GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Yesterday (Thursday, January 6th) we ended up with a bit of snow on the ground here in Wisconsin. My drive to work went without issue, but when I got there the parking lot had yet to be plowed. The 8-12" inches in the parking lot was almost too much for my car to handle with my crappy tires (Stock Conits). The thick snow caused me to be mired numerous times. To get moving I did the usual and put my '03 5 Speed base into reverse, back up, stop, shift into first and then go. I did this numerous times in my 20 minute effort to park my car. Just as I was almost to a spot, I got stuck again. After backing up, I put the car into first gear and released the clutch. As soon as the clutch began to disengage there was a grinding noise as the car slipped out of gear. I tried again. Same grind, same slip. The third time I made sure I had the gear selector all the way up and left. Same results.Worried that I had some how wrecked the clutch or transmission, I tried to back up. The car responded like normal. I stopped and tried First again, I went forward with out a problem. The only difference was that First gear felt notchy. There is now a slight hang up as the gear selector enters the gate. So after a tortuous day of waiting at work, I went to the car and it was just as I left it. The slight hang up still exists in First gear was (and is still) there. I stopped by the Pontiac dealership on my way home to have them look at it. Their "expert" conclusion was that the snow in the wheel well was triggering the traction control. I just sighed, took my keys back, and left. My car, along with every other '03 Vibe on the road, does not have traction control!So now I turn to the collective membership of GenVibe to ask: What the hell was happening and did I cause any real damage to either the clutch or transmission?Thanks in advance!

If I had to take a guess, I would say it sounds like a damaged synchronizer if it's hanging up when shifting into gear and it's only on that gear. What were they thinking? Traction control? The Vibe has no such thing (you knew that though).

Sounds like a synchro to me too...had a similar problem with my Corrado before the Vibe.

could be a linkage problem. check to make sure everything is connected and aligned as it should be. next guess after that would be synchros lol but I cant imagine doing what you did would kill the synchro that fast.