New 03 Vibe GT owner with questions

[whitealltrac]

repair no. 3

A/C stopped working, checked everything, fuses are good, relay is good even swapped it with the horn one still no clutch engagement. Checked the pressure and it was over filled by a bit so I took a nail and vented some of it until it was back to normal level, still no cold air. Disconnected the wire from the compressor and ran juice straight from the battery terminal still no go. I suspect it is the clutch or the coil so I went to the local yard and removed the entire compressor from the same car that I removed the monnrood from. Upon removing the pressure lines I could hear it had some freon left which is a good sign that it was operational (maybe). I am now going to remove the entire clutch from the yard compressor and replace mine with it.

I will come back and let you guys know if that fixed my problem. Hopefully this does the trick....

[2nd03vibe]

Do you have any updates? I have an 03 base with 130K. My problem is very similar to yours. The pressure is right at the top edge of good on the gauge. I checked the fuses and the relay. They seem to look OK. Not sure what a blown relay should look like. And when people talk about the relay, I am assuming they are talking about the one in the fuse box under the hood. The clutch won't kick in no matter what, but then I used my cheap voltometer, there is no juice in the line to the compressor. I gator clipped the voltometer ground directly to the negative on the battery and pinned the contact inside the plug of the electrical wire, which feeds power to the compressor. I touched the positive and negative on the battery, and the voltometer lit up. I know it works. So I am at a loss. I was going to blame it on the clutch, but now I am not sure what to troubleshoot next.

There is a common problem with 03 Vibes, where the O-ring on the timing belt tensioner gets blown and leaks oil. The serpentine belt slings the oil all in the passenger side area of the engine compartment. It drenched the alternator and the AC compressor on my car. I replaced the tensioner and the O-ring and was going to blame the compressor for no cold air, but since there is a possibility of it not getting any power, I need to trace the wire to make sure it's OK.

If anyone thinks there is an obvious solution, I will be grateful if you share it.

[tpollauf]

repair no. 3

Checked the pressure and it was over filled by a bit so I took a nail and vented some of it until it was back to normal level, still no cold air.

Big mistake With the unit in the "off" mode, you have no idea if the system is overfilled or not. 12 oz. or 28 oz. of refrigerant will show the exact same pressure when off. The fact that you let some out will only mean that your system is now low on refrigerant and it will likely cut out on the low pressure switch. You'll be adding it back in once your electrical problem is solved.

[whitealltrac]

Do you have any updates? I have an 03 base with 130K. My problem is very similar to yours. The pressure is right at the top edge of good on the gauge. I checked the fuses and the relay. They seem to look OK. Not sure what a blown relay should look like. And when people talk about the relay, I am assuming they are talking about the one in the fuse box under the hood. The clutch won't kick in no matter what, but then I used my cheap voltometer, there is no juice in the line to the compressor. I gator clipped the voltometer ground directly to the negative on the battery and pinned the contact inside the plug of the electrical wire, which feeds power to the compressor. I touched the positive and negative on the battery, and the voltometer lit up. I know it works. So I am at a loss. I was going to blame it on the clutch, but now I am not sure what to troubleshoot next.

There is a common problem with 03 Vibes, where the O-ring on the timing belt tensioner gets blown and leaks oil. The serpentine belt slings the oil all in the passenger side area of the engine compartment. It drenched the alternator and the AC compressor on my car. I replaced the tensioner and the O-ring and was going to blame the compressor for no cold air, but since there is a possibility of it not getting any power, I need to trace the wire to make sure it's OK.

If anyone thinks there is an obvious solution, I will be grateful if you share it.

In my case it turned out to be the compressor clutch was seized! I went to the local yard and got a whole compressor from an 06 Vibe I swapped it refilled and its working like new! It cost me $30.00 for the yard
unit

[whitealltrac]

Lost a tire this morning Pirelli P-Zero 18" decided to change all tires now with Toyo Proxes.

[whitealltrac]

Hummmm I now have a noisy front end when I steer completely to the left or the right, I think I may have bad tie rods but these where all replaced when I purchased the car......they were eBay ones (cheap) may have to upgrade to something with a better build or name brand. Any recommendations??

[whitealltrac]

Update:

Car has developed a small oil leak that seems to drip from the oil pan passenger side, looks like from the timing tensioner?
I guess its time to throw in a new gasket on the plunger....Will need to get this done a.s.a.p. because the cold weather is coming soon. I also need to address the clunk sound possibly tie rods........time for Moogs.

[RonB]

Hi, WhiteAllTrac

I really like the look of your GT with the body-color cladding, as opposed to mine with the faded-gray cladding.

I hope you get your mechanical issues sorted before cold weather sets in.

[whitealltrac]

Hi, WhiteAllTrac

I really like the look of your GT with the body-color cladding, as opposed to mine with the faded-gray cladding.

I hope you get your mechanical issues sorted before cold weather sets in.

Thank you RonB, still have to get to it but will do it soon....

[fawlty04]

Hey! Wondering if you sorted out your oil leak. I used to change my own when I had a driveway to park/work in, but now just hit Jiffy Lube—today they told me there was excessive leaking of oil (explains the small patches where I park on the street... thought they weren't mine, they're never mine!) and have been doing a little research online to get a jump on where to look before I dig in and found a video on youtube ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS423KsMbxk ) showing how to replace the O-ring on the timing tensioner but a commenter said that with first generation GTs "a bracket on the front of the engine prevents the removal of the timing chain tensioner" and then listed all the various steps required just to get at the tensioner.

