GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Removed the stock 2.4" pulley on the supercharger and replaced it with a SmoothFlow 2.3" pulley. Now, I need to switch from the 85" serpentine belt to my new 84.5" belt to take up the extra slack as I am getting belt vibration between 900-1000 rpm when idling. Hoping to do that tonight.

Late last night...



I'm not ready for 100,000 miles!!

Replaced the radiator fan. What should have been a simple 30 minute job turned into a 90 minute job. The heads on the three screws that hold the fan motor to the shroud stripped out. I couldn't find my easy-outs, so I had drill out all three screws. Nothing is ever easy.

1) Replaced Serpenting belt
2) Got tailpipe bracket re-welded and hole patched - so no rattle and sounds much better!!
3) Had brakes serviced
4) Switched back to the stock air box as I was having A/F lean issues in closed loop that cannot be adjusted for with the Camcon. It's all good now. Power is same and it is much quieter. I will be selling my aFe SRI soon and stay with the stock box.

Boost sensor died, so I may just switch to a mechanical boost gauge from the digital one, since this is the second time it has happened....fun, fun!

New headlight bulbs, because I was bored with the ones I had in. Nokya Hyper Yellow stage 1's. Pics at sundown!

Low beams in daylight:


Night:

over 3 years of ownership, went for an alignment, toe was out of spec

MrHatchWagon wrote:New headlight bulbs, because I was bored with the ones I had in. Nokya Hyper Yellow stage 1's.

We have Nokya hyper yellow Stage 1 bulbs in the fog lights on both our Vibes and we love them. This reminds me... I need to get some night pictures of them .

J_TO_ENVY wrote:

MrHatchWagon wrote:New headlight bulbs, because I was bored with the ones I had in. Nokya Hyper Yellow stage 1's.

We have Nokya hyper yellow Stage 1 bulbs in the fog lights on both our Vibes and we love them. This reminds me... I need to get some night pictures of them .

Those yellow light are very good for driving wet road at night. If i actually saw the pothole last week I don't need to do an alignment ..

Replaced one front upper strut mount since I broke a stud off the old one from it being so rusted. Also took the exhaust out to weld in a hung for my wideband sensor, still working towards getting my supercharger in. Almost starting to get anxious.

Washed the outside and engine bay, cleaned and vacuumed the interior, also cleaned and re-oiled K&N stock replacement intake filter.

All of the above was well overdue...

Went camping over the weekend:

Hey Star, Good pyro...
Did you chop those knotty wood with Fiskars X27 ?

cq358 wrote: Did you chop those knotty wood with Fiskars X27 ?

I work at a sawmill... Nicely planed and cut trim ends.

Since last post:
EBC Yellow Stuff brake pads on the front = whip-lash inducing stopping power! Unbelieveably awesome!

Went racing with my yeller pads - just cannot describe what an improvement these make. I can stay on the GO pedal for countable seconds longer, brake shorter and shave time. Great upgrade! I just hope my rotors can take the heat...

Bank 1 Pie-crust 1 (sorry, that may be the wrong technical term) front O2 sensor replaced (easiest job ever!), CEL gone, car full of fury once again.

Tried to replace intake manifold gaskets - got to the point where manifold *should* have come off, but it didn't. I did find what looked like a leak on the back (downstream) side gasket of my throttlebody and significant carbon deposits in the hose nipples at the throttle body. Took care of all that too. Didn't get intake gaskets done. It felt like I was going to have to force things off but I was never sure I undid all the bolts, nuts, wire-ties and chewing gum necessary to actually remove it. Yes, I wimped out. Maybe next time.

I re-financed my Vibe a couple days ago. It was originally financed through GMAC (now Ally). I decided to re-finance through a local credit union to get my payment down, although I am going to continue to pay what I've been paying all along which will amount to an extra $120.00 every month which will of course mean an early payoff! Another great thing about re-financing is that my first payment through the credit union is not due until August 30th, whereas my payment through Ally would have been due August 11th. Because I will have an extra 19 days, I am actually going to make a double payment for my first payment which will take a nice chunk out of the total right off the bat !

