GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

About an hour ago I was accelerating on a freeway on ramp and got up to 6000rpm. Then the oil light came on and I heard a screech, the engine died. I coasted to a stop and tried to start it up and it wouldn't even turn over. So, I had it towed to the dealer. I’ll know tomorrow morning what they find out. This f****** sucks, especially with what I had planned in the near future. I am not a happy camper right now.

the forum software would convert my true reaction to this thread as a long broken string of asterisks,good luck, gonna be a long night of worry for you, and probably some bad news tomorrow.

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »Did you ever install those pulleys or what mods did you do? Nope, sold the pulleys and haven't done any mods for a while. I had the oil changed at the dealer last week. That's about it. I am afraid of what they are going to tell me tomorrow.

Rotten! Yet another shining example of bulletproof Toyota powertrains! I hate to hear about that man... I don't understand why mine still runs, it's had some serious issues since 30K but everyone else's engines are dying while mine stays running! Hang in there man! Still under warranty?

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »Your still under your factory warranty right? You should be ok.... I think maybe the dealer did something wrong during the oil change as you should ask that and bring it to their attention. I only have 19,500 miles on it. So, yeah, still under the bumper to bumper warranty. When I got to the dealer tonight, I told them I just had it in last week for an oil change. So, they know about that. We'll see.

If that is what it is, then I will definitely push for a new engine.

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »Rotten! Yet another shining example of bulletproof Toyota powertrains! Everyone gives me crap about complaining about the poor power train in this car.I have never had a Gm Car with this kind of trouble, until I bought a Vibe with a Toyota Power train. I Wouldn't take a free Toyota, if they offered it to me.Good luck with your car!

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »Well, just make sure it is a new engine and not a rebuild..... Push for that.... I ended up with a brand new transmission, so hopefully a brand new engine isn't out of the question for Bluecrush!

Try to get them to let YOU order the engine for free. Then get a built up monster from Monkeywrench!! It's worth a try at least!!Seriously, did it leave a puddle of oil on the side of the road? Or did they just for get to put the drain plug back in?

I looked under the car while waiting for the tow to come and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

sorry to hear about that, i hope its nothing serious :S thank god your under warranty.

Sorry to hear man Hopefully it's not worst case. The dealer should fix whatever the issue is being under factory warranty, but still sucks at the same time to deal with not havign a car and worrying about your baby.

That really sucks! I hope they don't give you the shaft like they did me! Just curious, were you manual shifting for it to get to 6k or did the tranny not shift or what?

Isnt AWD auto? im pretty sure BC car is auto

Yeah, I'm Auto, Northvibe. But Jason know's that. He is just wondering if I was shifting manually. No, I was not shifing manually when this happened. My car has always gone up to 6400 at redline. I only got to 6000 when it died. I don't think it was the tranny though. Seems more like it is engine related.

Oh man...you gotta know what I'm thinkin....oil change at dealer last week?Jump into the chat room....let's discuss.

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »Yeah, I'm Auto, Northvibe. But Jason know's that. He is just wondering if I was shifting manually. No, I was not shifing manually when this happened. My car has always gone up to 6400 at redline. I only got to 6000 when it died. I don't think it was the tranny though. Seems more like it is engine related.I didn't think it was tranny related so to speak, but wondering why it didn't shift unless you had it fully floored or were manually shifting it. Sucks to hear, hope it's nothing like what happened mine! You said it wouldn't start, but what did it do when you tried to start it?

I was accelerating on a freeway onramp so it was floored to get ahead of a big line of cars that were coming. When I tried to start it I just heard the starter going but the engine wouldn't turn over.

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »I was accelerating on a freeway onramp so it was floored to get ahead of a big line of cars that were coming. When I tried to start it I just heard the starter going but the engine wouldn't turn over.Yep, sounds like mine. When I tried to start it it didn't do anything b/c the broken end of the rod had lodged into the side of the engine wall. Hope all works out. Let me know if there is anything I can do. Keep us posted on how the dealership handles this.

Also, to add insult to injury. We are having a local dealership mechanics strike that just started. Right now only 30% are on strike and mine is one of them. Lucky me. So, it may take longer to get it repaired. They all belong to GMADA - Greater Metropolitan Area Auto Dealers. And the Mechanics union has not been able to reach an agreement on a new 3 year contract.http://wcco.com/consumer/local....html

Man BC... hope all is well. they better fix it. and give you one of those lil taxie air fresheners when there done too!!! Keep us posted!