What did you discover of your oil leak? Was it the timing tensioner? Any chance you took pics when you fixed it??? Haha. I dig fixing my own stuff, but once things require too many levels of removing and replacing, I get gun shy... think I might need to take it to a mechanic... bleeeeeeeccchhhh

[whitealltrac]

Hey! Wondering if you sorted out your oil leak. I used to change my own when I had a driveway to park/work in, but now just hit Jiffy Lube—today they told me there was excessive leaking of oil (explains the small patches where I park on the street... thought they weren't mine, they're never mine!) and have been doing a little research online to get a jump on where to look before I dig in and found a video on youtube ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS423KsMbxk ) showing how to replace the O-ring on the timing tensioner but a commenter said that with first generation GTs "a bracket on the front of the engine prevents the removal of the timing chain tensioner" and then listed all the various steps required just to get at the tensioner.

What did you discover of your oil leak? Was it the timing tensioner? Any chance you took pics when you fixed it??? Haha. I dig fixing my own stuff, but once things require too many levels of removing and replacing, I get gun shy... think I might need to take it to a mechanic... bleeeeeeeccchhhh

Its been super cold here so I have not been able to fix the leak. I may live with it until Spring as the leak is very small. As soon as we hit good weather I'll jump on it.

[whitealltrac]

Update:
1/7/17
Had all the brake pads replaced, rear pass side caliper had one of the brake pins missing and the pads were coming off the caliper, the only thing preventing it from falling off was the second pin.
Got a kit with two new pins and wire clips for under $6 from the local advance auto shop.

Still have an oil leak that needs to be addressed and the clunk noise I get at times. Car still runs nice and has been reliable so far.

[whitealltrac]

Update 8.10.17

I think the A/C blower motor is getting tired....not sure how easy it is to replace?? Will wait until it fully dies before replacing it. Its a little noisy on certain speeds but working...

[whitealltrac]

Update: 9/21/17

I was changing the oil and filter when I noticed lots of grease on the front frame of the car. I inspected everything and found that both CV joint boots are ripped opened! Ordered both Axles brand new aftermarkets so these will need to be replaced.
I also have a noise coming from the front hub not sure if its the bearing or the bad axles?? Hum....will keep everyone posted.

[whitealltrac]

Update 10/18/17
Replaced both axles
Replaced drivers side HUB from the yard had a bad bearing
Replaced the end links as they were already shot (these were replaced when I bought the car) got Moogs this time around.
Replaced the timing belt plunger O ring which did not fixed the small leak I have was told the leak is from the timing cover but its started to get cold here not sure I will get to it??
I now ran into another issue the front lower control arms have bad ball joints so I ordered two new ones that need to be replaced, also noticed that the from drivers side motor mount is trashed so I ordered it too.
180k miles it is starting to show some age on the wear and tear parts

[whitealltrac]

Update: 3.26.18
I still have to take care of a few things on the car now the A/C lost freon and the emergency brake needs adjustment.
Waiting on the weather to turn around and get warmer so I can clean up the list of things that need to be done.
The 18 Corolla hatch was revealed and I think Im gonna sell the Vibe and get the new Hatch.

[ImUrOBGYN]

I like the looks of the new hatch, as well.

[KingKrab65]

I like the looks of too. I don't like the pseudo hatch area though. There is more room in the Vibe's spare tire pit than there is in my wife's Juke's rear hatch area.

[whitealltrac]

5/31/18
Replaced both front rotors, new brakes all around, new tires, new front control arms, a/c compressor took a dump bought a refurbished one from Ebay will have to replace it soon cuz its hot as hell here in Pa. Rear 12v stopped working will need to look into that. The lower console under the shifter wont stay shut its driving me crazy.

Car is @ 199k riding good still has good power little to no engine oil consumption so engine is solid for the miles it's the little things that are driving me nuts...

[zbyers]

5/31/18
Replaced both front rotors, new brakes all around, new tires, new front control arms, a/c compressor took a dump bought a refurbished one from Ebay will have to replace it soon cuz its hot as hell here in Pa.

Where you at in PA? I wish this beauty was near me! haha.

Reading through your posts I would agree it's the timing cover or crank seal leaking for that oil leak. Crank seal isn't too bad to do; take fender line out, belt off, take crank pulley out, yank old gasket out, insert new, tada!

199k miles isn't bad at all. My 03 GT is at 267k. The paint is showing it, but the motor and everything else does not.

[whitealltrac]

5/31/18
Replaced both front rotors, new brakes all around, new tires, new front control arms, a/c compressor took a dump bought a refurbished one from Ebay will have to replace it soon cuz its hot as hell here in Pa.

Where you at in PA? I wish this beauty was near me! haha.

Reading through your posts I would agree it's the timing cover or crank seal leaking for that oil leak. Crank seal isn't too bad to do; take fender line out, belt off, take crank pulley out, yank old gasket out, insert new, tada!

199k miles isn't bad at all. My 03 GT is at 267k. The paint is showing it, but the motor and everything else does not.

Im in Allentown Pa.

[zbyers]

Ahh. complete other side of the state. I'm up near Erie. We are planning to the the GenVibe 2019 meet in PA next year. I'm looking at Bradford since they have the zippo/case factory and museum.

[whitealltrac]

5.16.19 report.
Vibe is still running pretty good, my gas lid / door broke off from the hinges ugh...I have it taped until I can get one same color from the yards....has anyone done this repair? I guess drill off the hinges from the door then replace it with one from the yard by riviting it in place?

[treesleavedents]

Broken gas door, damn... That's a new one for me! Good luck fixing it!

[whitealltrac]

Update
5/5/23

I am sad to report my Vibe GT was totaled. I did get hurt and as of today 9/30/23 I am still being treated for issues with my right hip. I want to thank everyone that helped me on this forum. I now owe an 09 Matrix.