GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I have a base model 2006 with the 5 speed transmission, 17" wheels and Eibach lowering springs. It has been a great car, is very reliable and gets 30-32 mpg daily, and it has gone on several trips. About 4 times a year I haul my motorcycle from KY to Tennessee to ride in the mountains, and the car tows my little trailer just fine. Unfortunately the transmission bearings started to get noisy only with 102,000 miles on the car. I have changed my transmission oil regularly, and I drive very sensibly.....I am a little surprised the bearings have gone bad (maybe the trailer use has helped this to occur - the trailer and bike weigh less than 1,000 pounds combined). When I took the car apart I also found one of the front wheel bearings was a bit gritty feeling - so both of those have been replaced as well. The clutch and pressure plate were in great shape and barely worn......however I did replace them.

I bought a new 6 speed Toyota transmission from Monkey Wrench that has the 3.9 final drive gears....and I am within a couple of hours of being finished. The front brake calipers need bled, and the plastic shields need to be installed, and the axle nuts need to be torqued and locked.
http://www.monkeywrenchracing.com/produ ... ts_id=1665

The only issue I have is that there a bolt on the front of the transmission case that I don't know what should be attached there? It could be for the ground strap from the battery - I currently have that attached to a bracket at the top of the transmission and it looks like it belongs there....however I could be wrong. The bracket holds a wire loom, and then has an extra bolt hole to the side......I looked at an automatic transmission car and it had the ground strap attached in that position on the bracket.

When I was taking parts off the old transmission I immediately attached them to the new transmission so I would not misplace the bolts or brackets, and I put this bolt into the new transmission - and the old transmission has a bright shiny spot here.....so I know something was attached there.

Any help would be appreciated......somebody please look at their battery ground strap and see where it attaches! Thanks - Dave




From the transmission old change thread on this forum....it appears to be this bolt....and it appears the battery ground is attached there.

The ground wire on my 03 GT is bolted to the case on the top hole, but nothing else is bolted to the bottom section.

well, that 5 speed was my car, so without looking I can say that is where the ground strap was located on mine.

In the manual transaxle replacement procedure from the matrix manual, Step 16c is to disconnect the TWO ground straps, from the pic for that step it could be one is the bolt you are asking about and the other is the other place on top where you've seen a ground strap connected. Could be the one on top is from the battery directly, the other might go somewhere else

Thanks......your pictures helped to work it out.

The ground cable from the battery does go to the top of the transmission, and it attaches to a bolt on the side of a mount for the wire loom.

The second cable is mounted to the right fender well up near the upper shock mount, and it attaches to the "mystery" bolt on the front of the transmission.

My car is now back together and I drove it to work this morning. The new 6 speed transmission and new wheel bearings have made the car a bit smoother.....now it is time to put another 100,000 miles in it (hopefully more).

Thanks for your help.

Dave

Couldn't help out with your question BUT I did want to give you a "pat on the back" for spending some serious $$$ in keeping this Vibe on the road Not many people would have gone to these measures as you did AND you did it with quality parts! Sounds like you plan on keeping this Vibe for quite some time. That's awesome

I love my Vibe, and it is well worth keeping. I have had the car almost 9 years and 100,000 miles....and hopefully get that many more years out of it. I suppose I put about $ 3,000 in it with the new transmission, clutch/pressure plate, front wheel bearings, and brake pads. Not much more than 2-3 payments on a new car.

It is my daily driver, my vacation car, and it does everything I ask of it. It hauls my little enclosed trailer that I haul my motorcycle in, and there is room for me to sleep in the trailer as well. A few times a year I go to the Tail of the Dragon in TN/NC and camp in the trailer and ride my motorcycle around the mountains. The 6 speed should make that a bit easier getting up Jelico Mountain!

Very nice looking, and I like those wheels on it!