museum in Pontiac during the 2015 GenVibe meet was just too much with the Route 66 license plate, so I found a pair of plain black plastic frames on eBay for $8.99 shipped. The plain black looks much better and matches the black of the lower rear fascias nicely!

The yellow of the oil dipstick handles was bothering me because it stood out so much against the black, silver and red of the rest of the engine bay, so I sprayed them with satin black Krylon Fusion and solved that issue. I am very happy with how the engine bays look now ! The only thing left to do with the engine bays is to replace the last little bit of yellow on the radiator caps with these !

Gotta linky for those license frames, those are just about right??

If you don't need TRD on it, Stant has red letter and white top caps that kinda go with the battery. You can get one with the pull tab vent release too

If you notice my other post, we are both thinking like dipsticks!!

I'm ok with the yellow though

ctgottapee · Post by **ctgottapee** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 8:33 pm

vibenvy wrote:Thanks! I'm kind of leaning towards getting them. We already have a few marks here and there on our rear bumpers, but these would at least prevent any further damage, plus I like that the pattern on it is the same as the GM floor and cargo mats.

FYI if your marks are severe you may want to sand them down a bit.
I got a bubble under mine on more of a gouge. I didn't really realize it stuck up like it did until the bubble formed and it was too late to peel back. At first I thought it was just an actual bubble like in vinyl applications and tried to pop it, then realized it was the gouge underneath and the rough edges around that caused it to react that way.

ctgottapee · Post by **ctgottapee** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 8:51 pm

Replaced the stock flasher with an LED compatible one in the 09 Vibe
Stock one is the bright blue one, pins showing; tool points toward installed replacement

Works for turn signals no problem
Didn't solve the micro-flicker for my low cost LED high beams in DRL mode, which I've grown to like as it makes the car a bit more noticeable and I don't see the flicker myself while driving. I swapped in the LEDs to get rid of the yellow and for (very minor) fuel savings. They don't do much of anything in hi beam mode.

Flasher is behind the cubby under drives side wheel.
It pulls out pretty easy, a crooked screwdriver or other puller will help
The replacement was a tight fit to get on, I really had to tinker with the pins and work it in the socket to get it to seat.

: ledFlasher2.jpg (104.6 KiB) Viewed 47113 times

We have a Tridon LM449, the part numbers for the amaz ad are toyota and several are compatible
I went with this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008C9YS0Y

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sun Sep 20, 2015 7:03 am

ctgottapee wrote:Gotta linky for those license frames, those are just about right??

If you don't need TRD on it, Stant has red letter and white top caps that kinda go with the battery. You can get one with the pull tab vent release too

FYI if your marks are severe you may want to sand them down a bit.
I got a bubble under mine on more of a gouge. I didn't really realize it stuck up like it did until the bubble formed and it was too late to peel back. At first I thought it was just an actual bubble like in vinyl applications and tried to pop it, then realized it was the gouge underneath and the rough edges around that caused it to react that way.

License plate frames. On a bit of a side note, when the frames arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they're actually made in America!

Do you have a link for the Stant cap?

We don't have any major gouges or anything on our rear bumpers, but I will definitely keep that in mind. I'm still on the fence about whether or not to get them...

ctgottapee · Post by **ctgottapee** » Sun Sep 20, 2015 7:30 pm

vibenvy wrote:
ctgottapee wrote:Gotta linky for those license frames, those are just about right??

If you don't need TRD on it, Stant has red letter and white top caps that kinda go with the battery. You can get one with the pull tab vent release too

FYI if your marks are severe you may want to sand them down a bit.
I got a bubble under mine on more of a gouge. I didn't really realize it stuck up like it did until the bubble formed and it was too late to peel back. At first I thought it was just an actual bubble like in vinyl applications and tried to pop it, then realized it was the gouge underneath and the rough edges around that caused it to react that way.
License plate frames. On a bit of a side note, when the frames arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they're actually made in America!

Do you have a link for the Stant cap?

We don't have any major gouges or anything on our rear bumpers, but I will definitely keep that in mind. I'm still on the fence about whether or not to get them...

I saw it on Amazon, but on any parts site, once you select the vibe model and go to radiator caps, check out the selection. The stant ones are white label and red letters; they also sell the pressure release type that have a big red lever on top.
I'm aquiring parts to do a coolant exchange and hose replacement, and got a cap but its in the basement else I'd snap a pic.

