GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Although I am not certain of the assembly origin of the 2.4 Liter engines used in the Vibe, apparently Toyota has recently (January 4, 2015) issued a special 'Extended Warranty Enhancement ZE7' for the 2.4 Liter 2AZ-FE engine used in the their Camry, Matrix, Scion, Corolla, RAV4 models. I assist an elderly neighbor with the maintenance & repairs on his Vibe and I recently received information on this 'non-recall' fix for excessive oil consumption involving the oil return holes under the oil control rings on the pistons in the Toyota 2AZ-FE engines. If the engine in question fails the oil consumption test, apparently Toyota will replace the pistons and rings under their TSB-0094-11 http://assets.carcomplaints.com/docs/to ... 094-11.pdf. Another description of the program can be found at: http://www.toyoheadquarters.com/threads ... c-ze7.362/

Again, not being certain of the assembly origin of the 2.4L Toyota engine used in the Vibe, as only engines made in certain plants are covered under this notice, this information may be potentially useful to Vibe owners experiencing excessive oil consumption with this type of Toyota powerplant. Happy Motoring!

wow, interesting post. Thanks for doing so. And I thought all my Corolla-Vibes were oil boozers. My first gen Vibe definitely had a drinking problem. My current 2ZR also consumes, but not yet to the extent that my '03 did.

Good find, thanks for sharing. I heard about this recently and wondered whether GM would extend this warranty in similar fashion (and send Toyota the bill!)

If not, Vibe owners with these oil drinkers are on their own. Toyota's just going to laugh at you if you brought in a car with a Pontiac emblem on it even if it is their faulty hardware.

Hmmmm ... Juniors Vibe GT consumes a quart every 1500 miles or so. I believe the threshold is 1200 miles to where it would be deemed a serious problem VS "normal acceptable" limits. As stated, we're on our own here BUT good to know that at least some of the engines will be addressed and corrected! Just not ours

Anyone ever figure out how to cross compare and figure out where at in our VIN the cutoff is?
With all the parts buried inside, no way to check.

The Matrix VIN cutoff is 2T1#E40E#9C010829

After extensive calls to both GM and Toyota's customer relations departments this is only being offered to Toyota owners although we all know that the Vibe is a Toyota Matrix concerning the drivetrain.

Greetings, all!

I love my '09 Vibe with the 5 speed stick and. . .the 2AZ-FE oil burner under the hood. I had two vintage oil burners before (an '81 and an '82 123 series Mercedes-Benz 240D). Different kinda oil burners, though

Okay, so we Pontiac owners are out of luck with getting Toyota to evaluate our engines, let alone replace them. Okay, I can live with monitoring my oil, but I am curious about the possible benefit (or harm) of using heavier oil than the specified 5W-20. I have had a mechanic recommend using heavier oil, and I have read that heaver than specified oil may not coat the engine parts sufficiently, because modern engines have been engineered with such close tolerances. I have sorta split the difference: I let a GM dealership change the oil and use the specified stuff, and I add 5W-30 as I lose oil between changes.

Any opinions on whether heavier is good, bad, or indifferent for this engine?

I think most would say it's indifferent. I don't think I would run more than just 5w30 in it.

Welcome to GenVibe JAC! Your location could play an important part in the type of oil used also as well as your driving type/habits. Thicker oil in a very cold climate would not be good on start-ups. Thinner oil in a hot environment would not be good either. Let us know where your from. FYI, of the two 2009 Vibe GT's in my fleet, one burns oil at the rate of 1qt/2000 miles, and the other burns ZERO oil. No big deal for me. Just keep an eye on it. Oh, as added insurance/assurance, I use full synthetic oil

Recommended oils are either 0w-20 or 5w-20. Yes, I would not go above 5 on the startup end, so my big question is whether it's acceptable to use 5w-30, rather than the specified 20.

I live in Missouri, by the way.

It would be acceptable to me if it was my car.

The further south you go, the higher the numbers move. For example, for my wife's Mazda, Mexico is '5w-30' rather than 0w-20, in the US and Canada. Since we're in Houston, we're closer to Mexico than Canada, so 5-30 is within the recommended range. (For that car)

if you're in Houston or points south, you could probably even manage 10w-40, especially if you garage your car.

The low number deals with viscosity when cold, and the high number when hot, IIRC. There are sites online that cover that in exhausting detail.

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/toyo ... 77838.html

article title is "Toyota Four-Cylinder Engine Teardown Reveals Why It Failed, It Is Easy To Guess", has a 22 minute video of a teardown of a failed 2AZ-FE where the narrator blames it on oil gumming the rings causing excessive oil burn