GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

vibenvy wrote:^ 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!

60smd amber tower CK version in turn signal

Kennsington 35w HIDs in the lows

last gen LEDs for DRLs with capacitors added to prevent flicker, don't project much light, but look bright in housing, DRL only, low wattage draw
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PW30TTC

these OPT7's are in the fogs
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WNQGYHC

led compat flasher

led array panels in the dome lights

typical 194 led bulb in license plate

wedge bulb in shifter (haven't tackled the hvac yet)


still working/playing on the rear spider bulb LEDs.... have chrome domes in the rear turn signals

I changed the power steering pump in my 2005 Base model. Not that complicated, but very hard to get at.
Put the whole front end up on jack stands, removed the right front wheel and splash guard, and pulled the belt off the alternator. The hose clamp was defective so I had to remove it by bending it from the ends with pliers and a screwdriver. That took 1/2 hour. The other metal line took a 19mm wrench. The two bolts holding the pump took 14mm socket on the pulley side and 14mm wrench on the back. The pump has no adjustment because none needed with the belt tensioner; therefore it is mounted between bolt bosses and is very tight. Had to pry it loose with a medium pry bar, and then work it back and forth 40 times. It took me 1/2 hour to get the replacement in place and lined up to get the bolts in. I positioned the top holes first, slid in the bolt, and then pushed in the bottom. Next time I will sand a few thousandths off the bosses on the pump so it will fit between the mounts more easily. Obviously it wouldn't be good to get it too loose because the alignment is critical.
Having the front end off the ground made bleeding the system easy by employing another thread in this forum about replacing the fluid. I drained the reservoir with a turkey baster with 1/4" hose stuck in the end. Then I unhooked the return hose from the bottom of the reservoir and stuck it into a soda bottle. As I bled the system, all the old fluid dumped into the bottle so now all the fluid is fresh. Very little air in the system which dissappeared within a few minutes, letting the car sit and idle. pumping the fluid around.
I bought a low mileage pump off an eBay Motors business, from a totalled Vibe for $59, and got a warranty with it. It came with the pulley in place. Saved myself $420 off the dealer's quoted price. If I get bored this winter I may consider buying a seal kit, and rebuilding my old pump.

You can also spread the bosses back out by putting a bolt in, threading a nut on, and hammering on the bolt head to push the bosses out.

I fixed my slippage in 2nd gear issue with new TIV fluid and a filter kit. Don't know if that has fixed it "for good" or is just masking my problem. We shall see.

Got a used 2009 Matrix EVAP canister today for $50. I removed it myself while lying in a pile of thistle. Fast-forward about 30 minutes: My back is covered in itchy welts.

With any luck, this will fix my issue because I don't want to spend $150 replacing it.

Also, transmission was slipping today while I was driving into a headwind.

I put the winter wheels on. MSW OZ rims with General Altimax Arctic 195/65/15. I think this is the fifth winter, my second.

I should have done it a week earlier. We had the first snow day and of course I slipped out with the all season tires. Let's rename this class Three Season Tires. I made a 90 degree left turn and the tires decided 45 degrees is enough. I turned the steering straight and went on the brakes but it still went over the curb. No damage except to the Ego.

My son reported that his Hyundai Sonata with Michelin X-ice tires did not slip at all.

Get dedicated winter tires!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDeXYUNbCpI

Replaced the drivers side HVAC light following the directions from another forum post. Was pretty easy other than having to deal with buying a freaking $15 lightbulb...

Well, it finally happened... the radio volume knob on my Vibe broke last weekend . Thank goodness for the steering wheel controls at least.

I rotated the winter tires on my mom's Vibe today.

I replaced the emissions canister on the 03 GT today with a used one from a Corolla at my local LKQ Pick your Part. Hopefully it is good enough to stop the emissions codes it has displayed for months. Cross my fingers!!!

trb wrote:I replaced the emissions canister on the 03 GT today with a used one from a Corolla at my local LKQ Pick your Part. Hopefully it is good enough to stop the emissions codes it has displayed for months. Cross my fingers!!!

Bad pic, but a beautiful sight with all green lights! Ready for emissions testing.

trb wrote:

trb wrote:I replaced the emissions canister on the 03 GT today with a used one from a Corolla at my local LKQ Pick your Part. Hopefully it is good enough to stop the emissions codes it has displayed for months. Cross my fingers!!!

Bad pic, but a beautiful sight with all green lights! Ready for emissions testing.

Torque?

RDUNick wrote: Torque?

Yes, on my old smart phone. Works well and it is neat that it can still update the app via wi-fi. I used to mount it in my instrument panel on the 10 GT. Don't have a handy place for it in the 03 GT though.

trb wrote:Yes, on my old smart phone. Works well and it is neat that it can still update the app via wi-fi. I used to mount it in my instrument panel on the 10 GT. Don't have a handy place for it in the 03 GT though.

