Engine growling-startup in Drive/Rev for 2 mins

[purplehaze]

Newest guy on the site-what an awesome tool to get to know my Vibe. Saw a posting from eigensz on 10/14/05 with this exact problem-a growling from the engine on initial start-up when the AT is put into DR or R, not evident in park. Is this a problem or the norm? Base engine, 45.000 miles. I'd appreciate piece on mind knowing the real story.

[damronjr]

Welcome to the site! No help here though, sorry.

[4azdmunky]

Welcome, WOW, no that is not normal. Can you explain the 'growl' in a little mroe detail. What physical (not car) thing does it sound closest too (trying to get a grasp on what you mean by growl)Does it do it after driving (everything warm) and going from park to DR/R?Have you checked your fluid level? (I am assuming you have, but have to ask)With the hood up where is the sound comming from (NOT YOU STANDING IN FRONT. HAVE SOMEONE ELSE INSIDE WITH FOOT ON BRAKE, SET E-BRAKE, AND PUT SOMETHING UNDER THE FRONT OF YOUR TIRES (FRONT AND REAR), we need you to come back and post again :~} )My initial feelign is that it is just something loose (bracket) or something banging on something else, or loose heatshield on the exhaust.Could be broken up CAT?.

[ColonelPanic]

Uh oh... Not normal at all... What sort of pitch would you say the growl has?Have a listen to some of my sound clips in this thread. While it wasn't a growl per se, it did make a sound like I was strangling a goat every time I took the car out of park when the engine was cold. It ultimately ended up being a dead transmission and a $4,000+ bill which thankfully was covered under warranty. Hopefully that's not the case with yours, but at any rate, get it looked at soon!It could very well be that your transmission does not have enough pressure at idle, hence the noise when you're shifting out of park. That's what happened with mine, the pump more or less destroyed itself...

[purplehaze]

Thanks for the postings. The growl is like a guy gurgling in the back of his throat. The level of the fluid is just right and I had the tranny flushed last summer at 42M now at 47M. Did they clean the screen-no-even more did they use Toyota type IV -yes their product is Max Life by Valvoline and supposed to be Toyota compatable. There is no noise at idle, cold or warm but I do also notice a half-second gurgle/growl accelerating away from a stop most all the time. I did the hood up routine and the noise is from the pass side and seems to be coming from near the ac compressor. AC was checked last summer-OK status. If its the AC compressor (really feel the vibration on the unit) why does it go away after 2 mins at idle speed and isnt evident in Park?

[ragingfish]

I had a problem with a sound that reminded me of clanging metal...developed right before I traded it in...they checked everything, even changed out the exhaust manifold...but never found the source of it before I got rid of the car...

[purplehaze]

got word from eigensz sayin his similar noise was caused by the serpentine belt and it hydraulic tensioner going south. $120 Canadian and he was under way. Makes sense to me I'm going out to check it now.

[purplehaze]

Sucess! It was the belt tensioner. Dealer wanted $230+, Autozone had one , made by Dayco, that looks identical to the original for $50. A new belt and I'm back to a normal sounding car.

[ColonelPanic]

Was it doing that with the A/C on by any chance?I've noticed that when I fire mine up with the A/C on, I'm getting a growl coming from up there, changes when accelerating... But I don't know if this is a new problem or is simply another chapter in my never ending A/C compressor failure saga, it still needs another compressor which will be #4. I haven't brought it back up to the dealer because quite frankly, I'm sick of this problem and I'm pretty sure the car will never be fixed even after burning up its 100th compressor...But I can buy tensioner being a problem with mine, that could also be why my original power steering pump died and the current one isn't providing hardly any boost, it is miserable trying to drive this thing making low speed turns... It is very hard to turn the wheel at low speeds. Who knows. Two problems and one belt, hmm?I was walking out to my car last night at the store and heard a fellow Vibe owner start hers up, it was making some nasty growling there for a while. It didn't sound good. At least I'm not the only one whose Vibe sucks.

[NSimkins]

Quote, originally posted by purplehaze »Sucess! It was the belt tensioner. Dealer wanted $230+, Autozone had one , made by Dayco, that looks identical to the original for $50. A new belt and I'm back to a normal sounding car.Good to hear! I didn't notice you mention it above, but what year Vibe do you have?

[RomiN00dles]

Just gonna post on this 20 yo. thread as a newcomer. Been following genvibe for a few years to work on my hubby's 04 base.

We just recently bought an 05 to replace his current 04 if it ever needs (250k+ miles and going strong so far but found a deal we just couldn't pass up on the 05).

One thing I had been curious about was this growling noise just as described in this thread. It was exactly as described in my hubby's car when we first got married, but doesn't seem to affect anything substantially, so it has been waiting while I catch up on other pressing maintenance/minor repair items. Didn't think much about it for a while until test-driving this 05, which has the EXACT same noise as the 04. It wasn't a deal-breaker for the price but now I'm gonna have to figure it out.

Planning to replace the tensioner on the 05 and see if that cures it and if so, follow suit with the 04. Will report back since it seems like this must be a common-ish issue.