I didn't really think about it, but you are right, the pattern on that bumper matches the floor mat - I just got mine. But because the bumper protector is thin film, and the mat is heavy rubber with a 3d weave, I didn't really put it together.

ctgottapee · Post by **ctgottapee** » Sun Sep 20, 2015 7:44 pm

Tonight got my GT wing installed on my AWD

After taking off the stock wing, I noticed large scratches the paint on the sides where the stock spoiler rubs. Might be the source of noise for some.
There is actually a TSB on this for the super (removed) who either heard noise or stuck their eyeballs up in there and noticed the paint scratches.
TSB 09-08-51-001A DEC 09 Body - Chipped Paint On Liftgate Near Spoiler

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: vibespoilerTSB.jpg (112.83 KiB) Viewed 47101 times

Interesting in comparing the two wings, the original used metal bolts that slided into slots on the fiberglass, the new one had fiberglass bolts that were molded into it. The old spoiler also used a different style of rubber gasket (like a windshield wiper) and foam; the new spoiler used 3 different types of foam like gaskets. The included instructions mentioned peel and stick foam but none was found so the tweaked the design a bit.

: vibeGTwing.jpg (119.17 KiB) Viewed 47101 times

lannvouivre · Post by **lannvouivre** » Sun Sep 20, 2015 10:09 pm

Last week:
Hooker Aero Chamber muffler
Oil change, filter
New fender liner

Yesterday:
Morimoto projectors, Kensun bulbs

Today:
Adjusted parking brake shoe clearances
Regreased caliper sliding pins because my brakes in front were dragging (almost burned my hand on the wheels, actually)

So now I can see at night, my brakes are quiet, and my car feels less like it is dragging its feet whenever I accelerate. Additionally, the washer fluid reservoir has the liner covering it again and I have pretty much no exhaust drone.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Mon Sep 21, 2015 4:55 pm

ctgottapee wrote:I saw it on Amazon, but on any parts site, once you select the vibe model and go to radiator caps, check out the selection. The stant ones are white label and red letters; they also sell the pressure release type that have a big red lever on top.
I'm aquiring parts to do a coolant exchange and hose replacement, and got a cap but its in the basement else I'd snap a pic.

Thanks for the info! I found the 2009-2010 2.4L cap part number on the Stant site. It has the same look as the TRD cap just without the TRD logo and Japanese writing, so I will definitely keep it in mind! I am wondering... the OEM radiator cap on the Vibe says 0.9 on the right side of it, whereas the TRD cap, says 1.3 on it. From what I've gathered, apparently this has to do with the pressure? I originally got the idea for getting the TRD cap from a guy on Matrix Owners who has one on his 2nd gen 2.4L Matrix, so I just assumed it would be fine on the Vibe, however now I am wondering whether it would be okay or not? I obviously don't want to waste $60.00+ on two of the TRD caps only to find out they won't work properly on our Vibes. If you, or anyone else has any opinions on this topic, please feel free to chime in. I'd really appreciate it!

Fever · Post by **Fever** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 4:32 am

Bled the brakes and changed the power steering fluid.

I'm really impressed with how well the ATF/acetone mixture works for loosening rusted fittings like the brake bleeders in this case. All four loosened up, had to pull one to blow the channel clear of gunk for it to work. The rubber covers were pretty much shot in all four corners.
Used a vacuum hand pump to do the bleeding, pulled about 50mL at each corner. Really like the vacuum pump, makes the job so much easier.

Power steering fluid was pretty easy and took about three reservoir fill ups to clear the old fluid from the steering rack. Went through about 500mL to flush and refill. Didn't turn the pump over however, I was too concerned about running it dry. Oh well, maybe a 90% flush anyway.

2007 Vibe base 143,xxx km.

Fever

mktrat · Post by **mktrat** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 9:11 am

I decided I had finally had enough of that silly beep beep beep........ so its gone now.

Thanks for the how-to info, they made it simple. And I learned something new, the surrounds for the instrument cluster is REALLY easy to pop off and so much easier to clean the gauges with it off!!!

