GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Well after spending a week out in Vancouver, I flew back this morning only to find I couldn't start my Vibe. The starter works fine and I have plenty of power, but the engine just wouldn't fire up. Nothing at allIt's not all that cold out here as it was about -12C when I tried but no go. So about $140 tow later I have it back at home in the garage and hope it defrostsWhat I can't figure out is that I have been able to start it in colder temperatures in the past.Anyone have starting issues, particularly with the 1st generation Vibe GTs?

That's odd - it was +3 over the weekend. Do you have a trickle charger? I'd toss that on to rule out the battery. Did you park it at the airport? Somebody syphon out the gas, perhaps?

not enough amps to start, battery is too weak, oil turned hard, water in the gas froze....if you were gone for a whole week and it was below freezing for days this can happen, I would see this happen ALL the time at college.

I had it parked by the airport.When I tried to start it my ScanGauge was reading 11.5 volts on the battery. Couldn't start it even with a boost.The weird thing is that I've never had problems in the past when it was parked outdoors all the time.

I would guess frozen gas, it happened to my old nissan when it got really cold. It would just turn over for a decade and never start. Try some starting fluid, if it starts with that then it's probably frozen water in your gas lines.

add "heat", all the northern folk here use it in their gas for things like that.

sounds like a collapsed cell. voltage would read 11.38 (ish) but not enough amps. I've had this happen on at least 5 batteries in my life, usually after a freeze. When its time its time, they just go.

yeah do you have the original battery? if so...its junk for cold weather and could explain some things....

my scanguage reads 13.8 ... then 14.1 when the car is started.. so itsounds like your due for a new battery/.

his siggy says he has an Optima Red Top, must havebought it right when he got the vibe (if he got it new) or just happened to get a lemon battery. I had a Optima yellow top last a little over 7 yrs i believe

Quote, originally posted by Herb »When I tried to start it my ScanGauge was reading 11.5 volts on the battery. Couldn't start it even with a boost.Yeah, that sounds like a bad battery. You should be getting over 12 if you had it boosted.

Quote, originally posted by kunkstyle »Yeah, that sounds like a bad battery. You should be getting over 12 if you had it boosted.+1 Time for a new battery.

Quote, originally posted by Herb »The starter works fine and I have plenty of power, but the engine just wouldn't fire up. Nothing at allThat starter draws over 200 amps, and if it's cranking the engine over with plenty of power that battery is fine. A bad battery wouldn't crank the engine. I'd be looking at fuel delivery pressure if it's that cold. Pump is cold, fuel is dense and has been sitting for days.

Quote, originally posted by RePo »A bad battery wouldn't crank the engine.I beg to differ. I had a toasted battery in my old Buick that was still in good enough shape to crank the engine but couldn't start it. @Herb - you could always take the battery into CanTire and have it load tested for free.

stock battery? it was only 330 cca. if you gone a week, it's probably the length of time you were gone, not just the temps.after 2 or 3 mornings of mine not starting, I had to replace it. Ended up with an Optima Red Top, but that was a piece of crap, so don't recommend that one.

Good catch with the optima red top. I've lost 3 of them to cold weather, and the one in my vibe right now is loosing it too.Good thing they have such a good warranty.For some reason the red tops break easy in cold weather.

Quote, originally posted by kunkstyle »Yeah, that sounds like a bad battery. You should be getting over 12 if you had it boosted.With the boost the power was voltage was reading about 13.4v and without the boost 11.5vFor the time being my RedTop is holding. Tried to start the car again today but no go, so I plugged in the block heater to see if t hat will help.

Well so far no luck.I finally managed to trigger a CELI pulled the code as P0335 and a quick search on the web shows it as: "Crankshaft Position Sensor “A” Circuit"I did a quick search on GV here but haven't been able to pull anything up.Anyone have any ideas?

Quote, originally posted by Herb »I pulled the code as P0335 and a quick search on the web shows it as: "Crankshaft Position Sensor “A” Circuit"Not sure, but I'd think it would be related to how the engine does its timing. I.e. when the crankshaft is in a certain position then it's the right time for a given spark plug to fire. If so it would certainly explain why you don't get any hint of the engine starting even though it's cranking fine. Unfortunately I don't know how to go about checking the sensor or fixing it.

Well I went to a local GM dealer and they told me it would be about 3 weeks to bring one in from the US for about $317CAN, then I went to at Toyota dealer and they told me they can get one for next Tues for $203CANSo I've ordered it from Toyota dealership with hopes that this will solve the problem. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Good luck!Which GM & Toyo dealer did you go to?

Quote, originally posted by kunkstyle »Good luck!Which GM & Toyo dealer did you go to?I went to CMP to ask about the sensor and to postpone an appointment I had scheduled for MondayAnd the Toyota dealership was the Country Hills location