GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hey guys,
Been a while, but my sister just drove up to my house and told me the car was acting funny. It wouldn't down shift for going up a hill.

I got in the car, started it, went from P to R and it clunk/bang/jolted hard. R to N, D was fine. D going into sport mode and tap shifting 1-5 was fine as well. Went back into R and BANG, slams in, makes a lot of noise. I popped the hood, pulled the trans dip stick, dark/black/purple fluid, smells of burnt. The fluid on the dip stick w/ engine hot was above the high mark, I am letting it sit over night. I'll check it cold and warmed up w/ running tomorrow.

not sure how big attachments can be but I had to shrink it to fit. ANy ideas? I feel like the clutch pack fried/burnt out and its done. I want to do a drain and fill of the trans oil and hope to limp her home. Then she'd need a trans rebuild. Ideas?

No one?


If you have the base fwd w/ 2.4L engine and an auto 5spd you will need to make sure you verify all the trans parts as the part store messed up my filter/gasket. I can't find the model of the trans, but it is ASIN or ASISN?

Trans model:
5 Speed U250E

Here is the gasket filter kit
ATM 3632409
https://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/p/AT ... 0249144130

I bought 12qts of Amsoil synthetic signature series for WS. THERE ARE TWO TYPES!!! you need the blue cap, for WS fluid.

Standard drain and fill is ~4qts
If you drop the pan and let it drain more, you are more near ~5

I drained, drop the pan, put a new filter in, new gasket, took an hour to install the pan with tightening those bolts evenly back in. Filled through the dip stick, 3.5qts, ran car to temp, shifted through gears, drain and filled again, ran to temp and shifted around, drain and filled again, ran to temp and through gears. Fluid is a better color and less burn smell. Car slips at 1-2 shift and going into R bangs hard still. I watched from underneath the trans/engine rotate a few inches when going into R.

Doing this, got her home but they are looking for a trans shop to get a rebuild.

Word of the wise, these 2009-2010 Vibes with WS fluid, DO NOT WAIT. Do your oil drain fill on the trans every 60k or less. There are TONS of toyota owners who are flipping crap about this stupid fluid....

+1 on 60,000 mile WS fluid changes.

I think you mean AISIN: http://www.aisinworld.com/products/drivetrain/


There is no lifetime fluid. Even our own blood gets replaced all the time.

DIdn't realize WS was such a problem. Really sorry to hear about the transmission troubles.

BTW, it's good hearing from you again northvibe!

vibrologist wrote:I think you mean AISIN: http://www.aisinworld.com/products/drivetrain/


There is no lifetime fluid. Even our own blood gets replaced all the time.

True, but this WS stuff is HALF of what the old 1st gen vibe trans can do, easily.

Yeah, thats the brand of trans, Aisin. Kind of the odd one in the group.....

ColonelPanic wrote:DIdn't realize WS was such a problem. Really sorry to hear about the transmission troubles.

BTW, it's good hearing from you again northvibe!

Ugh, yeah I never would of dreamed I'd be seeing this out of a toyota drivetrain. Her trans is shot, but limping along.

I'm surprised there are still original members here! Great to hear from ya. I am actually looking for a AWD "beater" for myself, I would like a manual, but the 1st gen awd vibes are to be had fairly cheap, so I may go that route.....

Update:

normal mechanic shop wanted $4k to rebuild w/ 3yr warranty. OR 2500 for installing a used one.

Sister got a hold of a cousin who is a mechanic and said he can get a used one installed for $1500. I told them to make sure to find a lower mile one and check the fluid before, change it and install. Also that it was the odd ball 5spd auto.

I take it that this did not just happen when she was driving to your house, that it has been acting up for a while. My wife drives our "09 vibe and I have checked into the WS fluid myself. At 54K, the fluid looks new so I have not changed it in her car. From what I have read about the WS spec data is that it is not a synthetic lube at all. Any synthetic rated for WS is going to be better than the Toyota fluid. If you could have caught it early on, you may have been able to save it but that has to happen at the first sign of any odd shifting. Prices on trans cost are in the ball park and is a good reason why these things need to be maintained - pay it little now or a lot latter. It is too bad that this happened and I hope your sister gets a good used one.

jolt wrote: Any synthetic rated for WS is going to be better than the Toyota fluid.

I'm not sure this is correct. WS fluid is rated at least for 100,000 miles as I recall. If it were not synthetic, I would think the manual would state that it needed to be removed at 60,000 (max) or even earlier under "severe driving conditions." My Hyundai dealer try to pin a tranny failure on me because I did not get the crappy standard Hyundai fluid changed at 36,000 miles (severe city driving conditions). Hyundai now (finally) has a full synthetic tranny fluid which is rated for much longer life. While I agree that no fluid is "forever fluid" the WS fluid is rated for much longer than 60,000 miles. I got mine done at 60,000 simply because I negotiated a great deal at a Toyota dealership. In the coming months, I will be at 120,000 miles and will do so again at my local transmission shop. I don't believe an Amsoil synthetic that is WS compatible is any different than what Toyota puts in at the factory. But we certainly can agree that anyone who waits for the dial to pass 100,000 before switching out this most vital fluid is being foolish.
***First Gen Vibe owners*** : you have Toyota Type IV transmission fluid so pay no mind to the WS references in this note.

Caretaker, you are correct in questioning my statement as it could be misleading. Not all synthetic oils are true synthetic oil. Some are blends of synthetic and base stock oils and others can just be better refined base stock oils that some oil companies call synthetic oil, like Valvoline. I have not found proof that the Toyota WS is base stock oil or a synthetic, or a mix of the two. The standard that WS oil is under and what you want to search for is JWS 3324. This will bring up different manufactures that make oil meeting the JWS 3324 standard and their data sheets. There are getting to be more and more manufactures of WS type fuild on the market. For alternatives to the Toyota AT fuild that meet the JWS 3324 standard and are WS rated see this link: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ver ... id.373083/

This is getting off the main subject here and would be better discussed in it own thread but WS transmission fluid is now widely used by a lot of other manufactures and in other transmissions.

jolt wrote: ↑Fri Jul 22, 2016 12:33 pm I take it that this did not just happen when she was driving to your house, that it has been acting up for a while. My wife drives our "09 vibe and I have checked into the WS fluid myself. At 54K, the fluid looks new so I have not changed it in her car. From what I have read about the WS spec data is that it is not a synthetic lube at all. Any synthetic rated for WS is going to be better than the Toyota fluid. If you could have caught it early on, you may have been able to save it but that has to happen at the first sign of any odd shifting. Prices on trans cost are in the ball park and is a good reason why these things need to be maintained - pay it little now or a lot latter. It is too bad that this happened and I hope your sister gets a good used one.

Yeah, I bet she had some issues with the trans much earlier on. However she doesn't care for her car(s) like some of us may. With my 03 vibe and 05 escape, I was on top of fluid changes, cutting the manual estimates in half. I still need to do a handful of that to my current fleet, but you get the idea. She probably had the issue well over 100k so that trans was long gone :/ She is looking to buy my escape, a few cel's popped up so I'm gonna try and fix those to limp her vibe for the year.