I like that app as well. I just bought an Eonon HU that runs on Android and will be using Torque through it.

its going to be a busy weekend....

Last night I took my mom's Vibe to the car wash and sprayed it off, than brought it home and went over it with a wet towel, followed by a dry one. Wiped down the door jambs, engine bay, etc. and did a quick interior detail. Unfortunately, I won't have time to clean mine this weekend which sucks because it's filthy .

OK so you know I don't drive my Vibe a whole lot because of my job (company car gets used constantly) but I drove it downtown to the clubs (lot of good local bands have been playing lately) and I somehow missed this. My Vibe turned over 20,000 miles finally We drive it where parking may be a problem. That is, the Vibe is much easier to park compared to the Silverado

tpollauf wrote:My Vibe turned over 20,000 miles finally

Yay!

Ours are nearing 64,000 !

uninstalled the injen rd2082p and installed the rd2075p. The 2082 was a pain to position properly, but once positioned it fit great. The 2075 jams the filter exactly where the rear of the fog light should be... Also had to uninstall the new headlight I bought because it wont adjust properly... So I guess when they send me the new headlight I'll try to adjust the intake as well.

Have been doing this over the past 2 days. A few first time flushes since car is going on 6 years old, Think it's time for fresh fluids all around.

Switched over to winter tires on rims.

Blocked off the front grill with a thick board.

Changed gear oil to OEM synthetic 75W-85 GM #10953477.

Changed oil to 0W-20 Mobil 1, K&N filter.

Did the first coolant flush and refilled with OEM Toyota Super Long Life pink 55/45.

Pretty much ready to roll for winter. Last thing left to do is a brake fluid change at some point next week

Finally got new OEM floor mats; I'd say the old ones were well on their way out!

toronto area christmas dinner last night

missed a couple of matrix as we closed the restaurant....but this is the photo i got

My mom's Vibe turned over 64,000 miles this past Thursday and mine turned over 64,000 miles earlier today.

Thanks to a Corolla owner's post on Toyota Nation, I discovered a couple goodies to order for the Vibes.

Fixed several broken grounds on the side of my engine that were causing the C/OPN relay that controls the fuel pump to toggle open and shut rapidly when the car idles. It took a couple of days because I couldn't get ProDemand to print anything but the first page of the engine performance electrical diagrams and ended up with four copies of page 1. I had to work my way through the circuit until I got to the grounds on page 3.

bought another 03 GT that i'll be parting out shortly...

AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!! I realized today someone scraped the passenger side of the 03 GT. Now I know my son and I squeezed the trash cans by the car Sunday night, but I don't think it could have scratched the paint that bad with plastic trash cans. I ended up wet sanding the clear coat to remove the scratches and I still need to finish with the buffing compound.

And I found out I took in some water on the passenger side during our rains the past week. Car started to smell a bit, so I checked the carpets, and the padding, carpet and floor mats on the passenger side were all wet. Pulled out the padding, dried the floors and wet vacuumed the carpet, and now have a fan running to try and dry it out completely. Apparently the body plugs do not seal very well on these cars, as I hit several inches of standing water on that side and it sprayed all over the car. I guess I won't be doing that again!

trb wrote: I realized today someone scraped the passenger side of the 03 GT.

I can certainly relate to that Thomas Only in my case it was our newer Silverado and a couple nice scratches along the passenger side. Also, somewhat fortunate for me, My 4.0 megapixel IP security cameras came in handy and I was able to find out who did it. It was the wife when mowing the grass she scraped the Silverado with the lawn mower handle (insert emoticon for stupidity here). I've yet to tell her as it would lead to "divorce court" and of course it would be all my fault for parking over to far near the grass. Some days you just can't win. Didn't do anything to it yet. I figure I'll just wait for her to give it a matching set on the drivers side then I'll have the truck completely detailed!

i installed the Weathertech floor liners i got for Christmas today. Man, these are nice! any time i buy a new car in the future, i'm getting a set of these ASAP. they're so much more functional and stable than my old all-season rubber mats, which got brittle and cracked after 5 years.

Zimm wrote:i installed the Weathertech floor liners i got for Christmas today. Man, these are nice! any time i buy a new car in the future, i'm getting a set of these ASAP. they're so much more functional and stable than my old all-season rubber mats, which got brittle and cracked after 5 years.

Great to hear! I'm going to WeatherTech this weekend to pick up floor liners for both our Vibes! I went there a few weeks ago to get floor and cargo liners for my dad's new Chevy Trax and man do they fit nice and boy are they easy to clean, so I decided to get them for the Vibes. We've had the GM rubber mats since we got the Vibes and they've done a great job of keeping the carpet clean, but they're a major PITA to get decently clean because of all the little nooks and crannies, so I finally decided to make my life easier and just get the WeatherTech floor liners .

