GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

2005 Vibe GT. Has the 1.8L "L" series Yamaha designed engine. 148,000 miles
Driving home and the engine check light came on, since I was only about 4 miles from the house I thought I would just check it then, about 2 miles down the road engine starts to rumble and dies...
Got it home, noticed that serpentine belt was missing, figure it broke and was problem. When I was changing the belt out found out that water pump had cratered and was reason the belt came off. Changed out water pump, new belt. Engine turns over but will not catch...haven't pulled engine codes yet...just ran out of time.
What are any possible things to check as to why it won't start up...yes I am thinking the worst...

I am also thinking the worst! 4 miles is way too far to go for an engine without cooling. Start by checking engine compression - it will let you know the state of your internals!
Good luck,

Agreed, Replacement engine time.

Ok...compression is from driver side to passenger side cylinders.
60,30,0,20...
I am thinking this is a bad, bad sign...any chance that it could be a blown head gasket (in other words is it worth pulling the head to see) or it that pretty much a sure sign of major engine failure...

Did the temp gauge/warning never trigger?

You do a wet test on the compression? I've heard head gaskets can be issues on the 2zz engine. Goodluck

Cross your fingers and pull the head. As Salsa Guy alluded to maybe the engine just overheated, and blew the head gasket (ideal) or maybe warped the head (less ideal).

Compression should be about 200

New engine time.

Temp gauge never went high, check engine light came on and I looked at all the gauges nothing out of norm. Last time check engine light came on was because the gas cap wasn't on right.
Gonna do a wet compression test, then probable pull the head to see what damage is. Anything to watch for when pulling the head on vibes?

Txchef wrote:Temp gauge never went high, check engine light came on and I looked at all the gauges nothing out of norm. Last time check engine light came on was because the gas cap wasn't on right.
Gonna do a wet compression test, then probable pull the head to see what damage is. Anything to watch for when pulling the head on vibes?

temp gauge wont read accurately unless there is some fluid in the system... if the coolant was gone, it might have never moved. I'm with the general consensus, your engine is toast.

Bent valves? Your compression numbers are bad.