GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Been reading posts trying to figure out what happened last night to my Vibe. We had the same issue with the module/solenoid descibed in some posts, and all was well.... until last night! has anyone experienced what felt like the converter unlocked and maybe even droped out of overdrive then when I hit the gas it reved like it was in neutral then would "catch" and then do it again. Trans was plenty warmed up as I had driven 25 miles from Indy and was almost home. Anything like that happen to anyone yet? Oh and I only had about 13K on it when the first trans issue came a bout, now it has 18K on it now. This is on Our 06 base, driven by the wife. The Supercharged 04 hasn't had any problems ...yet!

I haven't had any issues that you have discribed yet. Keep us posted. Would love to know what is causing that issue.

As soon as I know anything I will be sure to post!

Did they change the PCM, the solenoid or both. Does the problem only happen when in OD. If so does it stop if you turn OD off

Will double check the paper work but pretty sure they did. Will have to try to get it to do it again and try the O/D button, I don't rememer if I tried turning it off or not. Sorry!

If you feel like you're going into neutral it sounds like the forward clutch may be loosing hydraulic pressure (or the 1-2 shift valve is sticking). The reason I asked what they changed is that if they did open up the tranny they could have introduced some contamination into the valve body.You can try a fluid change and see if that helps. A faulty PCM should not cause you do go into neutral - you should get some gear (possibly first). Are you sure it was not jumping into first.Try what I suggested with the OD next time this happens.

I will try the O/D button next time. It just felt like a stick, when ya down shift and get some engine brake effect. Then I would step on the gas and it would rev to 4-5 grand, I let off get back into it and it would maybe catch then slip again. I was bustin' along at around 60 when it happened, deffinatly not dropping into 1st gear.. would have over reved... wasn't like that. Will check paper work

Sorry - I think the forward clutch is operated by the manual valve so it is possible some debris may be in there. The 1-2 shift valve I believe operates the second brake and the OD band (have to check the manual but I believe that's how these transmission are configured).

Sounds like something is getting stuck. When you rev, the line pressure rises and may be causing the stuck valve or object to unstick.

I'm glad someone has an idea whats going on! I built to transmissions about 20 years ago... didn't understand the full jest ot it and left that end of things to others!! Hahahaha! I really do thank you for the insight on this! Trying to get the wife to dig up the paper work. She seems to think when it went in the first time that she got no paper work. May have to have the dealer run the VIN and see what has been done under warranty.

Yes, true - you can fix or rebuild transmissions without fully understanding what is going on. Also they would have changed quite a bit in the last 20 years - they are no longer fully hydraulic as they used to be - most of the control is done by the PCM now although the valves are used to apply the clutches and bands. Would not suprise me if they also used electric actuators to do that and fully get rid of all the hydraulics in the future. More gears and/or CVT is the way forward IMO.

Not to get off my topic, but have you driven a CVT equiped car? I had a Caliber for a rental when some fool in a caddy turned right from the left hand turn lane and I left a big GEO Metro impression in his passenger side... no the caddy didn't win, they towed it and the metro still drives and all equipment works fine except drivers side headlight. Any way... the CVT... It has 7K on the car and when I drove it home from the rental place, and I won't mention Enterprises name, I thought for sure that the trans was slipping! Check the trans fluid... oh wait... no dipstick, it's sealed with a wrning on it, I figure, hey, it's rented why should I care. I drove it for a week. It was jerky, would slip and slide and could not hold a steady speed to save my life and if I stepped on it.... 6 grand and it would sorta catch and go but scared the CVT out of me! Shame too, felt like if ya could get the thing to hook, it would fly, read that as 5 speed. I liked the rest of the car. So I took it back and got a Sebring with normal trans and cruz!! IMO of coarse..

No I can't say that I've driven a CVT although I think they are not as good as they could be - that will probably change in the future. You would still need some means of selecting other than the normal gear ratios for passing for example although I thought they already had that.I should test drive a CVT one of these days and see what it feels like.

Well, wI "kicked it down" to pass just to see what happens.. something sorta kicked down and it went sorta like passing gear sorta....

The closing of a chapter..... GM, after the Lemon law lawyer said "thats the best offer..." they gave us a check for $5500 and called it a day... got rid of the car....I'm Vibeless

Sad to see a Vibe go.