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my Vibe is worth $16,xxx.xx private party and $13,xxx.xx trade in. It is actually worth more than I owe on it !

J_TO_ENVY wrote:I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my Vibe is worth $16,xxx.xx private party and $13,xxx.xx trade in. It is actually worth more than I owe on it !

Congrats! Good for you. When is the magical payoff date?

KITT222 wrote:Congrats! Good for you. When is the magical payoff date?

If I make the minimum payments, December of 2016, but it's hard to say since I will be paying extra. Sometime in 2015 I would assume. The original payoff date was April of 2015. It'd be nice if I could have it paid off right around there.

I will be about 10 minutes from WeatherTech's manufacturing facility and factory store today, so I am going to swing by there and pick up a set of window deflectors for my Vibe. Picking them up directly will save me about $20.00 over ordering them online since Illinois residents have to pay 8.5% sales tax plus shipping.

I will of course post pictures either tonight or tomorrow once they're installed.

I was thinking the other day about CV Joint boots & how dirt & grime is the enemy of rubber...so I sprayed degreaser on the CV joint boots & another boot thats under there. Maybe by keeping them clean they wont wear prematurely.

J_TO_ENVY wrote:I will be about 10 minutes from WeatherTech's manufacturing facility and factory store today, so I am going to swing by there and pick up a set of window deflectors for my Vibe. Picking them up directly will save me about $20.00 over ordering them online since Illinois residents have to pay 8.5% sales tax plus shipping.

I will of course post pictures either tonight or tomorrow once they're installed.

Well, went to the WeatherTech factory store this afternoon. They have a whole huge complex, but the factory store itself is small, but pretty neat. They have floor liners, window deflectors and all their other products on display. The lady I spoke to was very nice. Unfortunately, the 2009+ Matrix window deflectors are on back order, but they are going to ship them to me for free so I will still save around $20.00 over ordering them online (even from Amazon or eBay). The total was $108.45 ($99.95 + $8.50 sales tax). They are supposed to arrive sometime next week. I will post pictures as soon as they are installed.

Installed a new HU and finally got the wideband and boost gauges mounted instead of bouncing around my glove box.



Sunday I'll be putting in a new idler pulley for the SC. The TRD SC is a good setup but the idler pulley and bracket are a POS. Here's a PIC of the one from PSE. It's steel and tinstead of that crappy aluminum one that TRD uses.

J_TO_ENVY wrote:I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my Vibe is worth $16,xxx.xx private party and $13,xxx.xx trade in. It is actually worth more than I owe on it !

Dangit, when I refinanced mine earlier this year it was only worth like $12-13k, which is slightly less than I refinanced it for (I only owed about $10k but they actually gave me about $2k in extra cash since they over-estimated which I used to pay down a much higher interest credit card, I figured that was a sound financial choice).

J_TO_ENVY wrote: Well, went to the WeatherTech factory store this afternoon. They have a whole huge complex, but the factory store itself is small, but pretty neat.

Love that place.

Oh and I've done nothing whatsoever to my Vibe except put gas in it and wash it, which is sad because it needs bugs removed and RainX applied and the seat covers cleaned (and, you know, the summer detail I never did), but I pretty much have forgotten about my poor car for now as I buckle down on a lot of work projects, marketing, networking, and conferences (bye-bye money...)

ponta2147 wrote:Dangit, when I refinanced mine earlier this year it was only worth like $12-13k, which is slightly less than I refinanced it for (I only owed about $10k but they actually gave me about $2k in extra cash since they over-estimated which I used to pay down a much higher interest credit card, I figured that was a sound financial choice).

Love that place.

Oh and I've done nothing whatsoever to my Vibe except put gas in it and wash it, which is sad because it needs bugs removed and RainX applied and the seat covers cleaned (and, you know, the summer detail I never did), but I pretty much have forgotten about my poor car for now as I buckle down on a lot of work projects, marketing, networking, and conferences (bye-bye money...)

I'm assuming the difference in the two values is probably mileage (mine just turned over 32,000) and the fact that mine is a GT and yours is a Base (even though it's a loaded one). I was just happy to hear I wasn't "upside down" on it.

