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How can you tell the AWD is working?
Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2002 4:16 am
by cds22
This might seem like a dumb question...but... I have an AWD Vibe and had to drive it on snow & ice for the first time a couple of days ago. There doesn't appear to be any light on the dash that indicates when the AWD engages so how do I know if it's working? I know... if my wheels are spinning it's obviously not working! But, what if it's only a bit icy and I'm not noticing any spinning? That doesn't necessarily mean the AWD is working. I've driven other AWD vehicles and they have all had a dash light indicating when it was engaged. Any thoughts?
Re: How can you tell the AWD is working? (cds22)
Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2002 4:59 am
by Vibe Rater
Maybe the VIBE is full time AWD? Always on?
Re: How can you tell the AWD is working? (Vibe Rater)
Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2002 5:12 am
by cds22
Nope, it's supposed to just engage when it senses that the front wheels are slipping. At least that's my limited understanding (you might have guessed that I'm not very mechanically inclined .
Re: How can you tell the AWD is working? (cds22)
Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2002 5:55 am
by Sub-Vibe-R
Vibe TI is an integral traction (AWD)and not an 4WD. This mean 100% of the power is routed to the front wheel drive in normal driving and when front wheels stars spinning, a % of the power is routed to the rear wheel. When the front wheels stop spinning, 100% of the power goes back to the front. AWD Vibe does not use a transfert case as regular 4x4 but use a limited-slip differential to route power to the wheel with the better traction. Most of the time, you're driving a front wheel drive.
Re: How can you tell the AWD is working? (Sub-Vibe-R)
Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2002 6:35 am
by cds22
Thanks for the clarification! Do you know how to tell if it's working properly or not though?
Re: How can you tell the AWD is working? (cds22)
Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2002 12:38 pm
by mu_ohio
quote:Thanks for the clarification! Do you know how to tell if it's working properly or not though?If your front tires start to slip, you should feel the rears starting to bite as if it was RWD. I'm not sure what the maximum transfer is, but typically it can as much as 80%.
Re: How can you tell the AWD is working? (cds22)
Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2002 2:07 pm
by NSimkins
quote:Do you know how to tell if it's working properly or not though?Page 4-9 of the Vibe Manual (online version: here) states:"If the front drive wheels begin to slip, the rear wheels will automatically begin to drive the vehicle as required. There may be a slight engagement noise during hard use but this is normal."
Re: How can you tell the AWD is working? (mu_ohio)
Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2002 8:56 pm
by d_m_kolb
I max transfer of power to the rear is 50%. I'm sorry I don't know how to tell it's working though.
Re: How can you tell the AWD is working? (Admin II)
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2002 7:16 am
by mu_ohio
You can tell because your front tires won't be spinning wilding while the back ones stand still. I would think in the AWD, it would be near impossible to spin the tires.