Fever · Post by **Fever** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 3:43 pm

Cleaned and re-oiled the kn air filter today, along with the other vehicles. Checked fluid levels from yesterdays work. All good.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sat Sep 26, 2015 1:07 pm

ctgottapee wrote:I saw it on Amazon, but on any parts site, once you select the vibe model and go to radiator caps, check out the selection. The stant ones are white label and red letters; they also sell the pressure release type that have a big red lever on top.
I'm aquiring parts to do a coolant exchange and hose replacement, and got a cap but its in the basement else I'd snap a pic.
vibenvy wrote:Thanks for the info! I found the 2009-2010 2.4L cap part number on the Stant site. It has the same look as the TRD cap just without the TRD logo and Japanese writing, so I will definitely keep it in mind! I am wondering... the OEM radiator cap on the Vibe says 0.9 on the right side of it, whereas the TRD cap, says 1.3 on it. From what I've gathered, apparently this has to do with the pressure? I originally got the idea for getting the TRD cap from a guy on Matrix Owners who has one on his 2nd gen 2.4L Matrix, so I just assumed it would be fine on the Vibe, however now I am wondering whether it would be okay or not? I obviously don't want to waste $60.00+ on two of the TRD caps only to find out they won't work properly on our Vibes. If you, or anyone else has any opinions on this topic, please feel free to chime in. I'd really appreciate it!

I went ahead and started a post regarding the radiator caps. The consensus was that it would be better to stick with a cap that has OEM specifications, so I went ahead and ordered two of the Stant caps on eBay. On the plus side, two of the Stant caps cost about half of one of the TRD caps

.

I rotated the tires on my mom's Vibe this morning and will be doing mine at some point this afternoon / evening. The Hankooks on my mom's Vibe are wearing perfectly so far!

treesleavedents · Post by **treesleavedents** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:39 am

Made a new shift boot to replace the old cracked factory one. For my first time doing automotive upholstery I think I did pretty well.

vibrologist · Post by **vibrologist** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 6:59 pm

treesleavedents wrote:Made a new shift boot to replace the old cracked factory one. For my first time doing automotive upholstery I think I did pretty well.

Flannel! What a cool idea!

vibrologist · Post by **vibrologist** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 7:11 pm

Saturday I washed the Vibe's exterior and paid particular attention to the glass, including the moon roof.

I also removed the vinyl letters that indicated the dealership. I put a big old "D" sticker in its place that I brought back from Germany. Sunday we went to look at the eclipse of the super moon. Oh, yeah: today I got a letter from Germany. Apparently, I was speeding and now I owe 35 Euros. That's some real value if I compare it to the speeding ticket I got from the Boone County Sheriff.

: eclipse of the super moon Vibe.jpg (68.89 KiB) Viewed 47024 times

treesleavedents · Post by **treesleavedents** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 11:12 am

Emboldened by my foray into upholstery over the weekend (and in small part to see the cute girl who works at JoAnn fabrics again) I tackled the center armrest last night. Added 1/2 inch of foam to the top and sewed a nice cover up for it. Then using some automotive heat resistant spray adhesive, I attached the cover and re-installed.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 3:42 pm

Yesterday our new radiator caps arrived so of course I had to install them immediately

. The white and red looks so much better than the yellow and black! I'll post pictures later this week...

joatmon · Post by **joatmon** » Thu Oct 01, 2015 7:03 am

Yesterday I finally found which heat shield sounded lie a metal can of angry hornets whenever I hit a certain RPM range, it was the one welded on to the top of the catalytic converter, the front welds had broken for some reason. I used a couple of metal hose clamps to clamp the shield to the cat, no more buzzing.

Over the last 12+ years, I've done regular maintenance on two vibes and a matrix, changed the oil on a 1ZZ at least 80 times, and I've been spoiled. Yesterday changed the oil on a 2003 tacoma, and the filter is much less accessible. On the 1ZZ, it hangs down vertically, makes it easy to do a filter change with minimum oil on the engine, in the tacoma it seems designed to coat the lower block and skid plates with oil when you pull the old filter.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Sun Oct 11, 2015 12:50 pm

We were on vacation in Michigan last week. Took the Escape and left the Vibe and Sonic behind where they got covered in some sort of gritty fallout at some point during the week. It firmly adhered to the glass and paint and would not wash off. Yesterday I worked on getting the Sonic taken care of.

Today, the Vibe got a wash and clay bar treatment followed up with some Mothers cleaner wax. Had to clay the window glass to get the crap off of it as well. Stoner Trim Shine on the exterior plastics. Full interior cleaning. She looks really good as long as I continue to ignore the bumper, hood and roof.

And third *expletive deleted* time's a charm...

Yay, working HVAC control head lighting. I was trying to put some neowedge 4mm LED's in there today but lost them all to the depths of the dash. As I tried to retrieve them, none were to be found but one of the Toyota incandescents surfaced. Luckily I had one more of those on hand. I was finally able to get them in the socket and pushed in from the back side while forcefully twisting them into place from the front using a pick.

