I drive a 2005 Pontiac Vibe that occasionally will not start on the first try. It seems to only happen when I drive it, let it sit for a short amount of time (5min-1hr) and try to start it again. When this happens, it has always started on the second or third try. It always starts fine when it sits overnight. Is this something I need to be worried about or costly to fix?
View 3 RepliesI recently got another blower motor for my vibe. Got it installed but nothing happened. I replaced the resistor as well. Once I found the secret hidden fuse panel I found that the 40a fuse was blown. I replaced it and it blew instantly upon turning the ignition on, the resistor was unplugged at the time. I am wondering if there could be a short in the wire harness.
The blower went bad a while ago and blew a resistor, I replaced it and it ran for a while until some smoke came out of the dash and then nothing.
Last winter, I noticed the engine was surging intermittently after start-up, until the engine warmed up. No issues on warmer days, spring/summer, etc.. Recently, the check engine light came on, so I took it into the shop. The shop did not feel the problem was the throttle body, and replaced the mass air flow sensor. The engine is still doing the surging thing after starting up.
View 17 RepliesMy driver seat power window works, however, the other three windows won't go down. When I press those three buttons - I hear nothing. Are the other three windows on a separate circuit? Would this be a fuse, or possibly the master switch assembly?
View 9 RepliesThe car will start up and drive just fine but as soon as you turn it off, it will not turn back on. If you wait three to four hours it will restart with no problem. This repeats its self daily. When you turn the key the dash lights come on but will not crank at all. I am skeptical that it might be the alarm system;however, there is no key fab and no code for the check engine. It has 170K miles. Laughing, my sweet husband dictated this...my first attempt to describe the problem was long and rambling!
View 7 RepliesWe have taken our 2006 Pontiac Vibe to two different mechanics numerous times trying to find out what's wrong, but they told us that the car needs to not start for them in order for them to diagnose the problem. The issue with this is that every time we leave it with them, it starts just fine, and they charge us $45 per night to leave it there. We are scared to use the car because we don't want to be stranded somewhere when it randomly doesn't start.
Symptoms:
- Starts sometimes, but not consistently (once every week or two, it just won't start)
- The car sounds like it is almost going to start, as we are hearing more than just clicking, but for some reason the engine just never gets to that final rumble to stay on.
- When the issue occurs, the car will sometimes start if we try again minutes or hours later
- Jumping the battery seems to get it start.
Previous Attempts:
- Already changed the battery
- Already gotten a tune-up and oil change
As I said, we are incredibly frustrated, as this problem is not consistent enough to show up for the mechanic, and therefore renders us with an unreliable and undiagnosable car.
About 1 out of 10 times, the car won't start- turn the key, dashboard, lights and radio turn on, but no sounds. If I wait an hour, it starts. It has a new battery (and we tried jump starting to no avail). It is not weather/temp dependent. Tried different keys, and remote start doesn't work either. Only 20k miles on the car. Is this the starter motor or something?
View 4 RepliesI have a 2003 Pontiac Vibe GT - same car as a Toyota Matrix. It's a 6 speed standard. When driving in heavy rain where the street is flooded by an inch or more of water the car makes a noise like the bottom is going to drop out. It comes from underneath and makes a womp-a-womp-a-wompa sound that shakes the car. I initially thought it was one of the plastic panels below the car that was loose and catching water that would make it slap back and forth. But my mechanic couldn't find any loose panels.
Someone told me they had something similar with a Dodge Caravan and it was the timing belt getting wet - only I have a timing chain. I can't tell if it is related to the revs of the engine - it might be. It's such a scary sound I take my foot off the gas and it does seem to go away as the car slows. Seems like keeping under 30mph and out of the puddles works. This is only in heavy rain, street flooded conditions.
We have a 2006 Pontiac with no problems, except all of the sudden the hood won't open! We pull on the latch inside the car and nothing! No, the cable isn't broken ...
View 2 RepliesMy '06 Pontiac Vibe sometimes has one headlight out. When it's on as a daytime light, or on normally, the right headlight is not working. As a high-beam, it comes back on. It did this for a few days, then came back to normal after I hit a hard bump. Now it's back out again. It sure sounds like a loose wire to me, but I can't find it by jiggling wires behind the light assembly.
View 5 RepliesI have a 2006 Pontiac Vibe. Yesterday my Check Engine light came on while driving. It's done this before and randomly gone away. My car has been in the shop twice in the past month for routine maintenance.
The light annoys me, so I disconnected the battery and reconnected it a few minutes later. The car wouldn't start. I jumped it. It started, I let it idle, turned it off, and it's dead again. I did the same once more. Still dead.
