GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I think I'm just about to give up on the cursed Vibe. I took it today, got the window tinted (got both fronts just in case of any difference in color), then took it in to get my new HU installed. Dropped it off at 5, guy said 1.5hr it should be done. Told him I was going to be in the store and to call if there was any problems. Walkeda round for a while, about 1/2hr later I get a call from a # I don't recognize. Answer it and it is the guy installing my HU. He asks if I have a kill switch or something b/c he can't get my car to start. I tell him no, so he says he will check it out and call me back if he can't get it going. I walk around for a little while longer assuming all is good, then I get another call. I figured it was my wife, but again, the guys says, "We can't get it started, we can't figure it out, we need you to come look at some wires." So I walk all the way around the store to the installation area (b/c no one can have the damn thing attached to the friggin store anymore where you can get from one to the other without having to walk around the entire store), get there, look in my car, no HU installed yet, and the friggin TRD ECM is hanging out everywhere and the glove box is pulled out and all kinds of crap. He tries to start it, no luck (oh, they found a blown fuse under the hood and replaced it, and lo-and-behold the dome light was on, and I think the door open light was on as well! ), then he shows me a brown wire from a harness hanging out of the ECU harness with no home! I'm like, OK, there's your friggin problem! He says it was cut and like that when he found it! We look for somewhere it could have come from in the clip, but couldn't tell. I leave it to them to deal with and go sit down. Forever later I hea it start! I'm like, YES, he fixed it! I get up all happy and he doesn't seem to be sharing in the joy so much. He says, "I unhooked the TRD ECM and put it back to stock", and the brown wire is still hanging! YOU'VE got to be kidding me! Then he asks me if I have a pinout for the TRD and GM ECUs! Uh, NO! So they sit there until they close at 8 and can't figure it out. They realize I can't safely drive it that way, so now my car is stuck in their shop until tomorrow, then if they can't fix it, I guess their insurance will cover sending it to the dealer (if they can find one around here that will work on a S/C'ed Vibe!) to get looked at/fixed and I wouldn't have to come out of pocket for anything, but the problem I'm already seeing is none of this stuff was pro-installed, wires are everywhere for all the crap I have in my car, and they always find some reason to blame me for everything that breaks and then I become responsible for it! He asks, "How much is a new ECM?" I told him how Brian had mentioned there were only 6 left in dealers around the country and they were spread all over the country, that they were discontinued, and that they would probably have to order the whole S/C to get the install kit!! I'm so stressed out right now and sick of this stupid cursed Vibe! WHY ME!?!?!

The car gods wont let you reach your goals easily my friend. Every modification done will come with problems. If you don't have problems with any mods than something is severely wrong. Only way to deal with it is to wait it out and the problems always straighten out. Everything I touch in my car causes me to eventually get so pissed I throw in the towel but it always does work out. Don't give up, it's the only way you can honestly say you put your blood sweat and tears into your baby

Dude,don't be stressed.There is a guy on 9th gen selling an ECU for the auto,maybe talk to him.Or tell them to ship it to Toyota,maybe they will be able to get an ECU easier.Here is the install manual,it will have the hook-ups for the ECU.http://paceperformance.com/pac...7.pdf

I bet someone cut something that wasn't ment to be cut and sent a surge threw the system and fried your ecu... you did say the HU was out of the car when they were working on it, and the new one wasn't installed yet... question is why were they trying to start the car in the middle of the install...I bet they didn't disconnect the negative battery cable and in not doing that did some major damage to your ecu when they cut a wire. Then they just called you to cover their (removed) from a lawsuit to make it look like you did something wrong... the car drove in there perfectly fine... i would be screamming WTH did you cut to fry my ECU? I drove the car in here, one of your employees did something they weren't ment to do and damaged my car now how are you going to fix the problem?

Check out TRD. I think they are selling the superchargers separate from the install kits.

i dont get why they were installing the stock ecm..i know in my sunfire all i did was hook the new HU up..and me i'd sue them for being stupid

That really sucks to hear, sorry you're having so much trouble.