They offer a supercharger for the FWD. They are Toyota...SO we all believe these are reliable. But the engines are assembled in W.Va. Guess we have been mislead....Great, one more bad thing to look forward to. BC, don't let them tell you the engine was over-revved. All engines have rev limiters now. I think you are the 2nd one to have such a poroblem after visiting the dealer?...bad techs or filters? ALSO, CP...did you ever get the valve lash done???

Well they said my oil pump went out, starved the motor and spun the main bearing. So, now the engine and oil pump need to be replaced. I will be without my car for two to three weeks according to the dealer. Everything will be covered under warranty. Thank God! I mean, I only have 19,500 miles on it, and this happens? Not cool!I was not able to get over there before they brought it inside to check it out early this morning. I just got back from putting in the docks and boat lifts at my parents cabin and got the call on the way home.

Well, sorry to hear this all happened, but I'm glad you're getting it covered under warranty!!

I can only wonder if this could have caused my rod snapping and I was F-ed into fixing myself just b/c I had aftermarket parts installed that they didn't install. Oh well, $1200 lesson in replacing the engine amongst other things!

I was in the process of buying T&A's turbo when this happened. If I had already had a turbo installed I can guarantee they would not be fixing it under warranty. This has led me to the painful decision of backing out of buying T&A's kit. I have 16,500 miles left on my bumper to bumper warranty and don't want to have to foot the bill if something happens again before then. So, I will wait another year before boosting. I can start looking for wheels again and maybe find a set of inexpensive Tein SS-P coilovers.

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »I was in the process of buying T&A's turbo when this happened. If I had already had a turbo installed I can guarantee they would not be fixing it under warranty. This has led me to the painful decision of backing out of buying T&A's kit. I have 16,500 miles left on my bumper to bumper warranty and don't want to have to foot the bill if something happens again before then. So, I will wait another year before boosting. I can start looking for wheels again and maybe find a set of inexpensive Tein SS-P coilovers. I was wondering about that as he said he sold it to some guy in Singapore! I was like, wait a sec, I thought Brian was buying that?!? I feel your pain! Sometimes I wish I would have waited. It's all good though, I also thought sticking to GM parts I would be safe, so another thought there. Keep us posted, and looks like it might be a while for that tranny cooler breakdown huh!?! JP, keep us posted on the Vibe and your wheel search!

Yeah, I was hoping to do the Tranny Cooler write-up with pics this weekend. It will probably be about a month before I'll be able to do that now.Wish100k had his own kit from somewhere else.He is turboing a Toyota Wish in Singapore. Pretty cool!

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »Yeah, I was hoping to do the Tranny Cooler write-up with pics this weekend. It will probably be about a month before I'll be able to do that now.Wish100k had his own kit from somewhere else.He is turboing a Toyota Wish in Singapore. Pretty cool!Oh, I thought he said he got it from T&A, my bad. So I guess his kit is still up for grabs?

It should be because I had already made a payment on it.

What mods did you have on the car? Did you have the SR on it? I am surprised they did not say that caused it.

Wow..the oil pump dies after only 19K miles? Dang.I guess if there's any good news, it's that they even took a look at your car on a Saturday AND with the strike going on.I still can't help but feel that someone over there is trying to CYA this thing...I really get paranoid hearing circumstances like yours.*****So, what kinda of rental did they put you in?

They have regular hours on Saturdays and since only 30% of the dealerships are on strike they brought in mechanics from their other dealerships that are not on strike to cover for them.No rental. I'm sportin' our third car which is a 1993 Saturn SC2 - we are the original owners and it has 65,000 miles on it and still runs like a champ.

When you said you were on the gas and the oil light came on, squeal and no restart. And knowing you had pulleys on at one time I assumed oil pump before I even got to page two lol.Seems a lot of pulleys are taking out oil pumps. The pumps do normally last longer then that.

I never had the pulleys installed. This was on the OEM pulleys.

Cool then wonder why yours went. I just know other ppl were having issues with aftermarket pulleys blowing oil pumps.Your in luck being in warranty, New engine, fresh start haha.

