GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

All the talk about the belt tensioner problems on here, I immediately assumed that's what the problem was. Well, $80 and a bloody knuckle later...that's not it. (By the way, it looks like the tensioner was re-engineered for the 08's, it looks slightly different than the earlier models, the piston is permanently attached) So I unhooked the belt, ran the engine and the sound stopped. So apparently one of the accessories is causing the dreadful sound. Has anyone experienced this? My next stop is the careful ear of a Toyota mechanic unless I hear otherwise. When you put your ear up to the engine, you immediately think the sound is coming from the alternator, but that's probably because it's right on top. Whatever it is doesn't affect the driveability, but I'm thinking it will soon.

no idea man, gotta camera you can take a movie with sound with?? Not sure what "dreadful" sounds like? With the belt unhooked, did you try spinning anything by hand? maybe you could feel notchy-ness on something, pointing toward the culprit.?

Something I thought about...the sound isn't fast. It seems like if it were a bad pulley or something, the sound I hear would be fast since they spin fast in relation to how fast the belt is moving. So maybe my next step is to replace the belt, it has 88,000 miles on it anyway so it's due.