GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

When first starting the car, the car will rev and sit around 3K RPM, and never idle down.. All others cars I've driven have started up with a high idle, then dropped down to a normal range after a few minutes.Is this normal for the Vibe? if so, why?Thanks,Nicholas

This could depend on the air temperature; idle at 3K RPM on a cold day is fine, but it should drop back down to ~1K once your reach operating temperature. Is it staying at 3K once the temperature gauge is reading normal? This morning I ran up to the store to get a newspaper and my Vibe stayed at high idle (~2,600 RPM) the whole trip...but it is very cold today and the trip was too short to fully warm the engine. On warm days, my idle is at ~800...but I use synethetic oil (though it is 5w-30). If you are concerned about it, you could try an oil change with 0w-30 Castrol Syntech and a higher-flow filter. Mobil 1 5w-30 is fine too, since the general concensus seems to be that this oil is a bit on the thin side. Now this wouldn't drop your RPM's much, but it will help reduce wear in colder temperatures.

Quote, originally posted by grass »When first starting the car, the car will rev and sit around 3K RPM, and never idle down.. All others cars I've driven have started up with a high idle, then dropped down to a normal range after a few minutes.Is this normal for the Vibe? if so, why?Thanks,NicholasIt stays at a high rpm idle until fully warmed up, I believe it is an "emisions thing" to get the cat warmed up fast. I don't like dropping it into drive when the rpm's are this high, hope it doesn't hurt the trans in the long run.

Mine does not do that. It stays at high idle for a bit but not till up to normal operating temp. Sounds like you have a issue with your Idle advance system

Depending on air temp.mine always jumps to 2k when cold. Then if I let it sit and don't drive. It drops 200rpm every 1-2 minutes it's running. If I take off in just a minute or 2 it will be idling @ 800 or so after 5- 10 minutes. It was 30 degrees the other day. So the higher numbers apply.....yes, 3000 is high.

how cold? mine idles at about 2000rpm regardless of how cold it is... 20 below freezing or 20 above. 3000rpm... seems to high to me.

Hmm, that is odd, i got a 04 5-speed and when i start up on a cold morning ex. 60F it idles at 3k for a few min then gradually lowers to 800 rpm, usually all i have to do it drive for 2 min or so and its idleing normal.

Don't think I worded this post correctly.. What I left out is, this is only on cold starts, everything is fine if I take off and make a stop.. the idle is normal at that time.What I was trying to say is the only time the car won't idle down (not at running temp) is when it's first started, and hasn't been removed from park.From the replys, I think everything is fine and normal. Thanks!

Quote, originally posted by Mavrik »how cold? mine idles at about 2000rpm regardless of how cold it is... 20 below freezing or 20 above. Just dropped my wife off at the train station...5 minute drive from home. The early morning temp was 14 degrees F (-10C). Idle at 2000 rpm on startup. After a 5 minute drive it was down to 1000 rpm.