Replaced the intake manifold gasket @ 200k. Kept thinking if it isn't broken don't fix it, in this case it was if it isn't broken it will soon be broken. Failure was only a footstep away. Wish I had done it when I got the car, kept thinking it was going to be a major undertaking and fretted breaking vacuum lines. Overall the way the 1ZZ-FE engine is positioned in the Vibe makes it fairly easy to work on. Process takes about 1-2 hours depending on how much cleaning and inspecting you do while apart. Even at 200k the vacuum lines and hoses were supple and in great condition.

Thanks to those who posted tips on the repair. Also found the following video helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTh3SRYhDyA
Clamping the coolant hoses saved a lot of time, removing the intake assembly in one piece. While apart, cleaned the throttle body and inspected the MAF. Also used power foam on the intake manifold to remove most of the oily deposits. Just wiped down the intake ports, the deposits were still fluid and not crusted on. Appears these oily deposits may be from a failed PCV valve, will have to run a while and see if anything changes. While working on the intake, replacing the PCV is about a 10 minute project. As bad as it looks, the car was not using oil between changes.

I installed the newer design sun visors I got from an 08 Vibe a couple of weeks ago, replacing the fixed visors in the 03 GT. I can finally move them to block the sun on the side windows!

Getting close on the Tercel!

trb wrote:I installed the newer design sun visors I got from an 08 Vibe a couple of weeks ago, replacing the fixed visors in the 03 GT. I can finally move them to block the sun on the side windows!

I wonder if those would fit 2nd gens? The OEM visors are useless when putting them to the sides.

I did a few things!

I replaced the timing chain tensioner itself since I had to do the O-ring. May as well, at 13 years old/146k. I put Mega Black RTV (I already had it, still new/sealed) around the O-ring before reinstalling. It should hold up well since it's specifically "maximum oil resistant". It took longer to get the new tensioner to click out than it did to pull the old one and install the new one!

I topped off the oil to perfectly reaching the upper dot on the dipstick so I can monitor if it's still losing oil after the tensioner/o-ring replacement and application of RTV. The new one's O-ring did look a bit thicker so it should be sealed up nicely now. I hand tightened the nuts as much as I could with a socket first, then carefully alternated between the two with a socket wrench. I dunno what kind of oil it had, so odds are I mixed. I had a new qt of 10w30 Pennzoil I bought it as am emergency backup ($6 or $7 from a rural gas station) for my last car that was eating up oil and coolant fast. It took somewhere near 3/4 of a qt to raise it from a bit below 1/2 way between the dipstick dots. In the next week or two, once I'm convinced it's not losing oil from the tensioner, then I'll proceed with doing my Mobil 1 oil change.

Once that was done, I replaced the serpentine belt with a new OEM GM one.

And finally, I replaced the cabin air filter with a new cheap one.


...plus I fixed the wipers on a neighbor's 95 Ford Explorer. (bad linkage bushings). Then unpacked and set up her new TV for her.

Yeah, a very busy day.

trb wrote:I installed the newer design sun visors I got from an 08 Vibe a couple of weeks ago, replacing the fixed visors in the 03 GT. I can finally move them to block the sun on the side windows!

I want some of those!!

vibenvy wrote:

trb wrote:I installed the newer design sun visors I got from an 08 Vibe a couple of weeks ago, replacing the fixed visors in the 03 GT. I can finally move them to block the sun on the side windows!

I wonder if those would fit 2nd gens? The OEM visors are useless when putting them to the sides.

I thought the 09-10 had the same kind of sliding visors? I could have sworn my 10 GT had them.

BenWA wrote: I want some of those!!

I'll keep my eyes open, but this was the first set in decent condition I've found in about a year and a half of looking at Vibes and Corollas.

RRich89 wrote:Finally got new OEM floor mats; I'd say the old ones were well on their way out!

Where did you get your floormats from? My driver's side is starting to look like that old one on the right

I'm realizing I haven't actually posted on this board in over 3 years, took me a while to remember my login info haha!

But today I fixed the loose lower door panel on the passenger front of my vibe as described here viewtopic.php?t=37993.

I had become so used to the end hanging off, but finally ordered some replacement clips from amazon, so today on my lunch break I fitted it back on, took only a few minutes.

The new genuine Toyota air filter came, so I promptly installed it.

So far so good, in 18 miles or so of city driving I did today, as far as the timing chain o-ring. No leakage that I can find and the oil level hasn't moved on the dripstick.

