GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

So Ill admit- I was dubious when I was first presented with the car that all my hard earned money had got me. My parents decided to surprise me with a car I didnt know even existed. I had recieved the car at the start of my senior year in high school and I wasnt particularly fond of it- I wanted a car that I wanted- not a prearranged set up with a car that was a little too docile for my tastes. But as time went on (in particular these past couple months, and by my second semester in college, I fell in love with her. Now the battery is swollen, the alternator went out, a/c compressor clutch ruined and after having all these replaced, the bolts that mount my ac compressor to the block are sheared. INSIDE THE BLOCK. since i havent even put 20,000 miles on her, im dissapointed. Anyone have this many issues with their vibes?

First of all, welcome to GenVibe!

now to your car: could you give us more details? which particular model, how many miles on it where do you live what do you know about the previous owner and the history of the car?

Bolts shearing off seems a bit unusual. I wonder if somebody messed with it before.
Batteries have a finite lifetime. If you don't replace it when it gets weak it will put strain on the alternator. Then the alternator dies early.

I am sure the bolts can be extracted.

Welcome and sorry you are having these issues with your Vibe. But it sounds like it was not well taken care of by the prior owner(s). Even the best car won't last long if not maintained and treated well by the owner. My son's 06 has only had minor issues (computer replaced under warranty - recalled later, power window motors failed, ac fan stopped, battery twice, which is common in TX) in about 73K miles, and my 03 GT has only had some AC issues and the transmission clutch replaced twice by the prior owner, and again a clutch by me since the last cheap one failed in about 214K miles.

The compressor bolts should be able to be extracted like vibrologist said. So is the compressor clutch not serviceable, so they had to replace the whole compressor? I wonder if one of them might have been damaged during the repair, and then the other broke as a result.

Good luck with it and good luck in school! My son really enjoys his car, especially the cargo capacity and gas mileage when he was away at college.

Thanks for the warm welcomes, guys. My car is the 2006 1.8L base model, and When it was bought it had 177k on the odo. it currently has 192k and I took her to a shop since the research I did for this issue made it clear that i didnt have the tools or the expertise to remove the bolts. Charged me $175 for the attachment of the ac compressor with new bolts & making sure everything is up and running.does that Sound like a fair deal?

Welcome to GenVibe. Try to NOT get too discouraged about your Vibe. Maybe when your parents sought it out and purchased it, they did not thoroughly inspect it and did not know exactly what to look for. Hint .... they should have consulted with us here @ GenVibe first !!! Anyways mechanical stuff is always prone to failure and if/when they break, the repair is only as good as the person making the repair. The few repairs that you already encountered may not have been properly done, thus the subsequent problem you ended up with. Keep this car as it will provide you with reliability and low operating costs for another 100,000 miles and hopefully more. Post pics and update your location for us. Thanks for joining and visit here often

That does not sound too bad for a shop to do it. I haven't extracted bolts in the block before, but I have done it a couple of times and it can be a bit challenging, especially if the break point is not flat. At least it is done, so hopefully you won't have issues for a while. Just keep up with the maintenance on your car, and it should last you for a while.

I think you paid a reasonable price for this repair. i once had a bolt extracted on a '86 Cavalier. I paid $400.00 back in the 90's. This bolt was very hard to get to.
Make sure you have the fluids changed. All of them: oil, tranny fluid, coolant, brake fluid. Make sure they use the correct stuff. This Vibe can last you through college if you take care of the basics.

Thanks all! Im glad to have a running car again. Been purchasing a few parts to slowly upgrade it, will be posting pictures and updating my info very soon! I think I will be on here fairly often

Well, the A/C compressor bolts on mine when I did my engine rebuild were seized in TIGHT. I thought I was breaking the bolts when I was loosening them, they creaked so bad. I didn't, though. $176 for two broken bolts on the bottom of the block sounds fair.

I don't think a swollen battery has anything to do with the car. If the battery freezes, the liquids inside will expand. If you try to charge/use the battery at this point...well, let's just say you're not ever supposed to charge a battery that you suspect is frozen. I think it just got too cold.

Yeah, the bolts were really in there!

The mechanic (who's a friend of mine) was telling me that he broke a good 6 or 7 drill bits before they could get the suckers out!

The battery, in my theory was just too old. i wouldn't have thought that it would be cold enough to freeze the battery over in florida!

Welcome to Genvibe! The batteries swell when they get old or hot. Needing an alternator and A/C compressor on a 9 y/o car isn't bad. This car will treat you well just do the basic maintenance to it.