GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Ok so I just bought my 05 vibe a couple weeks ago . It has about 154,400 miles on it . Well within first several days the check engine light came on . Took it to auto zone and they said it was p0741. Torque clutch converter slipping/stuck . So with my anxiety I was already freaking out . This is my first car , I don't make much money and I bought it as is with no warranty because it's all I could afford . A few days later I went to O'reillys auto parts for a second test . Just to see if they would say anything different . She asked if it was shifting okay, I said it was . I haven't had any issues driving at all . She turned the CEL off and said if it doesn't come back she wouldn't worry about it . Well it stayed off for 4-5 days but it's back on again . Stopped by autozone again, got the same code . So now I'm a little worried as I've googled the error before and some people talk about having to replace their whole transmission and what not . I certainly don't have the money for that . Took forever to get the money for the car and transmission would cost almost as much as the car did . Even if I have to replace the torque converter I assume that could cost some 500-800 bucks . I only get paid bi weekly and make abou 550 in two weeks . If I have the money when paycheck comes this week I plan on having it looked over , but does anyone know anything about this error code and how serious it is? Just really worried about it

Getting a transmission replaced should not cost you that much. You can also look for a rebuilt / used transmission for much cheaper.

Also, now is a good time to clarify. DId you buy this from a person, or from a dealership? If it was a dealership, did they disclose any transmission issues or any other serious problems?

I bought it from a small car dealership . He didn't say anything was wrong with it . I'm not sure if anything is either , just the check engine light . I'm hoping it something small that needs fixing

I found this thread on the forum. It mentions a loose connection as a possibility. Is the car shifting OK otherwise? I mean I know you felt it wasn't but has that changed with your driving style at all?

viewtopic.php?t=28167


Does anyone know if this is something easy he can check himself? I don't know jack about transmissions or the underside of the car.

Thanks busted . I looked back at past posts myself . The link you sent that person said something came loose when he hit a bump. I probably wont know anything for sure until I can get it looked at. Just having the CEL on bothers me though . It drives fine from what I can tell . I haven't had any issues with the shifting . Even let my uncle drive it the other day and he said it shifted pretty smoothly

Congrats on the new Vibe! and relax! Is the car a Vibe BASE? Had you bought an 11 year old car about 10 years ago - you wouldn't have had this problem. Auto trannies have been around for 70ish years, but tranny codes are very new. The auto tranny on the Vibe is a very sturdy unit and when something breaks, you will know it because of shifting / revving / clunking / leaking symptoms.
The first thing I would do is a complete fluid change using Toyota T-4 transmission fluid and go from there. The only thing guaranteed is that running tranny fluid past 150,000 miles will eventually cause a mechanical problem. You did check the fluid level?

Hi Chiadog. I have not checked the fluid level and honestly not sure how. I know next to nothing about cars. I'm 27 and this is my first car. I actually just got my license about a month ago. I was planning on taking it to a mechanic once I get my paycheck this week and having it looked over.The car drives fine, shifts fine. Just a little squeeling in the brakess when I come to a stop but nothing serious. That and the fact that I think something might be wrong with my gas mileage but again this is my first car so maybe I'm wrong but it seems like its going through gas faster than it should.

Update: My coworker did check the oil , if thats what you mean. He said it looked okay, its light brown and in the range of the dipstick of where it needed to be , though he said he'd still get it changed later

It says here http://www.obd-codes.com/p0741 that decreased mileage can be a symptom of the simple problem with the solenoid or its electrical connection. So maybe its really not anything major (here's hoping).

There is a dip stick under the hood, just like for the oil. I believe it has an orange handle (the oil dipstick has a yellow one)

In fact there are pictures in my Audio upgrade thread viewtopic.php?f=18&t=45294

You can see the yellow dipstick by the alternator, and the orange one in the other picture, down and to the left of the battery. I imagine it is in the same or similar position on your car.

Thanks BustedVibe, I'll definitely check that tomorrow when I get off work. Maybe it is something simple like that, I sure hope so . Just took all the money I had to get the car and probably to continue keeping the car , haha. I mean I can eventually afford some repairs but nothing like a new transmission. But it drives fine, if something was wrong with the transmission, from what it sounds like, I would know . Also to answer a previous question I'm not sure how to tell if my Vibe is the base model but I'm almost certain it is.

Thestorm wrote:Also to answer a previous question I'm not sure how to tell if my Vibe is the base model but I'm almost certain it is.

I can answer that. Its an automatic, which immediately implies that its a base model. The GT models were all 6spd manuals.

Thank you! I figured so . Yes it's an automatic . No idea how to drive a stick haha

The 2005 Vibe owners manual can be found here for free: https://my.gm.com/learn/2005/Vibe?make=Pontiac
That will help answer a lot of questions you will have.
Also, the life span of your new Vibe depends entirely on the timeliness and quality of the maintenance you have preformed on it. So choose your mechanic wisely! Ask friends, coworkers for a referral to a good mechanic that they actually use. Additionally, Get a pocket-size notebook to log each maintenance preformed along with date, mileage, etc. Keep receipts - some parts have life-time replacement warranty's.
One more thing. Are you familiar with the Overdrive lockout button located on the shifter, directly below the chrome plated shifter lock button? It can have a huge effect on gas mileage.

Get 5 quarts of T-IV fluid, as it's a Toyota transmission, if you plan to drain and fill it. Under the car, you have two drain pans. The FLAT pan is the transmission. The one that looks like this is your engine oil pan.

Now, put a big drain pan under your transmission plug and take the drain bolt out. It is a size 14 mm bolt. It is best to drain the transmission when it's still warm.

Next, reinstall the pug. Get it snug, but don't crank down on it like it owes you money. Just get it to the point where it feels like it doesn't want to keep going. If you tighten it too hard, you will rip the threads out of the pan.

Next, pull the dipstick. It is the yellow one in the shape of a T. Get a funnel with a narrow enough tip to fit in. This is the only place you can fill from. Add 3 quarts, install the dipstick, start the engine, and while holding the brakes, shift into reverse, wait 3 seconds, shift to drive, 3 seconds, 2, 3 seconds, and 1, 3 seconds. Then go back to park with 3 seconds in each gear in the opposite order. Wait until the engine reaches operating temperature (about the middle of the coolant temperature gauge or just under).

With the engine still running, pull the dipstick out, wipe it, put it all the way back in, and pull it back out and check the HOT level. You should be closer to MAX than to MIN. If you are still too low, add more, shift the gears again, and recheck.


Why do you shift through the gears? Well, the ATF (auto transmission fluid) isn't just a lubricant and cleaner. It also drives the transmission using fluid pressure, valves, clutch packs, bands, and pistons. The fluid is directed into a clutch pack inside a piston, which holds certain parts stationary. Basically, a lot of fluid must be moved out of the pan and into the rest of the system to get an accurate reading of whether you have enough for it to operate correctly.


All this engagement of pistons, bands, and clutch packs changes how power is transferred through a single gearset. In a 4 speed transmission (the Vibe/Corolla/Matrix), all you have is this as far as gears go:

It looks complicated, but the manual gearsets are more complicated. What you see in the image above actually only accounts for 3 speeds. The 4th speed, actually called "overdrive," locks up the torque converter so that for every single turn the engine makes, the transmission turns more than once (I don't know the ratio for this car, but it's probably like 1.3 transmission turns for 1 turn of the engine). This increases highway efficiency.

I left out a lot of details as far as how things work and what the torque converter does, since it's hard to explain these things without going in to a lot of other concepts.