I don't want to think about how many bulbs and LED's are lost down in the depths of the dash at this point.

Anyway, enjoy your 13th birthday presents, old girl.

circuitsmith · Post by **circuitsmith** » Mon Oct 12, 2015 2:36 pm

Today replaced the 9 year old battery with an EverStart Maxx from Wally World.
The old battery was still going strong, but I didn't want to chance going through another winter.
Took a DVM in with me and picked the battery with the highest standing voltage: 12.74V.
Swapped batteries at the store and now it's on my work bench for an overnight charge with a power supply set to 14V.
Since I only drive 2x a week or so I do a long charge (or road trip of 4+ hours) every 3 months.
I think the original lasting 9 years proves the value of my regime.

mbz321 · Post by **mbz321** » Mon Oct 12, 2015 8:31 pm

Replaced my serpentine belt on Sunday. I could have waited longer, but it started to develop some cracks I was uncomfortable with. This was the first time I've attempted such a thing and it wasn't as easy as it appeared in videos/instructions, but I finally got it on correctly after about an hour.

lannvouivre · Post by **lannvouivre** » Tue Oct 13, 2015 11:03 pm

Added a shiny. And another shiny.

thebarber · Post by **thebarber** » Thu Oct 15, 2015 5:48 am

vibrologist · Post by **vibrologist** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 1:55 pm

I replaced the intake manifold gasket, cleaned the MAF sensor and throttle body. First I forgot to attach the brake booster hose and this caused a CEL. After hooking up the hose and erasing the CEL it idles smoother than before.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 3:00 pm

Last weekend I washed my mom's Vibe, but this past week was very windy and with the farmers out plowing the fields and all, there was all sorts of dust, dirt, etc. blowing around so it was very dusty. I went over it with a duster but it didn't do a whole lot, so I ended up going over the entire exterior with a wet microfiber towel followed by a dry one. I added some more Meguiar's Endurance to the tires and it's all clean and shiny again

! I also detailed the engine bay, including wiping down all the hoses with Mother's Interior Protectant. I also tightened the bolts on the spoiler, aired all four tires up to 35 PSI and did a quick interior detail. Tomorrow will be my Vibe's turn to be pampered.

Yesterday morning I ended up removing the Stant radiator caps and re-installing the OEM ones. The one on my Vibe was fine, but the one on my mom's Vibe was leaking. I contacted the eBay seller I got the caps from and they sent me a new cap for free (I thought the cap was defective), but after a couple days, the new one starting leaking too. Obviously it's not worth having any issues over, so we're back to the OEM yellow caps

.

I have a new "mod" on the way. It's supposed to arrive by Tuesday, so I'll be posting more information once it arrives and I get it installed...

Dairgo · Post by **Dairgo** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 3:51 pm

Attempted to install an AVS bug deflector, my OEM one took a hit and cracked good, not sure from what.
AVS bug deflector wasn't even close to lining up like it should have, so it's been returned.

For anyone looking to put one on their second gen, GM parts center.net and gmpartsdirect.com carry it, part number: 19158476 Deflector Pkg.

hopefully in the next week or so I'll get the new one in and on.

And, Thursday I UPS'd CT their OEM '09 strut tower brace that I replaced. Hopefully they got it Friday like UPS said they would and will have it on soon for us all to see!

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sun Oct 18, 2015 4:54 am

That sucks about the GM deflector getting busted and the AVS one not fitting Ian

. The GM one probably got nailed by a rock or something. At least you were able to get another GM one.

Dairgo · Post by **Dairgo** » Sun Oct 18, 2015 7:00 am

Yeah, spent who knows how many days trying to find my previous order for the part number, couldn't find it, ordered the AVS one, waited for my day off go to put it on, find it doesn't fit and le sigh... Return it, and search one more time, and there it is, part number and all for the OEM one...

could have saved me a lot of hassle, but nope.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sun Oct 18, 2015 6:31 pm

Dairgo wrote:Yeah, spent who knows how many days trying to find my previous order for the part number, couldn't find it, ordered the AVS one, waited for my day off go to put it on, find it doesn't fit and le sigh... Return it, and search one more time, and there it is, part number and all for the OEM one... could have saved me a lot of hassle, but nope.

This reminds me... I've been wanting to do a thread dedicated to 2nd gen GM Accessories with pictures and part numbers and all. I need to work on that...

