Vibe Heat Gauge

[joshjagdfeld]

I just purchased a 2005 Vibe that was a lease vehicle until now. Everything is quite fantastic except for a few things, and I wanted to get some good input on them before I act:First, when I drove the car off the lot, it was fantastic for a day or so, then I noticed my heat gauge starting to soar through the top, PAST "H" for Hot. I shut the car off of course and proceeded to have it towed into the service center. I was told that after an inspection that there was a crack in the block, and they replaced the entire engine under warranty for free.Now the car is back, and the heat gauge will never actually reach the "H" anymore, but it fluctuates a LOT between the middle and just below the "H" level. One big difference is that the temperature has dropped here to well below 20 degrees... when it was overheating before, it was still in the 50's or so... would that make a difference? Should my Vibe's heat gauge be modulating THAT much? Do I have a thermostat problem, or another issue?Also, it seems as if I drive the Vibe for a while, the air will be warm coming out of the vents, but if I turn it up a bit, the warm air goes away and it's lukewarm/cold for quite a while... is that normal?Thank you all very much for reading this and giving a response! I'm at a loss for what to do! I love the vehicle, and I just want the problems solved under warranty!-- Josh Jagdfeld

[VforVIBE]

What you might want to do is get you coolant level checked, that could have caused you engine block to crack. The gauge should be smack dam in the middle, mine doesn’t move at all (even in sunny FL). For the hot air, if the AC is on, you'll want to get your freon checked. But the car does get it's air for the engine bay so that might be why if you don't have the AC on.Oh, and let m be the first to welcome to to GenVibe!

[Raven]

Did they replace the motor with a new one or put in a used engine? The temperature gauge in the Vibe only moves when the car first warms and then stays put near the bottom of the little thermometer on the gauge. It does not give the true operating temperature of the engine. It is like a deluxe idiot light. It usually will only move to hot when overheating.

[Vibr8tr]

I agree with the needle should be RIGHT in the middle. But I also STRONGLY agree to just check your fluid level. After my accident, mine was getting all the way to "H" and then would drop a little and jump back up, and without even checking I took it back, and that was the problem. They forgot to fill it, once they did, it was running normal agian.Welcome agian to the site, and feel free to ask anything (even though I am usually more of an asker and an answerer)

[joatmon]

I assume that in December in Minnesota, you are trying to have heat come out of the vents. That could also be explainedd by low coolant, or perhaps an air bubble trapped somewhere, interrupting coolant flow trhough the heater core. When mine warms up, it puts out a lot of consitently hot air on demand, no fluctuations. Great inthe winter, you can aim the vents on either side of the steering wheel right at your hands and really cook them, sometimes overcook them . Usually if it is a thermostat problem, the thermostat sticks and either never opens up causing an overheat or never closes causing the engine to never really heat up properly. Does the temp gauge move up and down, or just up, then down and stay down? My temp gauge goes up to a little under halfway and then stays there.Hopefully it is something simple like low coolant. Perhaps when they filled it up, there was an airpocket. Maybe idling it up to operating temp withthe radiator cap off will let the air pocket escape instead of getting cycled back around the engine, and then the coolant can be added to get the correct level.The air that comes out of the vents inside the passenger compartment comes from an intake between the windshield and the hood, on the passenger side. There is a gasket under the hood to limit the amount of air from the engine compartment that is taken in to the cabin, which is a good thing, don't want any underhood exhaust leaks being piped directly into the passenger compartment. Hope it's an easy fix, let us know what the solution is, and welcome to genvibe

[joshjagdfeld]

The entire engine was replaced with a brand new engine.My heat gauge definitely dances around a lot all the time - something must not be right... What brand of coolant do you recommend? Also, what is the best way to check to be sure my Vibe has enough coolant in it? I've heard if you cold start it and pull off the radiator cap that you should be able to see the coolant sort of "hanging out" near the top. I'm quite the noob when it comes to auto mechanics, so anything will help.

[joshjagdfeld]

I should also note that the "idiot's heat gauge" will consistently fluctuate between the middle of the gauge all the way up to about one bar short of the "H" marker, but never go above. It will always cool back down to about the middle, but not before being all over in between...

[joatmon]

There are a lot of different types of antifreeze, some of them should not be mixed with others. GM's "Dexcool" is one that doesn't play well with others. Vibes don't come from the factory with Dexcool in them, but depending on the knowledge of the person who replaced the engine, they may have assumed pontiac= GM therefore it gets dexcool. It would be good to know what they put in there, and then add more of the same, or replace it all and start from a known point. If it was my car, I'd call the place that replaced the engine and ask them what they put in before addding anything other than distilled water, but you don't want to add too much just water or risk reducing the antifreeze properties of the coolant. Seems like a 50/50 mix is always recommended, but you might be able to get by with just water, if it's not too much. Can't say how much is too much though.