Oil pumps were going on 2zz engines with the UR underdrive pulleys only. There have been no problems that I have found with the 1ZZ and the pulleys. I think it was just a bad oil pump to begin with. I'll be taking it easy for a while...maybe... Mac99d(Vibe GT) had his oil pump go out while using the UR pulleys just earlier this year. His engine was replaced as well.

I'm surprised to hear they didn't automatically see the tranny cooler and blame that without ever checking. That's how they did me, all they had to do was see an aftermarket part or see where one used to be and automatically blame that.

LOL! I know. Although the tranny cooler actually helps the tranny last longer, I can see your point. They even recommended a tranny cooler for towing. LOL.

Yeah tranny coolers are great for auto's. I think it was a option on my dads new escape, but he doesnt tow much at all, just the 4wheeler a couple times a year. BC you still going to do a write up on that tranny cooler? i was thinking about doing that this summer

Yes, I will do a tranny cooler install write-up with pics when I get my car back.

good thing your under warranty.. good thing you didnt have the turbo,,, or you wouldve gotten a big fat bill

you heard a screech?was he like "oh no Mr. Belding!" ???

Oil pump is mounted directly on the crankshaft. So an external pulley would only hurt the water pump's ability to cool properly. But in reality if your oil pump "broke". There are other areas that are likely damaged. Like con'rod bearings, maybe pistons. Sad thing is that you won't know till they put it back together. Also GM has the option of using a new, rebuilt or used part for any repair. Read the manual. I specifically bought this car, thinking I would not need an extended service contract. Now, I am thinking again. Those Korean cars are looking better all the time.

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »About an hour ago I was accelerating on a freeway on ramp and got up to 6000rpm. Then the oil light came on and I heard a screech, the engine died. I coasted to a stop and tried to start it up and it wouldn't even turn over. So, I had it towed to the dealer. I’ll know tomorrow morning what they find out. This f****** sucks, especially with what I had planned in the near future. I am not a happy camper right now. OH MAN. this sounds identical to what happened to me when my oil pump exploded (due to my pulleys). Same scenario and everything on the expressway....I hope you have less damage then I did, because my engine was NAAAAAAAAAAASTY. Pieces of the oil pump were found in the block, the oil pan, all over the place.

What effect does a pulley have on an oil pump? Can someone please explain? Thanks.

Quote, originally posted by djb383 »What effect does a pulley have on an oil pump? Can someone please explain? Thanks.in the 2ZZ (GT) engine, when you change your OEM crank to the underdrive crank, you lose your harmonic balancer (obsorbs engine vibrations) and the oil pump will start getting all the extra vibrations causing it to fail.but they say this doesn't really happen, and that there is no problems. If I could have gotten my pulleys back from the dealer, I was going to melt them down and pour them into a mold of my middle finger to send back to Unorthodox Racing.

Our engines have an internal harmonic balancer. The oem pulley acts as a vibrational dampener.

Thanks to you and Pablo 1669 for the pulley/oil pump explanation - it's a balance thing rather than the pulley itself.Sorry to hear about the pump failure, that's a bummer. If there is a bright side, it will be like getting a new car again after a couple of weeks without it. Your ride is definitely sweet.With regard to your tranny cooler install, may I suggest that you mount the cooler toward the passenger side. I mounted mine in the middle, not realizing that the heat from the cooler will be picked up by the outside temp sensor. Not a big deal, but when driving slow in traffic, your dash outside temp gauge will be indicating higher than the actual outside temp because of the heat rising from the cooler. Also, I've got pics of the fluid line connections if you need them. Best of luck.

Holy Crap! I got the call an hour ago. I got my baby back!!!! Yahooo!!!I figured I'd have to wait another week at least. I'm soooo happy!!! They had someone come in that specializes in Toyota engines to rebuild the block. They kept my original cylinder head. So I got a new oil pump and rebuilt block. I still have another 16,500 miles on my bumper to bumper warranty and I have my extended warranty as well so I'm not too worried about it being rebuilt instead of new. I'll be taking it easy for a while during the break-in period, which they said is 1000 miles. Then get the oil changed again and I will be good to go.I still can't believe I have it back already.