Yeah. I am looking forward to getting the window deflectors and installing them this coming week. I am also considering ordering floor liners, although I will be ordering those from Husky since WeatherTech doesn't make a cargo liner that is compatible with the subwoofer and Husky does. I will more than likely go down to the JC Whitney outlet store in LaSalle to get the Husky stuff to once again save money on shipping and all.

Don't feel bad. I washed our Vibes a few weeks ago, but it had been a few months since I had washed them before that. I haven't really done anything with ours either. I never got around to clay barring and all that. With the heat we've had, I've decided at this point to just wait until the fall to do the pre-winter detail.

Today at 5 years and 128500km, I brought me Vibe into "Meineke Car Care Center" and got the radiator coolant flushed/changed. While I was there also got an oil change. Can't beat $22.95+tax for an oil change!

J_TO_ENVY wrote: I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my Vibe is worth $16,xxx.xx private party and $13,xxx.xx trade in. It is actually worth more than I owe on it !

Mine's worth $4'000 trade (according to Canadian black book) and about $9'000 private. Give or take... about what I figured for a loss-leader...

But it's been paid off since March! Time to rack up the miles and go places!

[quote="ghostpuppy"][/quote]
what's the point ?

Received and installed the WeatherTech dark tinted front and rear side window deflectors this past Friday (August 10th). I am very pleased with the look, fit and quality of them. The only concern I have is the rear ones falling out, but if they do... no big deal, I'll just put new, stronger adhesive on them. Unfortunately I haven't driven my Vibe since installing them, so I'm looking forward to going back and forth to work this week to see how they effect wind noise inside and how they do in the rain (it's supposed to rain tomorrow!).



More pictures can be found in my Garage (click on my signature picture).

Took off the valve cover and looked at stuff. Unfortunately, there's not enough space to comfortably turn the crankcase pulley with any of the tools my dad and I own...unless I want to go two inches at a time until I find that bloody "groove" on the pulley (and no I do not). The good news is I got everything put back together alright. The bad news is that now am I short one bolt on the valve cover. What's even more upsetting is that I am almost completely certain that I took them off and counted 8 total when there should have been 9!

I Cleaned the engine plastics, the air box and the fuse box with *SuperClean* grease remover. Don't wanna clean everything in the engine bay to prevent rust because the car is treated against it.
BEFORE AFTER

Wow, I can't believe how dirty some engine compartments get. I guess it is true "out of sight, out of mind". At least you can start keeping it clean from now on. I would go ahead and clean everything under the hood, including the hood! I keep all of mine as clean as they can possibly be. The two Vibes and Explorer are about as clean as they were when they were new, and even my 25 yr old Mustang has virtually no grease or dirt on it. Simple Green and a good hose spray every couple of months and a power wash once a year do the job.

trb wrote:Wow, I can't believe how dirty some engine compartments get. I guess it is true "out of sight, out of mind". At least you can start keeping it clean from now on. I would go ahead and clean everything under the hood, including the hood! I keep all of mine as clean as they can possibly be. The two Vibes and Explorer are about as clean as they were when they were new, and even my 25 yr old Mustang has virtually no grease or dirt on it. Simple Green and a good hose spray every couple of months and a power wash once a year do the job.

I wipe our engine bays down every time I wash our Vibes. I dry the whole exterior of the vehicle, then I use the damp towel to wipe down the engine bay. It works very well and keeps everything from getting too nasty and needing a deep cleaning. Our engine bays look pretty much brand new as well. Heck, the heat shields on the undersides of our hoods are in perfect shape, even after 3 Chicagoland winters! There's nothing that bugs me more then when a vehicle is all nice and clean and then you see the engine bay and it's all dirty and dusty. Of course, dirty wheel wells drive me nuts as well .

I wouldn't wash the bay with running water to prevent rust because my father did that on the last car, it took a coupe of months before it started to rust real bad. I do live in Canada and winters are tough on a car so I need my anti rust treatment on every part of the car. It gets real dirty, but it protects and does one heck of a job !
You guys must have easy winters in the states though ? I guess.. anyway.. just saying !

felixturcotte22 wrote:I wouldn't wash the bay with running water to prevent rust because my father did that on the last car, it took a coupe of months before it started to rust real bad. I do live in Canada and winters are tough on a car so I need my anti rust treatment on every part of the car. It gets real dirty, but it protects and does one heck of a job !
You guys must have easy winters in the states though ? I guess.. anyway.. just saying !