[joshjagdfeld]

What are the right questions that I need to ask the service manager to make sure this gets taken care of? It seems to me that since they've known there was a coolant problem in the past that they would have checked the coolant level...I just need a little help with a "roadmap" to follow with the service manager to get this right.I appreciate all your help!

[Vibr8tr]

Check here too.... this was an active topic today, but it's easy to overlook them...http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=26012It's a good discussion going on about the typs of antifreeze to use....

[joshjagdfeld]

Thanks for the info on the coolant thread...What are the right questions that I need to ask the service manager to make sure this gets taken care of? It seems to me that since they've known there was a coolant problem in the past that they would have checked the coolant level...I just need a little help with a "roadmap" to follow with the service manager to get this right.

[KNINE]

If the coolant level is okay, I'd guess air bubble. Maybe they didn't bleed the system properly when they installed the new engine. Once the engine is warmed up, the needle should stay put at operating temperature.

[BlueCrush]

Welcome to GenVibe, fellow Minnesotan. My temp gauge goes to 3:00 and stays there while operating the car.Fluctuating doesn't sound right. I would bring it in to get checked out.Maybe a faulty thermostat?Good Luck!

[ragingfish]

Is anyone besides me wondering why the engine was replaced to begin with??

[joatmon]

yes, and the important part of that is if there's something that caused the original engine death that was not corrected when the engine was replaced, and the problem is out there, lurking, waiting for an opportunity to kill another engine. Certainly hope not, but josh, you probably ought to ask the dealer to explain what caused the first engine to die and get some assurances that that cause has been fixed. It would be in the dealership's best interest to make sure, otherwise you'd be back and it would cost them another warranteed engine, but it would be nice to have them say they know that same problem won't happen again.

[VforVIBE]

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »Is anyone besides me wondering why the engine was replaced to begin with??Because you can't fix a cracked engine block?

[joshjagdfeld]

I just want this darn car to work properly! Pretty frustrating to have such a great vehicle having hiccups off the lot.

[djb383]

The Vibe engine is somewhat difficult to "burp" when coolant has been drained and flushed or in your present case, filling a new engine. I've done it 3 times now on 2 Vibes and have found that letting the engine idle with the radiator cap off, while adding coolant, just results in coolant belching out as the temp rises. So, from experience and with engine off, I fill the radiator very slowly until full and put the cap back on and then start the engine.I can tell when the system "burps" 'cause for the first 5-10 minutes of running the engine between 1500-2500 rpm (in the drive way, not driving) cold air is blowing out the vents and then all of the sudden very hot air starts to blow from the vents. During this process my ScanGauge will climb to 230F (normal is 184F) and cold air is still blowing out the vents. When hot air starts to blow, the temp on the Scangauge drops rapidly to normal. The dash gauge never rises above 1/2 (worthless IMO).The majority of the air has now "burped" and I turn engine off and let it cool for a while before removing the radiator cap. Remove cap very slowly as the system will still have pressure and then slowly add more coolant until full. For the next several days, I continue to remove the radiator cap, when the engine is COLD, to check the level and usually I need to add a small amount 'cause it's still burping air. The overflow bottle needs to be filled to the proper level and also checked to see if the closed system is working properly. When the engine is hot, the coolant s/b at the upper level in the overflow bottle and when the engine is COLD, the coolant s/b at a lower level. If the coolant is NOT rising and dropping in the overflow bottle, as the engine heats up and then cool off, you have a bad radiator cap or the coolant is low in the radiator or possibly both.I would think your dealership would have one of those 'point-n-shoot' infrared thermometers and could verify actual coolant temp compared to what your dash gauge indicates. I use mine all the time....handy as a pocket on a shirt.Your HVAC does NOT take air in from under the hood, it's at the base of the windshield.

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by VforVIBE »Because you can't fix a cracked engine block?Good call!Somehow I TOTALLY missed that part.

[joshjagdfeld]

Quick response: Service tech who replaced the engine didn't burp the air bubbles out entirely from the coolant.Tadaa!

[joatmon]

that sounds reasonable, and glad that it is behaving normally. Did you burp it or take it back to have them do it?and where are the pictures of your new Vibe?

[joshjagdfeld]

Pictures coming ASAP! I had them burp it after flusing out the Dexcool they originally used. I had them use an alternative Toyota coolant to be safe... the word around here is that Dexcool is less than spectacular.

[djb383]

Be sure to check coolant level in radiator and overflow bottle, when COLD, for the next several days, just to make sure and check it once a month to be on the safe side. Like I said, it's tricky to "burp", glad they got it right.