GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

My 2003 Vibe GT with around 89k miles has a squeak coming from the transmission. For the last few months I've noticed it slightly while driving with the windows down when the car lightly lurches in a low gear and I'm driving next to a barrier. Today I investigated it a bit more. I determined it has something with the transmission or linking the transmission to the engine. When in neutral and I rock the car back and forth, it is silent as it should be. When I put it in 1st gear and rock it back and forth, it is squeaky squeaky down near the transmission. I took the following video with my phone in the engine bay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U81vhrip0xE Anyone have any input on what this may be and how serious it is? A side note is I just drained and filled my transmission fluid a couple weeks ago. It squeaked before that, seems like possibly more now, but that could also be because I actually determined the location/cause and have had windows down more often with the coming warmer weather.Thanks!

My '05 Base auto does the same thing. I notice it when I put the car in park and get out. I thought maybe it was the suspension.

That was my first thought as well, but that is not it. Another thing I noticed... I checked it before I drove to work this morning and it did not make any noise. Once I got to work and parked, I checked and it was squeaking again. So, the transmission squeaks only after it has warmed up being driven. Any ideas? Everything seems to be fine other than this squeak. Maybe it's just old age, almost 6 years old now.

Mine squeaks too when I get out sometimes. Never noticed it in a drive-thru type situation with a wall next to me.2004 manual transI will check it when it's out of gear and warmed up.

that squeek is god awful

I asked my f-i-l about this, he wants to tear the tranny apart on mine and look into it.

I'm thinking it might be a mount. Reason being is that it only squeaks when the engine lurches or the example I tested parked in gear without the brakes. Under regular driving, it doesn't make any noise. The noise is also external, it isn't coming from inside the transmission or engine. I'm still looking into it more.

I noticed a pretty loud squeak today, driving slowly on a friend's bumpy driveway.I immediately thought of this thread. It sounded like a rotational squeak, and seemed like it increased as speed increased. Like a squeaky wheel.I initially thought it was coming from my front driver's wheel, but I heard it thru the passenger window too.Weird. It didn't squeak at all when I left my buddy's house a half hour later.

Hey Juggler, can you try the test I did? On a flat surface put it in neutral and roll the car slightly. Does it squeak? With it in gear and parking brake off, try again. Does it squeak? I haven't gotten around to investigating mine more yet. Everything seems fine except for this. Since it is not a continuous squeak, only happens when the engine is torqued, I'm still guessing it is just some squeaky mount or something minor.

Justin:I have the same problem. 2003 vibe gt, squeaks when transmission is engaged in either 1st or 2nd gear. Any idea what this is yet?

It sounds like a bushing or maybe a loose bolt under the car

My 03 GT (now my son's) does the exact same thing, always has. I think I posted a message here about it maybe 4 years ago, no replies.I agree it is likely a mount.

I haven't done anything about it. One of my car friends thinks it is probably a motor mount that needs to be lubricated.

I just noticed that I get the same noise coming from under the Vibe when I park it and put the transmission in neutral (I have a manual transmission) and then turn the car off. When the motor shakes as it shuts off it starts to squeak. Maybe it is a motor mount or something that needs to be lubricated like JustinVGT suggested. Anyone try lubricating anything yet?

Anyone have any more information on this? I'm dead in the water with this noise. Very annoying

Jim:Have you ever found out what is causing the squeak on your Pontiac Vibe? I'm still unable to get an answer from my mechanic. Your help is appreciated.Algrunasal@gmail.com

I had a similar problem on my G6, though not NEARLY as god awful as yours.My dealer traced it to the engine snubber, they replaced that, it's been silent as a mouse ever since. I don't remember if the vibe had a snubber or not, but it could be an engine mount or engine dampener of some sort.

Hit the mounts/linkages with some lube to see if that tapes the squeak away. Sounds like metal on metal squeak from a leaf spring and we all know the Vibe does not have those. Lube away.

my 04 matrix does that metal/metal squeak when you put it into park after driving it and the car settles back (mine's an automatic). A year and half ago they traced the issue to the exhaust manifold "donut" and replaced it. The problem went away for 7 months now its back... and I can never get the dealer to reproduce the issue although it happens in my driveway all the time.

Yeah I noticed that my manual trans does that as well. When I shut the car off and even step out of it, it squeaks like it's the shocks (but it's not). You can get behind the Vibe and push it to rock it and it squeaks. I sort of isolated the sound coming from behind the manifold. How much did the dealer charge you to replace it?

mine was under warranty. So i dunno. Its back.. and my powertrain warranty expires in mid june, so i need to make sure there's a permanent fix.