Today I literally spent all day hanging out with my Vibe! Around 9 this morning I started with giving it a bath. It was filthy. Took my time and got it all shined up. I pulled it into the garage and got it all dried off. I aired up the tires, put Endurance on the tires and used some metal polish to shine up the muffler tip. Next, I gave the engine bay a pretty thorough wipe down and put Mother's Interior Protectant on all the hoses. I cleaned the inside of the rear windows since the dogs had gone for a ride this morning. I than decided to go on a few "retrival missions". I started with the hatch. A few years ago I had removed some of the plastic trim pieces from the hatch and a retainer had broken off and dropped into the hatch. Every time I'd open or close the hatch, I'd hear it rattling around and it drove me nuts. Well, I carefully removed all the interior trim pieces and was able to get it out, so no more rattle! I also tightened all the bolts on the spoiler while I was in the area. The next "mission" was to retrieve another retainer that had fallen behind the front passenger door panel when I had removed the sail panel to look at how the side mirror was mounted. I found the retainer and it was still in tact, so I put it back on the sail panel and popped everything back into place. No more lose sail panel! The third and final "mission" ended up being a two-fer. After a bunch of pieces around the radio / shifter / center console area were removed, I was able to retrieve my stylus for my old cell phone I had accidentally dropped down by the shifter quite a few years ago! I than decided to try and fix the carpet on the front driver's floor. A couple years ago when I had a new accelerator pedal installed during the whole "Toyota unintended acceleration" debacle, the carpet would stick out from the under one of the plastic trim pieces and no matter what I tried, it would always pop back out. I tried sticking big wads of duct tape behind it, still popped out. Lo and behold, while I had the trim pieces pulled out of place, I noticed there was a hole in the carpet and there was a retainer that was supposed to go through the hole in the carpet and into a hole in the metal frame behind the trim piece to hold the carpet up tight under the trim piece. I ruined the retainer popping it out and I didn't have another in the right size, so I used a zip tie! I also added a new wad of duct tape behind the carpet for good measure

! I got all the trim pieces put back and gave the interior a quick vacuuming and that was that. Sorry for the ridiculously long post, but I just had to share these little successes because I feel so accomplished having finally gotten them done.

As I said in my previous post, new "mod" coming Tuesday hopefully

!

Derf · Post by **Derf** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 3:31 pm

treesleavedents wrote:Emboldened by my foray into upholstery over the weekend (and in small part to see the cute girl who works at JoAnn fabrics again) I tackled the center armrest last night. Added 1/2 inch of foam to the top and sewed a nice cover up for it. Then using some automotive heat resistant spray adhesive, I attached the cover and re-installed.

Flannel, Nice. 1/2" foam working good, or would you go thicker?

Zimm · Post by **Zimm** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 5:42 pm

did the first of 3 transmission drain and fills on my AT today. i had experienced a bit of wonky shifting this summer and finally got around to doing this. i'm at 80,000 mostly urban miles and the fluid showed it-very gray. i also only got about 2.75 quarts from mine, which is less than the 3-3.5 most folks seem to be reporting. i put in a full 3 and it was actually a bit over on my dipstick. shifting was noticeably smoother right away. will do the next 2 drain/fills each of the next 2 weekends, and will probably make it a habit of doing one every 2nd or 3rd oil change in the future. very easy process-just needed to buy a $2 10mm hex wrench from harbor freight. well, that and the $110 case of Toyota WS ATF from the dealer...

ctgottapee · Post by **ctgottapee** » Wed Oct 21, 2015 6:01 am

Been struggling with a complete brake overhaul

New hoses: getting the old ones off has been a challenge with lots of expletives!
New rotors: once I figured out the bolt size to use the 'pop off holes', it was easy; of course my rotors were rusted bad so trial and error took a bit longer
New brakes: Front bracket had a seized caliper guide pin; auto parts store says they can't order just the bracket so a whole new caliper to wait on, and then got the wrong one on the first delivery. Rear caliper had a torn piston boot; I had already put the time in rust proofing/painting so now I have to learn how to replace a boot

Normally I RockAuto but shipping is more than the caliper due to weight. Man the autoparts store is more clueless than I am! Like stepping back in time...
Rust proofing the old brake hardware: POF15 is not so one step; lots of steps involved. It probably would have been better to just replace the calipers and get one already shot blasted and then just putting some high temp paint on
Fluid flush: fluid everywhere

next, diving into replacing the parking brake guts (rusted mess)
and looking at swapping the rear hubs, specking out what will be needed. Special 12pt star nut on the hub spindle and impossible to reach rear bolts

treesleavedents · Post by **treesleavedents** » Wed Oct 21, 2015 1:28 pm

Derf wrote:
treesleavedents wrote:Emboldened by my foray into upholstery over the weekend (and in small part to see the cute girl who works at JoAnn fabrics again) I tackled the center armrest last night. Added 1/2 inch of foam to the top and sewed a nice cover up for it. Then using some automotive heat resistant spray adhesive, I attached the cover and re-installed.
Flannel, Nice. 1/2" foam working good, or would you go thicker?

