GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Just getting around to getting our new (old) 03 vibe going. Finally found a good engine locally and on the test drive I noticed it clicks and shimmys like a bad cv axle. And the driver side axle outer boot is blown. Now for the enigma. Someone before me installed a 6spd trans. It's a base model vibe 2wd with a 1zz engine. Do I order a left hand axle for a base model or a gt model? The gt 6spd axle for the driver side is discontinued at autozone and advance and oreilly. I could order it online, but not sure which one to order. ??

Base axle will fit, there are no mods necessary to swap out a 5 speed for a 6.

Simply put, you can use a base or gt axle on the on the driver's side. Only a GT axle will work on the passenger side on a real GT. I am unsure if this is needed on your car since it is technically a base vibe. The XRS/GT cars have a carrier bearing on the passenger axle.

A tip:
If the axle is stuck in the trans and you can't seem to get it free, grab a free slide hammer from an auto parts store, loop a metal coat hanger wire around the back of the axle, attach the wire end to the slide hammer shaft, and then give it a few knocks. Coat hangers have many uses in my garage.

Ooo, nice! You got lucky to have the 6 speed!

We have had the vibe for a while now. Just drove it for real Sunday. I've had manual trans cars most of my days, and this is my 1st 6 speed. Gotta say it takes a lot of courage to go for the 6th gear (sposed to be reverse lol). I'll even fess up I clashed the metro this am going for 6th. I'm not sold that the left axle will fix my clunk noise, but the boot split wide open and puked its grease all over everything. And yes the right axle is a solid axle. No carrier bearing. So I think the p/o just replaced gear boxes.

And yes the axles were welded (really stuck) when I pulled the gearbox for my engine install. I used my trusty 3lb hammer and a chisel on the flat of the cv. A few good smacks and they popped right out. An old junk yard trick of mine.

Got my left axle changed. Quite simple to swap. And the base model 5 spd axle works just fine. It fixed several noise issues I'm having, but there still is a mystery clunk when I'm driving. Thinking it's either a loose engine mount or possibly the right axle may be bad also.

The 6 speed is really best suited to the 2zzge engine. The 1zzfe has all the low end torque a 5 speed needs, which the 2zzge lacks. It really is a torque-less wonder, but a banshee at high rpm. You will be perfectly fine though, since you can just skip gears with the better torque the base 1.8L has. Glad to hear the axle swap went well, they really are pretty easy on these cars though the axle nuts usually gives me fits due to the use of dimples instead of cotter-pins.