EDITED:And this is exactly WHY i install all my own gear... I info is out there, there is ZERO reasons why you couldn't do it yourself... I'm not trying to blast you man... It's just that i've found that 80% of the dumbazzes in install shops don't know their (removed) from a hole in the ground... EDIT below:This situation is EXACTLY why i became the car guy that i am today... I had a MKII VW GTi that was a pile of JUNK, bought it NEW that way... It HAD to be the last MKII to come off the line the day after cinco de miao(SP?) It was a TOTAL hunk of garbage... By the time i sold it, i could have bought it again with all the repair work that had gone into it..... I VOWED from that point on that i was going to LEARN everything i possibly could about the repairs that i had soooooo much trouble with over the time i owned that VW... In this day if the interwebpornonet, there is almost ZERO reason not to do your own repairs/installs... I'm sorry, but, this situation makes me soooo personally MAD, not at you man, but, at the complete TARD that worked on your car.... I would have made that punk keep the store open TILL IT WAS FIXED.... They surly had internet access, there is NO reason you should have driven out of there...

WOW! Sorry to hear, Jason. I would first re-wire it. If it still doesn't work then, go for the one on 9thGen. If that's sold, get one of the Unichips for sale on here and get the extra S/C harness for it. Do you know what psi you were boosting at? Because they have 3 different maps depending on where you are already at.

as others have already said, there should be no reason for them to be touching your ECU!!!! (removed)?? and again, why are they even starting the car when they do the install?? i'm no expert, but number one thing to do is DISCONNECT THE BATTERY!. so i will agree with a previous post and say it sounds like they cut something and now trying to cta.

well granted they have to start your car to move it in and out of the shop... but sure sounds like they have no idea what they are doing. Best bet would be for them to put down their tools and pay to get it towed to the nearest dealership and have them fix it. That is providing its a stock thing and not something electrical that you have on there thats aftermarket.

i believe the car was already in the bay.

OK, I'm going to try to reply to all these posts since my last visit, so here it goes...Quote, originally posted by kevera »Dude,don't be stressed.There is a guy on 9th gen selling an ECU for the auto,maybe talk to him.Or tell them to ship it to Toyota,maybe they will be able to get an ECU easier.Here is the install manual,it will have the hook-ups for the ECU.http://paceperformance.com/pac...7.pdfThanks for the info Kev! Not sure the pdf will help or not, I think at this point they need the OEM ECU pinout to figure out this brown wire that is hanging. They called me today and I guess at this point they have it narrowed down to 2 pins, but they aren't sure where it goes, and called me to call Andre (draday55) to find out what they wire was and where it went since he installed it.Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »I bet someone cut something that wasn't ment to be cut and sent a surge threw the system and fried your ecu... you did say the HU was out of the car when they were working on it, and the new one wasn't installed yet... question is why were they trying to start the car in the middle of the install...I bet they didn't disconnect the negative battery cable and in not doing that did some major damage to your ecu when they cut a wire. Then they just called you to cover their (removed) from a lawsuit to make it look like you did something wrong... the car drove in there perfectly fine... i would be screamming WTH did you cut to fry my ECU? I drove the car in here, one of your employees did something they weren't ment to do and damaged my car now how are you going to fix the problem?This is my guess. He said he was trying to get a signal off a wire in the ECU harness for the navigation part of the new HU. The - terminal was NOT off of the battery, whether it was at any time, who knows, maybe they put it on when they tried to start it, maybe they never took it off. I said the same thing you did, it drove in, it will drive out, and with no $ from my pocket! They ****ed it up, they will be fixing it! Quote, originally posted by chevelle_lover »Check out TRD. I think they are selling the superchargers separate from the install kits.I'll look into it if the need arises, but they will probably be having to deal with that themselves, they broke it, why should I have to go through any trouble to fix it!Quote, originally posted by WaveAction »i dont get why they were installing the stock ecm..i know in my sunfire all i did was hook the new HU up..and me i'd sue them for being stupidAs I stated above, they were taking a speed signal or something of that nature for the navigation/GPS.Quote, originally posted by ajflan »That really sucks to hear, sorry you're having so much trouble.Indeed! Quote, originally posted by Sublimewind »EDITED:And this is exactly WHY i install all my own gear... I info is out there, there is ZERO reasons why you couldn't do it yourself... I'm not trying to blast you man... It's just that i've found that 80% of the dumbazzes in install shops don't know their (removed) from a hole in the ground... EDIT below:This situation is EXACTLY why i became the car guy that i am today... I had a MKII VW GTi that was a pile of JUNK, bought it NEW that way... It HAD to be the last MKII to come off the line the day after cinco de miao(SP?) It was a TOTAL hunk of garbage... By the time i sold it, i could have bought it again with all the repair work that had gone into it..... I VOWED from that point on that i was going to LEARN everything i possibly could about the repairs that i had soooooo much trouble with over the time i owned that VW... In this day if the interwebpornonet, there is almost ZERO reason not to do your own repairs/installs... I'm sorry, but, this situation makes me soooo personally MAD, not at you man, but, at the complete TARD that worked on your car.... I would have made that punk keep the store open TILL IT WAS FIXED.... They surly had internet access, there is NO reason you should have driven out of there... Oh, I hear ya! I've done most of the work myself, but I figured there was LESS likely of a chance of something getting screwed up if I took it to "trained professionals" with lots of experience to get it done. Looks like I was wrong there! They do have I-net access, and he was trying to find the diagrams, but he said all the info he was finding was on forums and what not that require you to have an account (probably MO! lol) and I guess that was too much trouble for them. He claims he couldn't find the info he needed on the web. And as for driving it out of there, it is still in their shop! They knew they couldn't let me drive it out of there in it's current condition as the S/C could cause the engine to detonate w/out the extra fuel given by the TRD ECM. It won't leave unless it's fixed or towed to a dealer to get fixed. He assured me their insurance would cover any costs to get it repaired. Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »WOW! Sorry to hear, Jason. I would first re-wire it. If it still doesn't work then, go for the one on 9thGen. If that's sold, get one of the Unichips for sale on here and get the extra S/C harness for it. Do you know what psi you were boosting at? Because they have 3 different maps depending on where you are already at.That's what they're trying to do, make sure all the wiring is hooked up correctly, and then see what happens. If that doesn't fix it, off to the dealer it goes! I think they're trying to do everything possible to avoid that at this time by trying to repair it in-house, even if it means extra hours on it and keeping it there until it is fixed or given up on. If they can't get the TRD ECM, harness, and clip, I will surely be suggesting the Unichip! It's probably cheaper anyways!Quote, originally posted by AKLGT »as others have already said, there should be no reason for them to be touching your ECU!!!! (removed)?? and again, why are they even starting the car when they do the install?? i'm no expert, but number one thing to do is DISCONNECT THE BATTERY!. so i will agree with a previous post and say it sounds like they cut something and now trying to cta.There's no covering available, they know they ****ed up, they're trying to fix it to cta so it doesn't have to go to a dealer!Quote, originally posted by Mavrik »well granted they have to start your car to move it in and out of the shop... but sure sounds like they
have no idea what they are doing. Best bet would be for them to put down their tools and pay to get it towed to the nearest dealership and have them fix it. That is providing its a stock thing and not something electrical that you have on there thats aftermarket.This is where I'm worried, but the thing is, regardless of what they try to point at, it worked when they drove it in to the bay, now it doesn't, that's all that should natter, as they obviously had to screw something up.