The only immediate thing left to do is the oil change, once my new oil pan I ordered online (a good USA made one that won't leak, like the cheap ones in stores do). The existing oil, even before I topped it off after the new timing tensioner was installed, was clean looking and not darkened. It can wait another week or so. With the driving I plan to do this weekend, I'm sure I'll know if it's losing any oil and if it's coming from the O-ring; but odds are that's solved for the rest of the engine's life with the RTV applied.

trb wrote:I thought the 09-10 had the same kind of sliding visors? I could have sworn my 10 GT had them.

Unless they changed from 09-10 (which I doubt). Neither of ours have them .

trb wrote:I installed the newer design sun visors I got from an 08 Vibe a couple of weeks ago, replacing the fixed visors in the 03 GT. I can finally move them to block the sun on the side windows!

Those are cool. One of the first things i did to my Vibe was use a heat gun and remove those ugly stickers. It is not fun and time consuming but well worth it. You have to go slow and heat it up but not get it to where it stretches the vinyl. It will relax some but a practice run on a old one is a good idea. At least you found these cars in the salvage places. Around here people are still driving them because none are in the yards.

FWIW, there are a lot of visors that come up on eBay when searching for "Vibe / Matrix / Corolla sunvisors".

After 2 sets of sylvania kits, 1 turtle wax kit and numerous times with the mothers powerball and wax, i decicded that i just need NEW HEADLIGHTS !!!! Cant wait to give my baby a dual eye transplant New ones came in the mail on fri.

cptnsolo77 wrote:After 2 sets of sylvania kits, 1 turtle wax kit and numerous times with the mothers powerball and wax, i decicded that i just need NEW HEADLIGHTS !!!! Cant wait to give my baby a dual eye transplant New ones came in the mail on fri.

My 03's are amazingly clear. I think it must have been garage kept by the last (few?) owners. Did you order genuine ones or cheap aftermarket ones? I think cheap aftermarket ones aren't made as well, as is the case with a lot of stuff. If they aren't genuine, I wonder if the reflectors are as good and if you'll have acceptable beams of light.

later today this will be going in...

BenWA wrote:

cptnsolo77 wrote:After 2 sets of sylvania kits, 1 turtle wax kit and numerous times with the mothers powerball and wax, i decicded that i just need NEW HEADLIGHTS !!!! Cant wait to give my baby a dual eye transplant New ones came in the mail on fri.

My 03's are amazingly clear. I think it must have been garage kept by the last (few?) owners. Did you order genuine ones or cheap aftermarket ones? I think cheap aftermarket ones aren't made as well, as is the case with a lot of stuff. If they aren't genuine, I wonder if the reflectors are as good and if you'll have acceptable beams of light.

Lucky you Actually I bought cheap ones ( Eagle Eyes ) OEM is way too expensive. As long as they last 3 years im ok. I would have owned the Vibe for 10 years and time to move on......

Should've parted it out. Would've been less work

But then we would not have your fantastic pictures! There is a dash removal thread somewhere and all the pictures are lost. These will help.

Wow, that is more involved than my Mustang. At least I can leave the metal dash frame in place, just drop the steering column, and pull the plastic dash cover far back enough to reach the HVAC box to remove the core without disconnecting EVERYTHING.

Congrats on the accomplishment.

And judging by the handful of nuts and bolts I've got left, I improved the car, too

cptnsolo77 wrote:

BenWA wrote:

cptnsolo77 wrote:After 2 sets of sylvania kits, 1 turtle wax kit and numerous times with the mothers powerball and wax, i decicded that i just need NEW HEADLIGHTS !!!! Cant wait to give my baby a dual eye transplant New ones came in the mail on fri.

My 03's are amazingly clear. I think it must have been garage kept by the last (few?) owners. Did you order genuine ones or cheap aftermarket ones? I think cheap aftermarket ones aren't made as well, as is the case with a lot of stuff. If they aren't genuine, I wonder if the reflectors are as good and if you'll have acceptable beams of light.

Lucky you Actually I bought cheap ones ( Eagle Eyes ) OEM is way too expensive. As long as they last 3 years im ok. I would have owned the Vibe for 10 years and time to move on......

Looking closer lately, they are a little clouded. I should attend to them soon before they get too much worse. I need every bit I can get when it's dark and rainy here.

I don't know if I want to try to do it myself ($25) or pay a shop to do it ($50). Doing it myself, I'd also have to buy a new battery ($13) for my cheap cordless drill for the buffing part. The sanding part by hand would take forever too. It just depends on how good of a job the shop does. If they just slap on some temporary stuff from an $8 bottle, no way. If they actually sand it and treat it like a $20-25 DIY kit, then yeah it would be worth it.

thebarber wrote:Should've parted it out. Would've been less work

I'd have bypassed it and done without heat, as awful as that can be.