I agree, but am also a Canadian so I know what winters can do to your car, I only wipe down parts, using a dry or slightly damp cloth, to remove excess dust or dirt buildup. Back to the thread topic tho: Today i finally replaced my broken windshield! Paid out of my own pocket, could not and would not go through my insurance. Expensive initially but less hassle than dealing with the insurance company, plus my deductible is too high anyways.

I took my Vibe to the dealer yesterday.

I know, I know!
It IS the closest place I trust, the owner is a friend, and they actually DO good work, at a price, yes, but the convenience (4 blocks from my house) is worth something too.

Replaced front brake pads, turned rotors, turned rear drums, coolant flush & change, AC recharge, and replace the serpentine belt.

Total bill was still far less than 1/20th of the price of buying a brand new 'something comparable'.

I ended up removing the WeatherTech window deflectors today after one of the rear ones fell out after only being installed a few days. Fortunately it fell into the rear seat as I was leaving work so it didn't break or anything. I am extremely disappointed with the rear deflectors. The front ones fit great, nice and tight and the front windows could actually be left open quite a bit without letting rain in (it did rain yesterday), but the rear ones fit like c r a p and could barely be left open without letting rain in.

I will be returning them to the WeatherTech factory store this coming weekend for a refund. Very disappointed .

J_TO_ENVY wrote:I ended up removing the WeatherTech window deflectors today after one of the rear ones fell out after only being installed a few days. Fortunately it fell into the rear seat as I was leaving work so it didn't break or anything. I am extremely disappointed with the rear deflectors. The front ones fit great, nice and tight and the front windows could actually be left open quite a bit without letting rain in (it did rain yesterday), but the rear ones fit like c r a p and could barely be left open without letting rain in.

I will be returning them to the WeatherTech factory store this coming weekend for a refund. Very disappointed .

I'm sad to hear that. I thought it gave a sick look to your car.

felixturcotte22 wrote:I'm sad to hear that. I thought it gave a (removed) of a look to your car.

I am sad too, but I'd rather get the $108.45 I spent on them back and put it towards something more useful that isn't going to fall off and/or break.

J_TO_ENVY wrote:I ended up removing the WeatherTech window deflectors today after one of the rear ones fell out after only being installed a few days. Fortunately it fell into the rear seat as I was leaving work so it didn't break or anything. I am extremely disappointed with the rear deflectors. The front ones fit great, nice and tight and the front windows could actually be left open quite a bit without letting rain in (it did rain yesterday), but the rear ones fit like c r a p and could barely be left open without letting rain in.

I will be returning them to the WeatherTech factory store this coming weekend for a refund. Very disappointed .

Okay, I just got done putting some 3M Super Strength Molding Tape (#03609; just under $5.00 @ Walmart for a small roll which was just enough to do both rear deflectors) on the WeatherTech rear window deflectors. It is grey double sided foam tape and it is slightly thicker then the original tape that was on them, but that actually seems like it will work better. They do seem to be attached much better with the 3M stuff, so I've got my fingers crossed...

If they fall out again, they're definitely going back!

Now I am debating whether I am going to change my mom's Vibe's oil tonight or tomorrow...

Sanded brake pads, had rotors resurfaced. Today was a fun day that was without injury until I got home and inspected my handiwork. I then proceeded to back up and stand up into the wheelwell of my granddad's trailer, stabbing myself in the back on a nice, rusty corner.

Well, so far so good with the WeatherTech window deflectors. They seem to be attached much better with the 3M molding tape. I actually have so much faith that they're not going to fall out this time that I actually peeled the little WeatherTech stickers off the front deflectors (they were driving me nuts!) . They came off pretty easily and then I used WD40 to get the leftover adhesive residue off. It looks like they were never even there and thus, I'm a happy camper !

I changed the oil on my mom's Vibe this morning. Did the usual while the oil was draining; cleaned the air and cabin filters, topped off the windshield washer fluid, checked the tire pressure and lug nuts, etc. Everything was great as usual. My Vibe will have its turn next weekend.