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »I bet someone cut something that wasn't ment to be cut and sent a surge threw the system and fried your ecu... you did say the HU was out of the car when they were working on it, and the new one wasn't installed yet... question is why were they trying to start the car in the middle of the install...I bet they didn't disconnect the negative battery cable and in not doing that did some major damage to your ecu when they cut a wire. Then they just called you to cover their (removed) from a lawsuit to make it look like you did something wrong... the car drove in there perfectly fine... i would be screamming WTH did you cut to fry my ECU? I drove the car in here, one of your employees did something they weren't ment to do and damaged my car now how are you going to fix the problem?This is possible, but, not probible... unless they cut 2 wires at the same time... I would have to give even the dumbest install guy more credit that that... To me it sounds like they were trying to find the "tach" wire and pulled it or something near it, out of the plug... It's possible it wasn't in the plug very well to begin with... Who know, it's hard to say without seeing it myself... I bet if i had pics i could show my brother and he would be able to find out what the wire was... Keep us posted, i know you will...

Thanks a lot A-hole you didn't reply to mine!!!I'm just kidding I love you still.

Seriously Paul you are a jerk. Give the guy some slack.

there was only one time i let other people touch my car. and that was monkeywrench for my clutch install.and even they messed upped a little. i try to do it all myself as well cause even so called professionals dont care about your car as much as you do.. btw . why are they even attempting this without a pinout FIRST. thats just stupid.they should fix your car and give you the headunit for free.

Quote, originally posted by AKLGT »i believe the car was already in the bay.yeah... but you start it to drive out...who knows... only they know what they did.

