GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

This is my Vibes first winter, and so far it's been okay. I got winter tires (which has kept my car upright!) so it's pretty steady on the road. I have read the endless threads about the battery issue, so I've been keeping my block heater plugged in most of the time when it's below -10 celcius. Right now it's -31 celcius, and I've noticed that my steering is tight, and it took more than half of my 40km drive to work for my car to warm up to the proper temp range.... How is everyone else doing? Anybody have any cold-related issues?

Nothing too bad here, but then again it's only about -11C where I'm at right now. In the relatively warm conditions I live in, here's my gripes, all occur below 40F: Valves clatter until the engine warms, engine cranks slooowly due to the battery getting weak, dash rattles, and I have noticed the steering does get a bit stiffer the colder it gets. Other than that, it does ok, and generally with warmer conditions none of the above occurs.This is the Vibe's third winter now; it has done well in the past. Had several days where the temp was below 10F, started right up and no issues at all... Of course Indiana seems almost tropical in comparison to Canada.

We'll see in a few minutes when I go out there to start my car in the -20 that it is... BBRRRRR!! *edit* 3 mins laterI went out, hopped in and turned the key. Car probably cranked over about 4 times and then fired right up, followed by a little complaint from the starter which I was expecting. -19 according to the car outside air temp but the car is sheltered by the house. We'll see how cold it gets when I'm out there driving to work.

well, it's slow to start, and takes forever to get warm. however, it loves that cold air going into the CAI!!

Most will react slow... Both of my cars are in a garage and we have single temps here right now. In the morning things are tight and mostly my car, feels like I am dragging something or something is pulling the car while driving until warm. Just do not drive the car hard until warm, it will be and is normal (at least from what you describe) to be a bit slower overall. If once warm and you still have issues then I would have it checked. Keep you fluid levels full too.

Yeah, it took my car forever to warm up this morning, it cranked right up though. It was 3 degrees this morning.

it was about 2 degrees here this morning, and it took a few cranks, but she started up.It took forever to warm up but I don't think my rear defrost wanted to do it's job though.

went to get gas last night and my gas door would not open, had to get hot water from inside the station to unfreeze it.

7 degrees per what my car said this morning. Cranked a few times then started up. Was a little groggy on the back road until I got on the highway and got some gas into it. Steering was tight but that seemed to be about it...for now, LOL.

Quote, originally posted by PhillyVibeGT »went to get gas last night and my gas door would not open, had to get hot water from inside the station to unfreeze it. same with mine yesterday, I pulled the lever while at the same time wiggling the key in the door, it popped open then. But I was getting worried.

-30c: Clutch was stiff and temp guage took forever to raise. Biggest problem was shifting wearing boots!!!

CalculationsCelcius to FarenheightC = F - 32 divided by 1.8Farenheight to CelciusF = C x 1.8 + 32

Quote, originally posted by vibe-04 »-30c: Clutch was stiff and temp guage took forever to raise. Biggest problem was shifting wearing boots!!! -22F is -30c It was -32.6c here last night and no problem with the car. It was plugged in for 2 hours and has the new bigger battery.

It was about -5 F here last night. This morning, took the Vibe 3 miles to warm up instead of the usual 1 mile. Oh, and don't ever roll down your windows when its cold, they'll get stuck...lol.

remote start is useless if your battery is to weak to start the car.not only that but i needed a jump just to get home.

Naw Satur9, Some of the people here are talking bout the Engine Block Heaters.Inder

today marked day one of many where "my car won't start, its making a weird noise, everything is stiff, my windows don't work. my wipers are not working properly (from turning them on frozen) I got no washer fluid" season... whoo whoo...

I actually have a garage cleaned out enough to put my car in so all is well even with an overnight low of zero. [Some of my neighbors have garages but they are so full of "stuff" there is no room for their car(s).]

Well so far no troubles with the cold the other day was just above 0 F and had a sluggy than normal start but no problems...

Quote, originally posted by Mavrik »today marked day one of many where "my car won't start, its making a weird noise, everything is stiff, my windows don't work. my wipers are not working properly (from turning them on frozen) I got no washer fluid" season... whoo whoo...I had a weird "frozen car" problem with my wife's Park Avenue a few years ago. She parked it in the driveway one night and we had heavy freezing rain overnight. I went out in the morning to scrape it off and warm it up for her. I hit my remote to open the doors then watched helplessly as the frozen-solid power mirrors tried to reposition themselves to my remote's settings and shattered the glass on the right side.

