GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hi all,

I've actually been snooping around genVibe since I bought the vibe just over a year ago. Lots of great info here! I've generally enjoyed the car and being a wagon/hatch has come in handy quite a few times for hauling stuff. It has its quirks and issues, though. A few months after I bought it, the 5-speed started to make that rocks-in-a-can noise. Based on what I read on this site, I found a 6-speed from a yard and did the swap about a month ago. It actually went fairly smoothly (other than that blasted rear engine mount). Now I'm just trying to get used to the higher rpm's and shifting more. I'm not sure I like it but I can live with it. It does make the car more zippy. We'll see what it does to my gas mileage. Now I need to see what I can do about the surging idle when cold issue that several others here have had. I already replaced the intake manifold gasket, which didn't help. No mods yet but I'm thinking....

Anyway, thanks to all for all the tips and info. Hopefully I can be as helpful to others here.

Welcome to GenVibe! Glad you finally decided to start posting after lurking for a while ! Post some pictures of your Vibe when you get a chance.

What "surging idle when cold" issue is everyone talking about? Do rpms drop and then increase again?

I know the 1zfe runs up over 1k rpm when cold to warm up, and then drops once the temp gauge starts to move. Other than that I am fairly in-the-dark.

I have the same cold start issue on our 03 Base, but only in cold weather. Idle is erratic, revs up to 2500 and drops to 1000, almost like it's bouncing off a rev limiter. It evens out when it's warm. Doesn't really effect drive-ability so I haven't done anything about it.

Would be interested in hearing about a fix.

Welcome to Genvibe! Yay, yet another new member from Minnesota! Where in MN are you?

Idle 'surging' when cold is normal. It's the engine trying to warm up faster and will even out when everything is up to temperature.

Every car I've driven w/ the 1zz-fe did this.

I'm halfway thru a 6speed swap myself....what are your highway rpm's like vs the 5 speed? For me I'd like never know as our other car is a GT and I used to have an XRS...but I'm curious

KITT222 wrote:Welcome to Genvibe! Yay, yet another new member from Minnesota! Where in MN are you?

I live in St. Paul, though I work in Chanhassen. It's 23 miles each way, hence the small, fuel efficient car. My previous car was a 94 Geo Prizm. That thing was bullet proof mechanically. Finally got rid of it at 287,000 miles.

thebarber wrote:I'm halfway thru a 6speed swap myself....what are your highway rpm's like vs the 5 speed? For me I'd like never know as our other car is a GT and I used to have an XRS...but I'm curious

I'm already starting to forget what the 5-speed was like but in general, rpm's are about 300-400 higher. The 6-speed runs at 3000rpm at 70mph whereas the 5-speed ran around 2600-2700. It's definitely louder on the highway. It's also taking a bit to get used to the extra shifting.

sideshowalan wrote:Idle 'surging' when cold is normal. It's the engine trying to warm up faster and will even out when everything is up to temperature.

Every car I've driven w/ the 1zz-fe did this.

When an engine is cold it is normal for it to run at a higher rpm and stay there until it warms up. My car, on the other hand, doesn't stay at the higher rpm. After I drive it a block or two and stop at an intersection, when I put the clutch in, it revs up to around 2500rpm where a limiter or something kicks in and knocks the rpm's down to 1000. It then revs back up to 2500 and gets knocked down again. It will do that 2 or 3 times before settling down around 2100 rpm. Sometimes it will do that at 2 or 3 intersections before settling down. It's a little embarrassing pulling out of a parking lot with a spastic engine. People probably think I'm a little crazy.

OK that definitely doesn't sound right. The idle shouldn't be going that high on its own.

Some possible solutions;
-Clean the MAF sensor
-Check the air filter
-Clean the throttle body
-Double check the intake manifold gasket even though you already replaced it. Could have fallen out of the grooves during reinstallation.

Hi and welcome

Welcome to this great site. Another "manual" man .... gotta love it Post pics soon of your Vibe

any chance you need to replace your intake manifold gasket?

similar issue to yours? http://matrixowners.com/index.php?/topi ... p__1285620" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

tpollauf wrote:Welcome to this great site. Another "manual" man .... gotta love it Post pics soon of your Vibe

Thanks! Yeah, I learned to drive on a stick and everything I've owned since has been manual. Sadly, used cars with manuals are getting harder to find. Took me a while to find this one. I'll post pictures as soon as I get a chance.

thebarber wrote:any chance you need to replace your intake manifold gasket?

similar issue to yours? http://matrixowners.com/index.php?/topi ... p__1285620" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I already did, though I used the black gasket, not the orange one. Tomorrow morning I'm going to plug my laptop into the car and log data from the ECU while it's running to see if that gives me any clues.

From what i have read and seen with both my '03 GT and my sisters '06 Base, the high idle is normal for these motors especially in cold weather. It's just their way of warming up! If you just let it warm up a bit and come back out when your car is nice and toasty in side, you should be able to turn the heater off and it should go back down to normal idle. (1000-1200 rmp.) I'm no mechanic, but based on my experience this is what i have found.

Brandort3 wrote:From what i have read and seen with both my '03 GT and my sisters '06 Base, the high idle is normal for these motors especially in cold weather. It's just their way of warming up! If you just let it warm up a bit and come back out when your car is nice and toasty in side, you should be able to turn the heater off and it should go back down to normal idle. (1000-1200 rmp.) I'm no mechanic, but based on my experience this is what i have found.

The high idle isn't the problem. All cars idle higher when they're cold. The problem is that the idle isn't stable. After I drive a few blocks and stop at a light or stop sign, the idle bounces between ~1000 and ~2200 rpm a few times. It will do that at every stop until the engine warms up. I doubt it's doing any damage but it's obnoxious.

I tried to plug into the ECU and log data last weekend, but the software on my laptop suddenly decided to stop working.

Try doing this, unplug battery, let it sit for few hours if possible, so ecu can reset, also if you have code scanner you can use it to reset ecu, this will clear ecu memory, make sure heater blower is on off position then start the car.Let it idle and do not touch gas pedal. let it idle till it reaches operating temperature then shut it off and let it cool down. next start let it warm up without touching gas pedal and then go for ride you should be fine now.

im a newbie to this site. I have a similar problem that i have given up on.

I have 2003 Vibe GT with 400,000 k on it (250,00 mile) i am the original owner. After a serious high rev/idle problem, it would reve up to 3500 an higher at lights when i put clutch in, i could tap the gas and it would settle down but it was a nuisance and approx the same time it was displaying error code P0205. This seemed to only happen when the weahter started getting cold. I live in amoderae climate on the west coast of BC. After some diagnostics, my mechanic cleaned the throttle body (2 or 3 times over a two year period), changed a few sensors, checked for air leaks, checked for mecahnicla problems with linkage everything we could think of, upstream oxygen sensor bla blah blah etc. Finally we changed the idle speed module ( a hard to find part). The issue was mostly resolved but occasionally it still displays error P0205 and will run up revs at the stop light to 2500 rpm. as soon as i tap on the throttle it goes back down to 1000 and stays ...until the next stop light. a quick tap on the gas and it goes back down ....I am used to it now and dont want to spend any more money on this.

does anyone have a similar experience and how did they resolve it?

puzzled in VAncouver

ICV, possibly? Or something to do with the EGR system, like a VSV or the like?