GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I have a 2009 Vibe AWD. I replaced the electromagnetic coupler on the rear diff. drained the rear diff and filled it with gear oil, now I have gear oil in the spare tire well. does anyone know what I did wrong? Thanks in advance Tom

Welcome! Not an expert here so let's wait for other guys to chime in. Anyway, do you think those are just spilled oil? Noticed any leak?

I have cleaned the gear oil up with brake-clean and it returned. I also drained the diff to check magnetic drain plug for metal and found low on gear oil. No sign of leak at axle seals or coupler seal. I did notice a vent and wiring for coupler go up but can't see where they go. cleaned oil up again and filled diff, will run for a couple of days and will keep an eye on it. Tom

Welcome to GenVibe Tom. Any way you can send pics of this gear lube ... especially in the spare tire well area? Somehow it is leaving the gearcase and getting into the vehicle. I don't own an AWD so I can't give suggestions BUT pictures would be helpful. A few from inside as well as underneath. Thanks

I cleaned all the gear oil up, and I am not smart enough to do pictures. Tom

tjones wrote:I have a 2009 Vibe AWD. I replaced the electromagnetic coupler on the rear diff. drained the rear diff and filled it with gear oil, now I have gear oil in the spare tire well. does anyone know what I did wrong? Thanks in advance Tom

I'm going to guess that the breather tube for the diff goes up into the spare tire area. If you overfill the diff it could come out the breather tube.

I filled the rear diff up to the bottom of the fill plug. Tom

Welcome to genvibe!

What were the brand and specs of the gear oil you used?

Not advertising for AMSOIL, but their reference shows the following for the 2009 Rear Diff:

Differential, Rear......GL-5
All TEMPS......80W-90
SAE 80W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube (AGLQT)
SEVERE GEAR 75W-90 Synthetic EP Lubricant (SVGQT)
75W-90 Synthetic Long Life Gear Lube (FGRQT)
SEVERE GEAR 75W-110 Synthetic EP Lubricant (SVTQT)

Pennzoil 80-90 not synthetic. I will look for some amsoil and change it. Thanks Tom

I went out change the gear oil in rear diff it was empty only got about 3 tablespoons of gear oil when i drained it. I found the vent tube goes into the spare tire area so I'm going to extend the plastic tube and see if I catch any gear oil in a soda bottle. I could not get any amsoil but I found some lucas synthetic 80-90. I'm going to try this. Tom

I went to pick up the lucas synthetic out of stock i ended up using Valvoline 80-90- synthetic. Tom

Hello to all the Vibe lovers on this site. I, too, have a Vibe - 2003 basic. We call her ViVi, and have had a lot of fun with her. So far she has never let me down on places I have tried to go.
She is standard red with grey trim, fwd, 1.8l engine, 4-speed tranny. About 142k miles on her.
My only issue is a constant Check Engine Light. I can get it reset, drive around town without any issues, but as soon as I get on the freeway and up to speed it comes on. I have had a couple of shops look at it, but they cannot find anything wrong.

Varkfixer:
First of all, welcome to the forum.

Then, please take your time to introduce yourself, best with location in the signature and even better with a picture of your Vibe.
Next thing, post a new thread instead of piggybacking on someone else's thread.

And most important of all: give us the code(s). Go to a parts store, let them read the codes and jot them down so you can post them in your new thread.

Looking forward to your new post.....

I still have the problem, I have noticed on a 50 mile trip the soda bottle will collect 3 ounces of gear oil. The other day I checked the bottle after the car sat for 4 or 5 hours and the bottle only had a trace of gear oil. I have the extended vent tube at the bottle of the bottle and I am guessing the rear diff must have a vacuum in it and sucks the gear oil back into it. If it ever quits raining I am going to look to see if there is another vent on top of the diff. Tom

tjones wrote:I have a 2009 Vibe AWD. I replaced the electromagnetic coupler on the rear diff.

Did you do this yourself or have a shop do it?

There is an oil diaphragm seal that goes behind the coupler (41410D on the diagram)- was this damaged or removed? Were the housing surfaces clean before reassembling? Were the housing bolts tightened to spec? Can't think of much else. 2009 diagram below...

I replaced it myself with a bran new unit, when I removed the bad one there was hardly any gear oil in the diff. I figured that was what ruined the original coupler. I torqued the new one in cross torquing. I did not notice the seal I will have to check it. Thanks Tom

Still fills bottle in the spare tire area, when it cools off the gear oil goes back in the rear diff. I did not mention that this is the vent tube from the coupler not the rear diff. Apparently nobody has had this issue. Local GM dealer mechanic has not heard of this . Tom

Anybody have an answer? Thanks Tom

Hey, Im checking regarding this with an old work colleague. He owns a 09 Trix AWD, The guys works a lot on his car. Wasn't able to a phone number waiting to hear back from an email.

Thank you!

Not sure on vibe but a common problem on axle vents
Differential Vents is that the one way valve sticks shut till enough pressure builds and it pukes fulid and or blows seals. Funny part is they don't let air back in to keep moisture and water out. Yours seems to do both its almost like the value is in backwards. I would find the value and see if it can be removed and just run a hose.