GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

A few days ago I started hearing a whine from my 2009, 1.8, 5-speed, Vibe, with 40,100 miles. The whine is directly related to the RPMs. It sounds as if the whine is coming from the belt side of the motor. I suspect the alternator, water pump or a bearing in the idler pulley? Any one have any experience with this? The whine is audible to a gear-head like myself. My wife hears nothing wrong. UghhhhThanks! Doug

Try taking the belt off and turning each suspect item by hand.

if you hold revs steady the whine stays there with the transmission out of gear?Just wanting to rule out a gear issue.

Check to see if the plastic wheel well has come loose and is rubbing somewhere it shouldn"t be.

The whine occurs with or without the clutch pushed in and in or out of gear. I figured out the problem. After a closer look, I found that the pulley on the water pump is corroded. As well, there is evidence of antifreeze spray to the firewall, hood and radiator area. The level is still in the normal range but is lower than it was new.I did a search for the problem and found a Toyota TSB that covers the 2009 and 2010 Matrix and Corollas with the 1.8 2ZR motor. This is the second Toyota TSB for my Vibe that actually applied to a problem that I had. (Who said Toyotas were any good?)The water pump TSB is: http://www.empirepao.com/tsb/T-SB-0362-09.pdfThe good thing about our Vibes is the longer warranty over the Matrix. The Vibe has a 5 year 100 powertrain warranty that covers a lot of items. One of these items is the water pump!!! The Matrix only has a 5 year 60,000 power train warranty.Thanks for everyone’s suggestions. Back to the dealer DougDetails of TSB below:T-SB-0362-09 Rev1 October 14, 2009Coolant Leak and/or Abnormal Noise from Water PumpServiceCategory Engine/Hybrid SystemSection Cooling Market USAApplicabilityYEAR(S) MODEL(S) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION2009 – 2010 Corolla Engine(s): 2ZRVDS(s): BL40E, BU40E, BU4EE2009 – 2010 Matrix Engine(s): 2ZRVDS(s): KU40E, KU4EETSB REVISION NOTICE• December 4, 2009 Rev1:• Production Change Information and Parts Information sections have been updated.Any previous printed versions of this service bulletin should be discarded.IntroductionSome 2009 – 2010 model year Corolla and Matrix vehicles may exhibit a small coolant leak and/orabnormal noise from the engine compartment originating at the water pump assembly. Refer to therepair procedure below to address this condition.Production Change InformationThis TSB applies to vehicles produced BEFORE the Production Change Effective VINs shown below.MODEL PLANT PRODUCTION CHANGE EFFECTIVE VINNUMMI 1NXBU4EE*AZ281803TMMC 2T1BU4EE*AC294650Kanto JTDBU4EE*AJ057554CorollaTakaoka JTDBU4EE*A9103872Matrix TMMC 2T1KU4EE*AC294601© 2009 Toyota Motor Sales, USA Page 1 of 3T-SB-0362-09 Rev1 October 14, 2009 Page 2 of 3Coolant Leak and/or Abnormal Noise from Water PumpWarranty InformationOP CODE DESCRIPTION TIME OFP T1 T2EG9026 R & R Water Pump Assembly 1.2 16100-39465 64 14APPLICABLE WARRANTY• This repair is covered under the Toyota Powertrain Warranty. This warranty is in effect for 60months or 60,000 miles, whichever occurs first, from the vehicle’s in-service date.• Warranty application is limited to occurrence of the specified condition described in thisbulletin.Parts InformationPREVIOUS PART NUMBER CURRENT PART NUMBER PART NAME QTY16100-39465 16100-39466 Pump Assembly, Water 1– 90105-A0127 Bolt 3Required Tools & EquipmentREQUIRED MATERIAL PART NUMBER QTYSuper Long Life Coolant (SLLC) 00272-SLLC2 5.8 U.S. qts(5.5 liters, 4.8 Imp. qts)© 2009 Toyota Motor Sales, USAT-SB-0362-09 Rev1 October 14, 2009 Page 3 of 3Coolant Leak and/or Abnormal Noise from Water PumpRepair Procedure1. Confirm coolant leak and/or abnormal noise from the engine compartment.2. Is the coolant leak and/or abnormal noise originating at the water pump?• YES — Proceed to step 3.• NO — This TSB does NOT apply — Continue diagnosis as necessary.3 Replace the water pump assembly.Refer to the Technical Information System (TIS), applicable model and model year RepairManual:• 2009 Corolla:Engine/Hybrid System – Cooling – “2ZR-FE Cooling: Water Pump: Removal & Installation”• 2010 Corolla:Engine/Hybrid System – Cooling – “2ZR-FE Cooling: Water Pump: Removal & Installation”• 2009 Matrix:Engine/Hybrid System – Cooling – “2ZR-FE Cooling: Water Pump: Removal & Installation”• 2010 Matrix:Engine/Hybrid System – Cooling – “2ZR-FE Cooling: Water Pump: Removal & Installation”4. Confirm the repair and proper vehicle operation.

My engine has been making the same sort of noise for the past 6ish years (it was making this noise when we got it in 2006) where the engine makes a quiet whining noise that increases in pitch with increased RPMs and decreases in starting pitch with each subsequent gear, but the noise is only really audible if I accelerate slowly. I decided to feel the pulleys since your problem sounded the same:The pulley circled in red wasn't turning smoothly and felt like it was dragging on something and was also making a rubber scooting noise...Is that the water pump pulley? Should it be doing that? Do I need to get a new water pump or anything?Going a bit off-topic now:When I was putting the belt back around the one circled in blue (Dad said it's the crankshaft pulley since I couldn't turn it), I got oil all over my hand, so I think it's leaking. He said that it could be a bad seal (and that that would be a major fix) or that it could be from the time we overfilled the engine with oil (derp). It doesn't seem to have been leaking a lot since the driveway doesn't have any oil spots, but should I be worried?I hate having to ask about these things, but I've never taken any mechanics courses and my dad doesn't know too much about modern cars...

Yes, red circle is water pump. It should turn freely without any binding or noise. Oil at the blue circle could be the front seal. It could also be the valve cover gasket leaking down the engine to this area too. Hard to say. Does your oil or antifreeze level go down or leak on the driveway? I am not familiar with the 2006 warranty for the power train. The 2009 and 2010 have a 5 year / 100,000 mile warranty that would cover the water pump and maybe the seal too. What month / year was your car put in service? Check your owers manual for the warranty.

Quote, originally posted by DocDoug »Yes, red circle is water pump. It should turn freely without any binding or noise. Oil at the blue circle could be the front seal. It could also be the valve cover gasket leaking down the engine to this area too. Hard to say. Does your oil or antifreeze level go down or leak on the driveway? I am not familiar with the 2006 warranty for the power train. The 2009 and 2010 have a 5 year / 100,000 mile warranty that would cover the water pump and maybe the seal too. What month / year was your car put in service? Check your owers manual for the warranty.I haven't noticed it leaking anything on the driveway or oil/coolant levels dropping yet. Since I bought the car used with a limited warranty (which is expired), the 3 yr/36,000 drivetrain warranty doesn't affect me http://www.automotive.com/pont...2-2-1/Are these things serious to worry about? I really don't want to have my car break down in the middle of some desolate road or something, most especially since I love my car and it would be really embarrassing.