I used inch thick foam from JoAnn Fabrics because that's the thinnest they had. Given a choice I would have gone with a stronger, less squishy closed cell foam that was a half inch thick.

PS. Your youtube videos are kickass! I commented on one of them to thank you but I'm gonna do it again here. Replaced my wheel well liners before a big trip and viewed your stereo videos quite a few times.

Nathankenney94 · Post by **Nathankenney94** » Sat Oct 24, 2015 9:06 pm

Washed it and then went to a haunted house and lost my keys so now it's sitting there until monday when I can go into gm and get a new one.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 5:45 pm

Been a busy weekend as I prepare for winter.

Fresh oil - QS green bottle and a 2ZZ-spec Wix filter.

Intake and throttle body gaskets replaced - pics here.

Figured the 13 year old power steering fluid could use some attention but I wasn't feeling like going through the whole flush process. Turkey baster'ed out the old fluid, filled with new store-brand DexIII from Meijer, let circulate. Did this a few times, I'm fairly certain it took longer than it would have to just flush the darn thing. The fluid is clean-er now, better than nothing I suppose. I'll repeat this later.

Aired up the tires on the fleet... Vibe and Escape were both 4 pounds off on all corners. The Sonic ended up not needing much since I was going back to the placard PSI (usually run 2 above in the summer for FE.) Only took a pound or two in each. Don't forget to check yours now that it is getting colder!

Sometime this week it needs another tire rotation.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sun Nov 01, 2015 1:31 pm

Some long overdue updates and pictures of my Vibe...

WeatherTech TechShade Windshield Sun Shade - 05.30.15

All Nice And Clean ! - 10.20.15

and of my mom's Vibe...

Grafx Werks Metallic Silver Poyota Decal - 10.11.15

All Nice And Clean ! - 10.17.15

v-LEDs 5000k White LED Bulb In The Shift Indicator - 10.23.15

2012-2014 Toyota Yaris Chrome Trimmed HVAC Knobs - 10.31.15

v-LEDs 5000k White LED Bulbs In The HVAC Knobs - 10.31.15

As usual, the majority of the above updates have been / will be done to both Vibes, I just don't have pictures of everything yet. Yesterday, in addition to installing the Yaris HVAC knobs and LEDs, I also installed the winter wheels and tires on my mom's Vibe. This morning I installed the winter wheels and tires on my Vibe. The Yaris HVAC knobs for my Vibe are due to arrive later this week. I am going to take a ton of pictures and do a how-to for any other 2nd gen owners that may be interested in doing this swap. It was relatively easy and makes a huge difference in the appearance of the interior. I have to give gtv237 another huge thank you for being the first one to do this swap. Thank you again very much for all your help and information! I really appreciate it

!

And on a bit of a side note, last Thursday, October 29th, was my mom's Vibe's 7th birthday!

tpollauf · Post by **tpollauf** » Mon Nov 02, 2015 8:24 am

vibenvy wrote:Some long overdue updates and pictures of my Vibe...
2012-2014 Toyota Yaris Chrome Trimmed HVAC Knobs - 10.31.15

Those chrome knobs look real good

May have to add then to my list of future mods.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Mon Nov 02, 2015 10:27 am

They look even better than I thought they would! I'm probably going to re-install the OEM bulbs in the knobs and shift indicator though because it bothers me that they don't match the radio and other lights.

I can't wait for my knobs to arrive later this week!

thebarber · Post by **thebarber** » Tue Nov 03, 2015 5:18 am

Winter mode 2015-16

ctgottapee · Post by **ctgottapee** » Mon Nov 09, 2015 9:33 pm

Finally got the front end all LED/HID with some LED foglights, and capacitors inline with the LED DRL/HighBeams so they don't flicker.
Next I need to polish the lenses

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Wed Nov 11, 2015 11:43 am

^ Looks good! So, exactly what bulbs do you have in all the different lights?

Last weekend I got the Yaris HVAC knobs installed in my Vibe!

This morning on my way to work, my Vibe turned over 63,000 miles!