GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I have a 2003 Pontiac vibe fwd with 146,000 mi on it. So far, the things I have done to it are all general maintenance spark plugs, oil changes, brakes, tires, air filter, etc. Outside of those, only the intake gasket (Toyota version to fix that cold soak cel) and a mass airflow sensor have been replaced. At this point, the car is starting to idle rough and I'm wondering what should be done at this point? I would like to keep the car for another three years if possible. I do not mind spending a thousand bucks or so to get things done. Should I be doing things like the alternator, valve gaps, IACV valve, coils. If you guys have done these things, about what mileage did they need to be done? Some of it I'll do myself others a local good Indy shop. Why info and suggestions would be helpful. I am planning to do an upper cylinder seafoam treatment through the throttle body, btw.

Edit* all fluids are consistently flushed and filled so they are good.

I wouldn't bother with the alternator, valve gaps, IACV valve, coils unless you think they are bad.

Maybe replace the PCV valve, and run a bottle of injector cleaner through it.

If you are the original owner, then 18 years on the original ignition coils is amazing. If you want 3 more years, I'd put new ones in and as joatmon said, I'd do the PCV for sure.

Idle rough? Have the compression tested. Possible spark plugs, coils, fuel injector, bad motor mounts? Any starting issues? Manual or automatic transmission?

jolt wrote: ↑Mon Oct 05, 2020 10:49 am Idle rough? Have the compression tested. Possible spark plugs, coils, fuel injector, bad motor mounts? Any starting issues? Manual or automatic transmission?

Thanks all for the responses. I appreciate it! I'll definitely do the coils and pcv. As a matter of fact, every once in a while it turns over more times than normal before it starts. But it very rarely happens. Almost like it depends what position the motor was in when it shut down as to how it starts next time. Nearly every time, it starts right up. Yes these are the original coils. Amazingly, also the original shocks which keep passing inspection too! Problem with the pvc is I've seen 2 types available. One is a 16mm and one is 3/8 thread. How can I tell which one mine has? Automatic transmission.

3/8" NPT (National Pipe Thread) will measure about 16 mm at the tapered end, so it's probably the same thing.

Thanks everyone. I did the coils. A little better but still idles rough. And, this morning, I started the car and it turned over many times before starting. Once started, the car runs ok other than the aforementioned idle. Since plugs are pretty new, and I just did coils. I'm thinking injectors and possibly the fuel rail? Any point in replacing these. Anyone know the part numbers?

thejas wrote: ↑Tue Nov 03, 2020 3:11 am Thanks everyone. I did the coils. A little better but still idles rough. And, this morning, I started the car and it turned over many times before starting. Once started, the car runs ok other than the aforementioned idle. Since plugs are pretty new, and I just did coils. I'm thinking injectors and possibly the fuel rail? Any point in replacing these. Anyone know the part numbers?

Too bad I bought knock offs (coils) on ebay without realizing. They made the engine misfire 2 weeks later. Fortunately, I kept the originals and when I put them back in, no issues. I did wind up doing the pcv and removed and cleaned the iacv/throttlebody. unfortunately the car wasn't really running right and a week later while checking things, i realized i hadn't tightened the hose clamp on the throttle body air box pipe. Tightened that down and it seems ok now.