Quote, originally posted by Merzbow »Thanks a lot A-hole you didn't reply to mine!!!I'm just kidding I love you still.Haha, sorry Paul, I hear you though. Sometimes I just want to give up b/c it is so much of a hassle and stress, especially with all of the problems I have had with mods, but lots of times I want to keep going with it and get it nice. As for why they were trying to start it, my guess is they started screwing with the ECU, realized a wire was now out of place, and tried to start it to see what happened, to see if it still ran. They didn't (and probably still don't) have the HU in, so it's not like they were done and driving it out. They were barely starting on it.It's still there now. Called a few minutes ago after I got out of work and they said the guy working on it was out trying to get the pinout for it, and that they would be calling me when they knew more. Guess we'll see what they say, and what they d to rectify this (so far) 4 day install of a 1.5hr install HU!

I would be DEMANDING a rental for their screw up.I don't know how I feel about a stereo shop messing with the ECU of my car. It's apparent that they didn't know what they were doing in the first place, I wouldn't let them continue working on the car. Just my 2 cents

to be honest, i'd quit doing crap to the car. it's not the car itself causing the problems, it's all the stuff you keep adding to it.

Quote, originally posted by drunkenmaxx »to be honest, i'd quit doing crap to the car. it's not the car itself causing the problems, it's all the stuff you keep adding to it. I would have to agree here... This IS NOT a "performance" car... it was never intended or marketed to be such... Sure you can get a S/C and a turbo system for it... But was it MADE for it... no, it was made for a different car... It is VERY unlike a 1.8l honda where there is YEARS of developement gone into performance, along with all the race developement that has gone on... There simply isn't that much support for it, and if there is one thing i've learned over the years, is any time you want to be "unique" you'll PAY for it... time, money, blood, tears.... peroidI love what you have done, don't get me wrong, but, as it has been said many times, more power= more problems.. (mo money, mo problems)

the way i see it is like this:"i want to get an intake on my car.">"man, my car is too loud, this sucks. I want exhaust on my car">"man, now my car is even louder, what the hell?"^not the same complaint, but the same concept.

Well, I think the modding is going to end for my Vibe. As many things as I want to do, 1) I don't have the money for it right now, and 2) I'm sick of all the hassles. If anything I will probably start slowly parting it out until I can get it back to some resemblance of stock and by then will probably get rid of it. Won't be an immediate or quick transformation, but I can't take much more of this crap! BTW, supposedly they "fixed" the car and are getting the HU in finally. "Supposedly" some wires must have "come loose" when they were messing with the ECU, but apparently it is fixed now. We'll see when I get there, and don't think I won't be checking every little damn thing to make sure they fixed it and not rigged it!

Well, got the car back, all is well, everything is back up and functioning properly, even the stuff that was hosed before they messed it up!

Good to hear that got it back to normal.

Well dang jason.... seems like sometimes you just cant catch a break.Hope all is well now.I should be out the in bout 2 weeks. maybe we can get some lunch or something.

Whew.... [hands clap]

So you're saying that the TRD Supercharger that was tested and made for our engines, was not meant for our engines? I guess.....that...makes.......sense? The mods aren't the problems, it's morons that don't know what they're doing. Try finding a GM employee that knows it has a toyota engine.........I dare you. If the TRD piggyback was bad you'd be better buying the Unichip for the SC. It'd end up being better AND cheaper. Glad it's working now, though. How did it get fixed?

Quote, originally posted by Mrizzle05 »Well dang jason.... seems like sometimes you just cant catch a break.Hope all is well now.I should be out the in bout 2 weeks. maybe we can get some lunch or something.LET ME KNOW! Quote, originally posted by Petrucci914 »So you're saying that the TRD Supercharger that was tested and made for our engines, was not meant for our engines? I guess.....that...makes.......sense? The mods aren't the problems, it's morons that don't know what they're doing. Try finding a GM employee that knows it has a toyota engine.........I dare you. If the TRD piggyback was bad you'd be better buying the Unichip for the SC. It'd end up being better AND cheaper. Glad it's working now, though. How did it get fixed?GM didn't have a clue. Told them to call Toyota. Toyota said since it wasn't installed by them they couldn't provide any information! Nice. They said some wires were just loose or something of that nature and they "un-loosened"(fixed) them somehow I guess.

dude that sucks... but i'm glad it's ok now. so what stuff did you get for free??(removed) WHY THE HELL DID THEY STRIP ALL THE PAINT OFF OF YOUR REAR BUMPER?!?!?! THEY NEED TO FIX THAT TOO!!!