GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

2009 VIBE GT 2.4 engine.130K miles I have a whining noise from the passenger side of the engine. It is very noticeable when temps are cold. Goes away as soon as engine temps are normal. noise is in sync with engine speed and more noticeable under load. Just because it was easy, I had changed the idler pulley and serp. belt. I had stethiscoped (spelling??) the alternator and AC compressor. It is similar to the noise you would normally get from power steering when turned lock to lock. This will sound dumb, but if there is electronic steering, what is being driven by the serp. belt. PS... Water pump looks and feels solid. I am tempted to change this also for less than $100. Noise has been there for some time and does not appear to be getting worse.

So if you remove the belt, and run the engine for less than a minute, the noise is gone? Try putting some baby powder on the face of the belt and then start it and see if the noise went away. The baby power acts as a release agent for the belt in the pulley's. This is not a fix but a test as the baby powder will wash off. Also check your alt pulley to see if it is a slip pulley (clutched). This pulleys do wear out causing noise.

Another easy trick is turn on the ac and see if it changes with the cycling of the compressor.

Here is link to info on pulley for alternator: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.ph ... %2FA%3D%3D

and here for prices if this is your noise: https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/pon ... ulley,2448

leaster1939 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 19, 2020 7:45 am 2009 VIBE GT 2.4 engine.130K miles I have a whining noise from the passenger side of the engine. It is very noticeable when temps are cold. Goes away as soon as engine temps are normal. noise is in sync with engine speed and more noticeable under load. Just because it was easy, I had changed the idler pulley and serp. belt.

So my son's 2009 Vibe GT is starting to have these exact symptoms and I'm researching to find out what the possible causes could be. One issue I'm having is the inconsistency of suppliers NOT identifying all of their parts the same. For the 2009 model year, the 2.4L engine did away with the power steering pump YET kept the pulley in place as a "dummy" pulley. According to the Service manuals, this part is called " an IDLER pulley". here is where the confusion comes in. The original poster here supposedly replaced this exact part BUT I'd bet that he replaced the tensioner pulley instead!

The tensioner pulley is roughly 2" in diameter and has a smooth/flat belt surface as it rides along the BACKSIDE of the grooved belt. The idler pulley is closer to 5-6" in diameter and has a grooved surface to ride on the grooved side of the belt. It also has large holes punched out every 90' for bolt access into the engine block for mounting. The bearings COULD be going out on this idler pulley and if so, I'd like to locate a new one as part of my repair process.

Now go to your favorite parts supplier and attempt to look up this exact part and let me know what you'll find. So far, many searches either came up empty (including Toyota & GM OEM suppliers) or they mistakenly call it an idler pulley when in fact they are referring to it as a tensioner pulley. I know photos can NOT be relied upon when searching for certain parts, and specific details usually don't exist for such a small part (bore dia., outside dia., width, etc.) so I'm limited there. Just curious as to what part the original poster did in fact use, and if anybody else ran into a similar problem as this. Thanks for any help you guys can offer ....................... Tim

It does seem to be a frustrating thing to search for.

a toyota site appears to give it a toyota part number of 16603-28020 which appears to cross reference to a Dayco part number of 89180

A search for either of those part numbers will return a bunch of sites that list compatible vehicles, and one site may list only matrix, or only tundra, or only lexus lexus or scion, but nobody lists an all inclusive list


https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/day ... Term=89180 specifically says the dayco one doesn't fit a Vibe, but gives the following dimensions
Bearing Inner Diameter 1: 10.3 mm
Bearing Inner Diameter 2: 10.3 mm
Components:Pulley
Flange:Yes
Flat: No
Max Belt Width: 07 Rib
Groove Quantity: 7
Number of Bearings: 2
Pulley Diameter: 4.528 in
Pulley Material: Steel
Pulley Type: Serpentine
Pulley Width: 1.182 in
Total Bearing Width: 26 mm

You said yours 5-6" so maybe this one is too small. If yours measures to be the same maybe it is compatible, but Vibes get no respect and they don't know its a fit.
If you buy from advanceautoparts, now or in the future, its worth it to order the stuff online, even if they have it in stock, because the website always offers a discount that's not available if you order in the store

Thanks J-mon for the research and tip. I now see that RockAuto also has a couple choices of the exact pulley (which by the way IS the correct part) for HALF the price of Advance auto parts. https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/toy ... ulley,6956 At 120 mm outside diameter (4.74 in.) this is the exact part that I may end up needing. Thanks for the help

hope it solves the noise, I never think to look at rock auto, most likely because of their annoying tv commercials.

Rock Auto has TV commercials? Never seen one.

I just recently started buying from Autozone again. I boycotted them because they were reselling advertising space on their web site a few years ago. It wasn't that they were advertising that was bugging me - it was that I was using their site to find stuff for which to pay them money, and they were pushing _unrelated_ products. sorry, I find Cheerios to not be a good product to advertise when I'm trying to buy belts and hoses. If it was Firestone, Brake Check, or even tire company commercials? Sure.

Funny part? Their customer support people were like "Oh, but our focus groups said it's wonderful!" "Yes, well, your actual customer doesn't like it, and you're not getting my business until you stop."

I must not have been the only one that complained and stopped buying from them.

My ‘03 has the exact same noise. Whines at start-up, noise is relative to RPM, and “almost” goes away once operating temp is reached. It sounds just like a power steering pump that is dry. I just finished removing the belt and starting to engine to isolate the belt-driven accessories. The whine is still there so that nods toward an internal issue.

My '03 had the same (I think) noise as well. It sounded like a whirling noise that got higher in pitch and ended with a "tick." I especially heard it when sitting at my first traffic light of the day.