Check the tranny mounts and the linkages. Make sure they aren't broken or cracked. If they're not, lube them up and see if the sound goes away. If not then I cant think of anything else it could be.

I had this on mine and never looked in to it. One day, 1 hour into a road trip (100km/hr, in 5th gear) I lost my gear and ceased the transmission. My tranny shop says he's seen a lot of tis happen with older vibes and martrix. Some type of bearing is cheap and wears loose, then bangs around.. in my cas I lost both 5th and 4th gears that needed to be replaced. He says that all the vibes/matrix that he services have never seen this problem, probably due to the fact that he changes the tranny fluid every 20,000k. (note that the vibe manual suggests that this never needs to be changed).I hope this helps.

So this only happened when your vibe was warm?Justin VGT posted this video on youtube that makes the sound that I'm hearing.Is this the sound you heard?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U81vhrip0xE

On mine.. they replaced the bolts with springs on them that hold the exahust pipe to the exhaust manifold... the squeak went away for a few days... now its back.

he, he, he....I loved that video. Can I see the people causing the noise, because I'm convinced its another Paris Hilton tape that you've loaded for us

My 05 Vibe GT with 60k miles has been doing this for the last 5k miles and seems to be getting worse. I hear the squeak when going over speed bumps, driving in a low gear near barriers and whenever coming to a stop. I know it's not suspension related or brake related because I replaced my rotors and pads and shocks and struts recently because they were all worn and there has been no change. I always assumed it to be the exhaust rocking back and forth, a transmission mount or worse a throw out bearing or something clutch related inside the transmission.Well today I jacked up the front end and set the body down on jack stands. When in neutral and rotating a tire or moving the steering there is no noise. When in gear ( I only checked 1st since that will torque the motor more when rotating a tire) and I spin a tire back and forth real quickly I get a lot of backlash and the entire engine/trans assembly pivots back and forth horrendously and there is severe squeaking.Before checking what rotating the tires did I climbed underneath and shook the exhaust. I hear the squeak but not as bad as when rocking the motor back and forth. The squeak is either coming from the rear trans mount somewhere or from the mess that is the exhaust header/heat shield/donut seal/ etc. I tried to feel for slight movements of two pieces of material rubbing together when shaking the exhaust but couldn't find a loose shield. The most resonance causing the squeak seems to be coming from the trans mount, which the exhaust is also connect to via a bracket and bolt.I'm going to try loosening all mounts and torquing them to spec.I see lots of folks here saying to lube things but there isn't much to lube and I don't want to get lube on the header and possibly cause a fire. All the motor mounts are so damned tightly surrounded by car parts I can see this being a pain in the azz. I replaced the clutch maybe 13 months ago and know what un-bolting the mounts entails so I;m not looking forward to it.I'll keep ya'll posted if the squeak stops or if I pinpoint the root cause. if it continues I;m taking it to my brother to try and get it fixed under warranty as it's annoying as all hell. I'll try to record and post a video of the engine rocking and squeaking.

any news on this noise? I have a similar noise and don't know what to attribute it too either. I notice it at slow speeds (like pulling up to a McDonalds drive in window)............the sound reverbs off the building, I also hear a squeaking/screeching/metal to metal sound when I come to a stop and get out of the car with the little bit the car moves when getting out. I cant find this noise>>>>>>>anybody find it?

thanks

John

2005 Vibe GT

The squeaking is pretty common. Try lubricating the slave cylinder pushrod with some lithium grease. Your throwout bearing and fork might also need to be lubricated. I like using the Honda Moly Lube for that.

My auto base 06 does this as well, I'm leaning toward it being the read mount squeaking. I believe that it is bolted onto the crossmember. I think you can lube it from below without worrying about anything catching fire, since the header doesn't touch it, and the wires for the front O2 sensor won't melt...unless of course they were to directly touch it. Anyway, if you can get a hold of a Haynes manual, they have a view from below of the crossmember showing the bolts I mentioned before.

PS: It's almost 3 am and I have work in the morning, so I can't double-check my info right now, but I'm 75% sure it's accurate as I was wanting to snug up the engine mounts a few months ago and so looked it up.

whats a read mount?

MaxxVibe wrote:whats a read mount?

I think he means REAR mount.
Charles