GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Last night, on my way home, I noticed that the GT was vibrating more than usual. I do have poly mounts on it, so it buzzes a bit, but this was different. I noticed more vibrations when accelerating in 6th gear, and much less when I coasted or was in other gears. SO, I'm guessing the bearings for 6th are going out, or something.

I replaced the clutch & flywheel back in October 2014, and filled it with the Pennzoil Syncromesh fluid as recommended by MWR. Today I drove it in 5th gear and it does not vibrate or buzz nearly as much. I'll see how it runs the rest of the week babying it and maybe replace the fluid and see how that does. I'll have my transmission guy look up the rebuild info and hopefully if it needs it, we can take care of it cheaply.

I tested it a bit more on my way home, and it does vibrate in 4, 5, and 6, at speeds over 65, so I now doubt it is the trans. It appears to be speed related along with vibrating on acceleration. So what do you guys think, CV joint or something?

I had a feeling it wasn't your trans. Could be an out of weight or bent wheel, cv, or wheel bearing, offhand. Hard to say for me without experiencing it. Keep us up to date and perhaps someone else will chime in, as well.

Thankfully you can check CV joints, wheel bearings, etc and such usually by just raising the car, putting it in neutral (if it's a drive wheel, bearing wise) and wiggling the wheel.

Does wind direction make a difference on the buzzing/vibration? Could be a loose piece of trim or plastic panel.

Derf wrote:Does wind direction make a difference on the buzzing/vibration? Could be a loose piece of trim or plastic panel.

A loose piece of wheel will trim can be bad in high wind conditions at highway speeds. One kept blowing into the drivers side front tire on a long drive through the deserts of AZ and CA back in December. Not only does it make a horrible noise it also DOES make the steering go a little to one side. Once It didnt make a constant vibration noise or vibration though. Once I got out of that bad high wind area, it's never been a problem since.

(Unrelated: Prior to that when I bought it, the plastic bit under the transmission was hanging down and would rub the tire when hard turning. I bet that noise was one reason they were selling the car. They thought something bad wrong was going on. I had the transmission shop zip tie it up after they did the fluid/filter change.)

Been driving it more and now I've noticed that it vibrates more when the car is warm, like when I'm 2/3 of the way home. When it is cold it does not do much. And it is a vibration in the floor and steering wheel. I took the driver's side wheel off today, and did not see anything obvious, but there is a bit of play in the steering. Rocking the tire back and forth causes a knock under the car, so it might be a tie rod end on the passenger side. I replaced the driver's outer one recently, since it was very bad, but maybe the others need replacing.

Whatever the issue, driving the car like a grandma really sucks.