GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I have a 2003 AWD ... just purchased the car and I see the O/D button is not working .. meaning it will not take the trans out of O/D. Anyone else ever had this and what was the fix? Thanks

Need a little more information.How do you know it's' not working? The only thing it does is limit you to 3 forward gears instead of 4. Did you count the shifts while speeding up? Does the "O/D OFF" light come on the dash when you click it? Are you saying that it doesn't downshift you into 3 if you're already in 4th gear when you click it.If the light isn't coming on, there's probably just a loose connection. Otherwise if the trans is actually not locking you out of 4th then you have a bigger problem. Check out the trans fluid, make sure the level is right and it doesn't smell burnt.

The trans is working .. meaning O/D is on all th etime. The button when pressed will not disenage O/D and the light does not come on. After alittle research it lokks like a common problem with the Vibe .. but I haven't seen how to fit it.

One other question. When your car does a 'bulb check' the first few seconds after turning the key......does the O'D OFF light come on? If the light is working correctly and it still won't come on, the most likely problem is a short in the wire somewhere.You would have to take apart the shifter and possibly the console to check out the wire for any problems. May be an obvious bad connection or something hidden.

OK .. no the light does not come on .... nor does the switch while driving take the trans out of O/D.

So the light doesn't come on during the 'bulb check'? That just means the bulb is burned out and may be the only problem.Can you describe how you know when the car is and is not in Overdrive (4th gear).

I have a 2005 corolla .. when I push the O/D button it takes the car out of O/D .. on the Vibe I push the button and it remains in O/D at highway speeds ...

Question ..if the is burnt out could that open the ciruit so the O/D buttom would not work?

Got it. So on the vibe, you don't get the downshift + RPM increase that you get in the corolla.No idea if the 2 are connected, bulb and no overdrive.First thing i would do is take apart the shifter cover, that's the most likely place for a bad wire connection.

The OD button sends a temporary ground to the car's computer, telling it to toggle overdrive. It only sends this ground signal while the button is pushed. The car computer sends a different signal to the instrument cluster to control the O/D OFF light. If the light is broken, it should not affect controlling overdrive with the button on the shifter.

Quote, originally posted by silk »The trans is working .. meaning O/D is on all th etime. The button when pressed will not disenage O/D and the light does not come on. After a little research it looks like a common problem with the Vibe .. but I haven't seen how to fit it.Please expand.When mine came back from the body shop it quit working and that stupid little cover of the shifter interlock was missing. I'd be interested in the findings.

Quote, originally posted by silk »I have a 2003 AWD ... just purchased the car and I see the O/D button is not working .. meaning it will not take the trans out of O/D. Anyone else ever had this and what was the fix? ThanksMost likely the wires to the button are broken/damaged...Mine does not work either - because I damaged the wires to the button when replacing a burned out lightbulb in the gear selector. Most would have no use for the button and not fix it.

tgfer67 .. I would agree 99% of the time there is no need for it .. but I do plan to pull a trailer with the car and thought I should get it working so if needed I can take it out of O/D.I'll check the wires out ..

FYI to all .. the O/D off does not light up during the "light check" during start up .. that is normal operation. Just an FYI.

OK .. one of the wires are brok eoff .. but I can'r seem to find it? How do you remove the shifting counsel to get at the wires?

http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=5923 sort of covers it, although that was better before ragingfish stopped serving his genvibe pictures

Here is the component page from the manual.

Attached files atcomp.PDF (48.8 KB) 

And Overhaul Procedures

Attached files atoverhaul.PDF (220.3 KB) 

sideshowalan,Thanks for the service pdf. I was not aware the trans switch was removable. I will now fix my wires for the O/D button.

OK .. worked my way down to the wire harness on the shight leveler .. see the wire that is brike but it is as fine as a hair .. can't even solder a wire to it. So .. thought is I'll need to run a wire from the terminal to the o/d switch. Issue is I can't find where the (fine white wire) goes into the connector. Maybe it's spliced into a larger wire along the way to the connertor? Just need to determine which location on the term. it is .. anyone have a wire dia that would show this?Thanks

Got it .. term # 2 & 4 are for the O/D switch. Ran a new wire and its working! Thanks everyone for all your help!!