Easier way to calculate F to C or C to F is this....minus10=14F....0C=32f....10C=50F....20C=68....30C=86.......every 10 degrees C = 18 degrees F........simple.MY Vibe starts like a champ...and it's been as low as -25 here for a few days 2 weeks ago then today it's been down to -16.Mind you it's brand new so I dont really anticipate any problems soon.......WHOOHOO!!One thing though I am having a small spot of trouble getting used to is the front wheel drive...completely different animal as opposed to rear-wheel drive.And the clutch is so touchy......just getting used to that but all in all....just love this car.

Mine is doing ok, I keep expecting the battery to die or to have starting problems, but none so far. this morning it was 15 °F ( ~ -10 °C) and no real issues. Had a small amount of snow here last night, and the salt trucks really dumped it on. Coming home tonight I thought I must be going blind, when I got home I noticed that the accumulated salt on the front of my car was mostly blocking the headlights. That and this morning the driver's side washer nozzle stopped working for about a half hour, then started again. I used blue washer fluid, but maybe it froze up.for what it's worth, you can get the little degree sign (°) by typing& deg ; (without the spaces)

Mine has been starting fine. Dont see any of the battery problems yet. Got Contis on steel ,and put the alloys away for the season. Had 2 below this moring and 2 of snow. All is well. The snows seem to help alot.

Went to start mine a Monday or two ago. It was dead. Of course leaving the dome light on for 3 days was probably the culprit.

I've experienced the fuel cover frozen shut but managed to get it open like Mavrick by wiggling the key in the door.My rear door doesn't always latch properly when its cold. It'll sound like its shut but when I drive off the interior light comes on as the latch has caught on the first click and I have to get out and shut it again.

do any of you find that the volume knob on the stock radio gets pretty tight in the cold? any colder and i might need a set of pliers to turn the radio up!the block heater worked very well the last 2 nights. started right up in the morning and only took about 4 or 5 km (after a 2 minute sit in the driveway) to reach normal operating temps!

hey all, the vibe runs slow on purpose when ran in colder conditions, the engine is programmed to rev at a lower RPM until it reaches a certain temp...

0(F) Degrees right now and I am suprised a how much better my vibe accelerates in cold weather. The little engine must love the cold air.No problems starting so far. We'll see tomorrow morning and Friday morning when it is forcasted to be at -15F to -20F I will keep y'all updated. The leather does get a bit chilly on me bum, though. I might have to invest in heated seats ($500 for the upgrade from the dealer.)Later,BrianP.S.-I'll try Thursday morning without the block heater and Friday morning with the block heater and let you know the difference it made.

[QUOTE=gpk99]...MY Vibe starts like a champ...and it's been as low as -25 &deg here for a few days 2 weeks ago then today it's been down to -16.Mind you it's brand new so I dont really anticipate any problems soon.......WHOOHOO!!Since your Vibe is new gp, is it an '05? I understand they have a 565 CCA battery vs. the miserable motorcycle-sized 310 in the '03s and '04s...

quick tip for cold morning starts....that is if you dont do this already....make sure the radio, the HVAC unit, and all other accesories are off before starting the engine then once running turn them back on...

thank you MadBill for the info....and I remember the salesman telling me that the new 05's do have a stronger battery.

I dont know how all you northernerss manage the below 0 temps!!!..I still have summer tires on ...its 30 degrees out, and I love the power gains the colder weather brings!!!

Temps have averaged 10 to 25 here, and not a single sign of trouble...The new 550 works like a charm...

It took 6 cranks of the engine to start the Vibe on that Thursday(-12F) morning without the block heater plugged in. I took 3 cranks of the engine on Friday(-13F) morning using the block heater and it turned over much easier. So the block heater did make noticeable difference.Hope everyone had a great Holiday!Brian

I've been having most of the usual winter annoyances. Battery barely turns the engine (thought for sure that it was going to finally die the other day, but it started just in time), steering gets tight, rear door gets harder to operate/struts won't push it open, clutch gets tight, shifting is difficult, takes until springtime for the engine to warm up, doors required more effort to open and close and make a creeking sound when opening/closing, more rattles from the dash, just the usual.Anyone know off hand if the GT's 2zz engine has an aluminum block? The other day I went out and (barely) started the Vibe to let the snow and ice begin to melt before driving it. After starting it, I went back in the house, cleaned up the kitchen, took a shower and got dressed, and by the time I went out to the car, it was still just barely warm enough to melt the snow and ice. It was about 8&degF outside at the time so it was rather cold.And a big thank you to joatmon for showing me how to make the &deg sign on here. It's been over 2 years here now for me and this is the first time I saw someone post how to do that!

Both the 1ZZ and 2ZZ have aluminum blocks.BTW joatmom, where did you learn that "degree" trick? Is there a secret code book hidden somewhere on the site? What other wonders does it reveal to the cognoscenti?