Sunday I spent a lot of time cleaning up the Vibe. First time in a year, maybe two it has been waxed,

Washed, clay bar'ed, waxed, threw some TrimShine on the plastics. Detailed under the hood. Beautiful once again, though I have some touch-up work to do. Tried looking for a bottle of Neptune touch-up paint locally and couldn't find any, dealer doesn't stock it either. This particular shade of blue was on a lot of GM products around that vintage and now I can't even find the paint.

I changed the oil and did all the other stuff that goes along with it on my Vibe today. Then I did a quick cleaning of the interior because my dad had taken our 3 dogs for a ride in it earlier this morning so there was quite a bit of dog hair and dirty paw prints everywhere. Our 1994 Pontiac Sunbird LE Sedan that is our "spare car" is what my dad typically takes them for rides in, but it has a fuel leak, so the past two weekends he's taken them in my Vibe. I fold the rear seats down and put the 2 GM cargo mats down upside down (the backsides are flat and don't have all the little nooks and crannies that the fronts do, so I figure it's easier on their feet and easier to clean as well). They love having all that extra room to move around and bark at everything they see. My dad said our oldest dog Risa was sitting up against the side of the cargo area and looking out the little tiny side window. I told my dad they're going to get spoiled riding in the Vibe and they won't want to go back to riding in the Sunbird .

After I was done with all that, I took a cruise in the rain to get gas since the low fuel light came on while my dad was out with the dogs. I am really enjoying the WeatherTech deflectors now that the rear ones are securely attached and aren't going to fall off going down the road. It's been a week since I put the 3M adhesive on them and they are still firmly attached even after sitting in the sun and 85-90 degree temperatures all day, everyday this past week while I was at work. It's so nice to be able to have the windows down some while it's raining and not get rain all over the door panels. I'm really happy I decided to bite the bullet and get them. Now I just need to get some for my mom's Vibe because it's jealous .

Picked up a can of Duplicolor High Performance Wheel paint in silver & repainted another hubcap. Came out great & threw on a few coats of gloss polyurathane to keep it protected. One more to go & I will be all done ! They were badly faded & in some areas the plastic was begining to show. The Florida sun is brutal on paint. Now they have new life to them LOL.

On the road again...

Good morning!

I removed my DC Strut Bar, Oil Catch Can, Spark Plug Cover, Pro Dry-S drop-in filter & Voltage Stabilizer to get ready for shipping out to their new owners.

With all the rain we've been getting recently I decided now was a good time to get new windshield wiper blades for V (as she's coming up on 4 years next month). I picked up Rain X latitude blades... we're ready for some more rain!!!

I removed the center console to adjust me handbrake. It was far too tight and was dragging the rear drums. I can feel a definite difference in how the car moves and glides. It's odd driving without the center console. When I went to pick up fast food during work I got a drink, then realized I had no more cupholders! Woops. I'll have to vacuum it out before I put it back. Maybe for the 100,000 miles festival I'll remove the interior and give her a DEEP cleaning.

CLAD rags to glad rags!
First picture is "before" showing loose cladding.
Cladding clips are from Hong Kong (ebay)

front brake pads, PS fluid exchange and synthetic oil change.
thanks to all the great folks at Genvibe for the excellent advice & how-to info.

Corroded hatch LOCK removal / clean-up /troubleshoot / re-grease!
Lock was just corroded. Removed, soaked in solvent, soaked in vinegar salt solution, washed with water, oiled and my key now worked!
Greased lock and re-installed.
chiadog

6000km road trip. 6 days. 9 states. Yellowstone, Salt Lake city, Vegas, L.A, San Francisco, hwy 101, Portland, Going-to-the-Sun rd. Cheapest gas was in Kalispel, Mt, $3.54/gal. Most expensive gas, Hwy 101 between Ft. Bragg and San Fran, $4.60/gal. Used 107 gallons of gas for 5700kms (haven't filled the tank since I've returned), avg fuel economy was 33mpg. Not bad for mainly 75-80mph. Pics in the garage thread.