GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

got a blinking CEL last night, the car slowly decelerated then the oil late came on, then shut off. i couldn't restart it and got a ride home with the sherrif's dept. i realize i should have just stopped the car immediately.... but i didnt. i was 3 miles away from home and pushed my luck. my question. the dip stick shows there is oil in the car. the car kind of responded like i had run out of gas, but the gas gauge showed 1/2 full. (could the gauge be broken) otherwise the only thing i can figure is it has something to do with the temperature dropping about 40 degrees in 24 hours yesterday and the cold did something to make it misfire. any ideas? i'm headed out there this morning with a gas can, a quart of oil and a tool box.

gave it the ol' college try. a little gas, a little oil, doesn't even turn over-- so i tried jumping it. seems pretty locked up. the brakes don't have any give in them either-- although maybe that happened when i had it in neutral and the sheriff was pushing me to a safe parking spot. calling a tow truck now.

fyi. i've got 167,000 miles. had the clutch replaced 9 months ago. did the spark plugs and the MAF about 3 years ago.

When the CEL light blinks, that means there's a serious misfire causing gas to be dumped into the catalytic converter. That can damage the cat so badly it needs replacing. You'll probably have to take it to a shop, but you can also look online to see what common causes for a misfire are.

Like lannvouivre said, a flashing SES light indicates raw fuel being dumped into the catalyst which means damage - if driven like this for too long enough fuel will eventually cause the catalyst material to melt into a solid mass (if this is the case, then it could be the cause of your no start as well due to a plugged exhaust system) - if this is your issue, the converter will need to be replaced, but make sure (I've seen people do this) that the cause for the concern is corrected or you'll end up with the same problem - let us know how it goes

Your brakes are probably OK. When the engine isn't running there is no source of vacuum for the power brakes. You only get a couple of pushes until the vacuum is gone and your power brakes become manual brakes. So the hard brake pedal is just the extra resistance from the brake boost being gone.

I don't know if a completely blocked exhaust would keep the engine from turning over even just a little bit. I thought a blinking CEL could be caused by other issues as well. Probably easier and cheaper to replace a seized engine instead of repairing it, but not cheap, so best to find out what's really wrong before buying parts.

I'm surprised no one here asked for the code. That is the best way to figure out what is wrong with the car. Get a cheap OBD reader somewhere. Get the code and post it up.

A flashing CEL can be very serious it can be caused by a misfire, knock.

Advance, Autozone any of those places could pull the code for you as well but the question is, "do you feel lucky?"

apparently the spark plug broke off? totally melted, said I probably had a destroyed cylinder head but won't really know until they start tearing it apart. the shop said it will be a major engine rebuild and advised maybe its time to shop around for a new car. kind of wonder if this is my fault since i'm the one that replaced the spark plugs last. darn my frugality.

WOW that's crazy a spark plug broke off I have done my own for years pretty sure it was a faulty plug and not you. Sorry to hear that. might just be easier to buy a used engine and swap it out instead of an rebuild.

If the plug was "melted down" could mean you were running lean in the cylinder or some other type of failure. Unlikely you are at fault.

I had something like this happen with a set of Autolite plugs. I filed a claim and they paid for the repairs. These high profile Auto Parts companies don't like bad press and will avoid it. What brand plugs?

PS It would be easier/cheaper to replace the engine.

1zz or 2zz. I probably wouldn't rebuild a 1zz a 2zz is doable. Did you over torque them?