GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hello Everyone,
New to the lounge and new to a Vibe. I purchased a 04 Vibe (base model) with fairly low Kilometers for my wife. The car is mint and has been undercoated very well. Both my wife and I love to drive it and I was hoping for great fuel economy. This doe's not seem to be the case, it revs up to 2100 rpm and does not come down until the engine has run for 10 minutes on average. Then it comes down to around1200 rpm and does not come down again for another 10. When it is completely warmed up it idles at 800 rpm and is fine until you stop and say go shopping for a 1/2 hour and come out to start it again and go through the whole procedure again of waiting for it to warm up but not as long this time.
Could this have anything to do with either of the two o2 sensors? Also the headlights come on by themselves sometimes and not the others. I drove home last nite and go to turn off the headlights only to realize that they were never on. Yet i had full running lights as well as high beams all the way home! Any help would be great!
Thanks,
Chris

That idle sounds a little high. Normally it's around 1500rpms then idle down to 800. The O2s sound have nothing to do with it. Start with some fuel injector cleaner. Do you have a Check Engine Light on?

I would start by cleaning the MAF and throttle body. Drop a bottle of Chevron with Techron concentrate, Disconnect the battery for a few minutes and reconnect.

As far as the lights go, you probably just have the automated lights. Usually you just don't have to touch anything. They turn and shut themselves off.

Salsa, the engine light is on and I pulled two codes off it. P3300 and P0133, from what I see online is the o2 sensor (bank 1) and or intake manifold leak, exhaust leak etc etc. My fuel economy is poor as well. The P3300 could be the gas cap from what Ive read online.
Triz, I will do that. I wonder if the MAF sensor isn't too expensive I may just get a new one. The headlight problem is just that. There is no automatic headlights on the 04. The lights come on fully and not just the daytime runners, almost everytime. Even in the middle of the day. The high beams come on (sometimes) minutes after I've flipped the stick forward. I wonder if its just the switch itself!?
Thanks for the replies guys!

Intake manifold gasket failure is a common problem, they even redesigned because the earlier ones got brittle with age. Pick up a replacement from toyota. That would definitely change how your car idles.

Po133 is a sign of a bad o2. It's not AWD is it? DON"T CLEAN THE MAF! You'll could do more harm than good. Just make sure there isn't any chunks of crud in it. Also X2 on the intake gasket. It's a common failure. But normally you'd get a P0131 with it. A MAF is less than $100. You would see other codes if that was bad. What is a P3300?

If it's any help, I had a P0133 and replaced the o2 sensor but the code stuck around. Then I went to replace the intake manifold gasket and it came out in four pieces. It's been two months since then and it hasn't come back.

Salsa, it's not a AWD and I will not clean the MAF except to take off any chunks of crud etc...Im going to do the intake gasket and the o2 sensor and Im sure that will more than likely take care of the problem.
Chuck, thanks for your input. What was your experience like doing the gasket? Did you replace the throttle body gasket as well?

does anyone know the part # for the MAF sensor?

Also....would replacing the signal (light switch) cure the problem im having with the lights?

I did the IM gasket on mine but it won't hurt to do the TB gasket also. I'd suggest a touch of silicone grease on them before installing. The biggest pain is the lower middle bolts and some guys have remove the radiator shroud to get at them better.

I also only did the IM gasket. I found it very straightforward. It took me around an hour, but I was dogging it. Personally I would do the IM gasket before the O2 sensor because its quite a bit cheaper.

The Daytime Running Lights (DRL) are probably working exactly as designed.

The headlights are automatically designed to be on 'daytime-running-light-low' during the daytime, without taillights, radio, or HVAC control illumination.

In 'low light' (which, maddeningly, in early Gen 1 cars can be a passing cloud, an underpass, tunnel, or bright daytime sky where direct sun is shaded by the A-pillar, the headlights are designed to come on 'night-time low beam', which also turns on the taillights, radio, and the HVAC illumination. A little yellow-green indicator 'bulb' in the instrument cluster illuminates when this happens.

If you park and pull the hand-brake and turn off the car, then when you restart, the DRL's are off until you release the handbrake, day or night. At night, the headlights are on ' 'daytime-running-light-low'' for about 10-15 seconds BEFORE the 'night-time low beam', and then dash HVAC radio, and tail-lights come on.

On the 2003-2004's (and possibly through 2008) it is possible to keep the ' 'daytime-running-light-low'' lights OFF by pulling up one notch on the hand-brake before inserting the key and starting the car. (Useful feature at drive-in movies when you didn't want to turn the headlights on until you exited the parking lot during the movie.)

EDIT: The other thing that happens is that the instrument cluster brightness changes when the 'night-time-low' headlight setting is activated. On 2003's with the 'total blackout' instrument cluster effect, it means that the instrument cluster apparently goes completely black. Beginning with 2004-and later, they made the instrument cluster indicators white instead of red, so they were visible regardless of the DRL function.

Attachment is the applicable pages from the 2003 Owner's manual (the one I have available). There are many threads in the forums about disabling the DRL function, if the 'automatic' features are too bothersome for you.

And here's the link to find the applicable year Pontiac Owner's Manual in case your car didn't come with one…
http://www.pontiac.com/owners/owner_res ... nuals.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks everyone for your input. This is an awesome sight for the do it yourself mechanic! I will be replacing the IM gasket and O2 sensor (got the salesman to throw it in.) as well as the throttle body gasket this weekend. For good measure I am going to replace the pcv valve as well as the air filter. The lights work for now and Im not planning on doing anything until they dont work! Whats the best spark plug for the 1.8L? Im thinking Bosch!?

linker wrote:This is an awesome sight for the do it yourself mechanic!

I see what you did there

Did you check your IACV valve? Seen lots of issue with idle and that being the culprit.

Is the IAC valve the idle air control? Because I have changed the intake gasket (easy procedure) and the throttle body gasket and checked all hoses and replaced a couple clamps and still having idle issues. I looked online and saw what was called the Idle Speed Control and wonder if thats what your talking about IAC. Can you clean these components?

The IACV valve was exactly what I was referring to. A few guys have had there's gum up and usually cleaning it or replacing it solved the idle issue. But seeing what I read now, I would go with what was recommended and replace Intake Manifold Gasket. That can have a effect on your idle as well.

For the MAF, I have never had a problem cleaning one. Just get a bottle of MAF cleaner and DO NOT TOUCH the filaments. Just spray it thoroughly and let it dry. Techron (Concentrated bottle) is what you want to put in the tank and top it off with a quality tier gas like Shell.

I saw after my first post you were able to get some codes. I don't know what the P3300 code or if you meant P0300 which is a misfire. I have not seen TB gaskets go bad often so I hope you meant the intake manifold gasket. As far as the TB all you need to do there is clean it with TB Cleaner.

Headlights, check your relay. If they randomly shut off and on. Could be a bad relay. If they overheat they will shut the headlamps off and turn back on after it cools.

is the iacv valve on the throttle body? i see there is a isc (idle speed control) on the throttle body and wonder is this what you mean?

i have already done the manifold gasket and the wife is driving it today to work and we shall see if the mileage gets any better. however the idle remains troublesome.

Ever figure this out?