Quote, originally posted by Stang2Vibe »Anyone know off hand if the GT's 2zz engine has an aluminum block? The other day I went out and (barely) started the Vibe to let the snow and ice begin to melt before driving it. After starting it, I went back in the house, cleaned up the kitchen, took a shower and got dressed, and by the time I went out to the car, it was still just barely warm enough to melt the snow and ice. It was about 8&degF outside at the time so it was rather cold.These engines are so small that your blowers probably cooled the engine off quicker than it could produce the heat at idle. On another note, be careful with warming up your car unattended for that long. I knew someone who got his car stolen that way!

Thanks for the block info, guys. That is what I thought.Quote, originally posted by Mase »On another note, be careful with warming up your car unattended for that long. I knew someone who got his car stolen that way!Yes, I've heard those horror stories as well. However, I do live on a dead end street that sits sort of in the middle of a maze of streets, so it's not easy to get in and out of here. Most people on my street are either never home or are lazy housewives who only come out of their houses in the summertime when they see a member of their own clique walking their dog and they go out to gossip about people on the street that they actually know nothing about. I'm also known to be friendly with a few proud gun owners on the street .Besides, what's the worst that could happen even if it is stolen? I wait a week for the police to dawdle around, collect my check from the insurance company, and go out and buy a new one. I've really got much bigger things to worry about. But I don't want to seem rude, I do appreciate the members here looking out for one another and sharing good advice.

Quote, originally posted by MadBill »BTW joatmom, where did you learn that "degree" trick? Is there a secret code book hidden somewhere on the site?joat is a computer programmer by profession. If you ask nicely, he can tell you what IP address you are using to log onto this site with. And he can tell you how to make your text appear in various different colors and point sizes in these forums. Isn't that right, joat? Quote, originally posted by MadBill »What other wonders does it reveal to the cognoscenti? ...and the illuminati.

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »for what it's worth, you can get the little degree sign (°) by typing & deg ; (without the spaces) You can also get the degree sign by holding down the Alt key and typing the numbers 0, 1, 7, 6. I don't think Mac users have an Alt key, though I have the "paltry" 2003 battery, and have yet to have any problems with it! I didn't plug my car in Christmas night (which is another story) and it only took 6 turns in the morning (this is the report from my husband). Last night, same thing, and it only took 4 or 5 turns this morning. It's been around -18°C (0°F) for the past few days. I have some sort of crazy-weird luck - that battery has not yet left me stranded. I'm on my 3rd winter with the car.

My Vibe has handled our crappy winter very well so far. We have had some mornings that were bitterly cold and she started!Now on to January lol

Well other then what I am assuming was tampering to my battery while I was away for a week in Nov, my car has been starting just fine in the cold. What I am noticing and this is normal though, is on cold mornings the starter whines for a few seconds.

I've noticed that my stick shift is really stiff in the cold, and my clutch takes more pressure to push down. I think I will invest in a car started next winter...

Crappy gas mileage in the winter - getting about 440km's to the tank now and all we do is highway driving at 115km/h.Starts like a dog too - even my Dodge, yes Dodge Dakota (affectionately known as POS) starts better......

No cold here.

So far so good. Mine is a 2003 bought at the end of Jan. 2003. Battery seems to be sluggish in this cold but the Vibe starts right away. Good thing I don't have to crank very long. Think I could get a replacement battery for free under warranty?

I think that is the Delphi battery that has been messing up with a lot of people. I have the AC Delco that came with the car and it works great. It'll have a sluggish start as you stated, but never been in the situation where the car didn't start.Inder

B-b-b-b-b-b-bitterly c-c-c-c-cold here this morning......Temp in the dash read -31.....and with the blowing windchill the radio station was reporting tempertures of -45 or colder.All week previous to this deepest cold plunge the temp hovered around -20 to -25 and the Vibe started just fine.Wierd thing I did notice though at that cold temp is when I slipped the key in and cranked it there was a pause....almost like the car was telling me....gimme a sec...gimme a sec.....heehee and zzzzzzoom......away she went. Tonight is the second day in a row I will have plugged it in. It's c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-cold!!!!!!!!!!!

7 below here, no heater and the car starts pretty well. The times I started the car today there was a slight delay between the key turning and the engine turning over. After a 2 month hiatus from using the Vibe, today was my first day back... It was a little dissapointing that the car never completely warmed up on the way to school, so I wasn't able to appease my itch to access the higher rpm range : ( Otherwise, the car handles great in the snow and the vents inside the car heat up the interior quickly : )I give it an A!!

Other than the crack in my windshield growing viciously larger because of the constant drastic cold/warm temperature changes, my Vibe's been a champ!