GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

My 2006 Vibe has been running a bit rough, and after a bunch of digging my mechanic tells me that one of the pistons isn't firing.
He said the car will probably work like this for about a year, but eventually I'll cook my catalytic converter.
His recommendations were either 1) drive it til it dies, or 2) replace the engine.

The car has 125,000 miles on it, and is generally in good shape for its age.

From what I understand, these engines are pretty bulletproof (except mine), so it seems like a safe bet that if I got an engine under 100K miles, I could keep the car another 4 years or so. Estimate on parts and labor was around $3000 or so.

Has anyone replaced the engine on their Vibe? What was your experience?

My only experience with dropping in a new engine was on an '87 Ford Club Wagon, and the new engine only lasted 6 months. Granted, the Toyota engines have a better rep than the Fords from the 80s.

First off, do you have compression numbers to prove you have a bad cylinder? Maybe it's a coil. Get a second opinion if necessary.
That being said, I've had two used engines installed in my vehicles, approximately 5 and 10 years ago, both are still running fine. The last one was put into a 2001 chev. Impala cost $1350 for engine and installation. Check local junkyards for estimates - that's what works for me. $3000 sounds crazy!

"one piston isn't firing" could be interpreted to mean different things

If one cylinder is not firing, then it could be due to some internal engine issue, but it would be much more likely to be from a bad spark plug, a bad ignition coil driving the spark plug, or a clogged or failed fuel injector. These more common causes are also a lot cheaper and easier to replace than a whole engine.

Piston problems could be a worn connecting rod bearing or worn rings, but those things would cause either noise becoming a loud knock or general loss of power.

You said the main symptom is it runs rough, which seems much more likely a misfire problem.

I definitely second Chiadog's recommendation to get a second opinion. Maybe some place that specializes in tune-ups.

If it does turn out to be some grievous engine failure requiring a new engine, consider one from a junkyard out of a wreck. Many yards will even do the install, and will offer some sort of warranty.

I'm sadly not as versed in mechanics as I should be, so I think it was a cylinder that was dead. Three are running now, so when I idle it feels like it wants to stall. And my mileage isn't what it used to be. Not horrible, but down for sure. My usual mechanic ran a bunch of tests and for awhile thought he could get by with replacing the plugs and one coil, but after more tests came to the engine replacement suggestion.

I did bring it to another mechanic for a second opinion (after crowd-sourcing one through friends...he seems to have a great rep in town for being good / straight forward). He had the same conclusion as my mechanic, who I like, but still wanted to get a 2nd opinion before an operation like a new engine.

I need to dig around online more, but does anyone know if I need a Vibe engine, or would a Matrix do? I've heard that the engines are similar to Corollas as well, but wasn't sure if that was ok to interchange. The two suggested local junkyards don't have any Vibe engines in stock, but I did see that here that there are a few around that country that could work:

http://www.autopartsfair.com/pontiac-us ... &seq_num=4

Any idea what a fair price for engine + installment would be?

Here is another search site for junk yards:
http://www.car-part.com/

I think this site has a feature for interchangeable parts. You could also call a junk yard and ask.

If you need a replacement engine then bad idea. Seems like it's new(er) car time for you. You're taking a chance that the replacement engine is not junk itself. This can and does happen a lot.

Nasmfell wrote:If you need a replacement engine then bad idea. Seems like it's new(er) car time for you. You're taking a chance that the replacement engine is not junk itself. This can and does happen a lot.

These engines tend to be fine, just make sure you get an engine from a car that got tailgated into its doom, plus a warranty.

lannvouivre wrote:These engines tend to be fine, just make sure you get an engine from a car that got tailgated into its doom, plus a warranty.

Definitely agree Replace the engine and you'll get several more years out of this car! Don't let any pessimists on this site drag you down

lannvouivre wrote:

Nasmfell wrote:If you need a replacement engine then bad idea. Seems like it's new(er) car time for you. You're taking a chance that the replacement engine is not junk itself. This can and does happen a lot.

These engines tend to be fine, just make sure you get an engine from a car that got tailgated into its doom, plus a warranty.

Okay then. Good luck.

tpollauf wrote:

lannvouivre wrote:These engines tend to be fine, just make sure you get an engine from a car that got tailgated into its doom, plus a warranty.

Definitely agree Replace the engine and you'll get several more years out of this car! Don't let any pessimists on this site drag you down[/quote

Being realistic.

I can see why you'd worry, since sometimes you're really at the mercy of the P.O. Make sure you look the replacement over and pop off the valve cover. If it looks like someone added the tar special or put insulating foam in it...you may not want that one. Otherwise, you can ask them if they ran a compression test on it, as it seems they do that a lot on salvage engines.