So, my family "mechanic" says I probably didn't connect the terminals well enough, and that it might just need to be adjusted (in all fairness, I'm playing the stupid girl card here). He said worst case scenario is that I randomly need a new alternator (I doubt this based on the circumstances), and it's possible I might need a new battery (I think I replaced it three years ago, but maybe I didn't).
I have a 2003 Pontiac Vibe and recently have had problems...after I drive 15-20 minutes the car will begin to slow down...even if I give it more gas the car will stay a constant speed...say 30 mph and will not go faster...if I down shift..(manual trans)... I can get the car back to normal speed...and sometimes it smells hot when I get out...like brakes....on the highway the car will begin to slow as well and stay at 45...then come back after downshift..
View 16 RepliesMy Vibe (manual trans) started making a weird chattering/fluttering noise in 4th gear a couple of weeks ago, so I took it in (mileage around 160k). The noise was similar to the one it was making two years ago when the transmission tore itself to shreds and the shop did a full rebuild, so I was somewhat concerned about taking it in before I was stranded on the road somewhere. It took several days to find the problem, but apparently a balance shaft moved and chipped some teeth, and that somehow affected the trans in 3rd and 4th gears.
Now when they were explaining this I was trying to calm a screaming baby, so I wasn't really paying attention to the explanation, but I wanted to verify that this could happen and that I really do need yet another rebuild, this time with a new balance shaft. He's cutting me a break (this rebuild is significantly cheaper than the last one).
All this said, I really do trust my mechanic, but am really considering letting go of this curse of a car. I've now paid for it's value 1.5 times over the last two years. While the mechanic assures me this trans is bulletproof, two incidents in as many years makes me think otherwise. A quick google search doesn't allay my fears either...
In an effort to save some money, my husband replaced the worn front brake pads and rotors on our 2009 Pontiac Vibe. He had a lot of trouble removing the old parts and did use force. Now with the new rotors and brake pads installed, the steering wheel is misaligned when the wheels are straight. There is no pull to either side when driving. What happened and what should we do?
View 18 RepliesI've got a 2009 Pontiac Vibe GT. A few days ago, my battery went dead when parked and listening to the radio. The terminals looked corroded but we jumped it and it was fine. Monday, my friend removed the connections and cleaned the terminals. The next day, I noticed that upon starting it, there was a noticeable rattle coming from the rear area of the car. Once I hit the gas, it's fine, and after a 50 min interstate drive it seemed fine. However, leaving work today it happened again-- a rattling when stopped at red lights or stop signs. Once I hit the gas it goes away, but starts on again as I slow to a crawl. Is the battery issue a red herring? What could be the cause of this?
View 15 RepliesOwn a 2007 Pontiac Vibe (Toyota Matrix). Anyway, do a lot of driving on gravel roads, and the rear window is always covered in mud or dust. Any type of deflector available to alleviate this ?
View 9 RepliesI just purchased a 2009 Pontiac Vibe, I love it, but I didn't notice that the radio knob was broken, I can't control the volume. Actually if I turn it just right it will catch but it's very difficult to do and I have to be parked to play with it. Is there a way to fix the knob?
View 4 RepliesMy 2005 Pontiac Vibe started spontaneously making a strange ticking noise after a grocery run. It's loud, and doesn't accelerate in time with the engine, so we have ruled out fan for now. It sounds like it's coming from almost directly behind the radio console and has the speed and timbre of a fast, old-fashioned tick tock metronome. My dad took a look at it and thought it might have to do with the air filter--a lot of awful junk fell out of it, and I have a new filter, but the ticking noise still persists. He found out that if I switch to recirculate / inside air, the ticking goes away, but as soon as I switch it off, it comes back.
Dad thinks it's a door trying to close, but he's not sure which one or where. Since it goes away with the inside air button, if it costs a fortune to fix, I might just stick with inside air from now on.
I have a 2003 Pontiac Vibe that was new to me in 2011. Pushing 180k+ miles. It was subject to the airbag recall last summer and has been repaired by the GM guys. But last fall I was driving at around 70mph with the cruise on and came up to a speed change so I tapped the brakes to end the cruise and EVERYTHING went dark in the car- radio, dashboard, a/c, the electrical charging plug- EVERYTHING for about 5-7 seconds. Then everything came back on and I continued as normal. My mechanic was dumbfounded. Figured one time freak thing so no worries.
No issues since until this morning. On the drive to work I had the high beams on as it was 5:15 in the morning on a state highway in the country. Came up on a red light so flipped high beams off. EVERYTHING goes dark for 5-7 seconds, comes back on, and I continue as normal. Obviously I'm getting a little concerned at the randomness, not to mention that losing power at 70mph is a little disconcerting. Mechanic is dumbfounded but willing to tear up the dash and steering column and see if he can't recreate the issue.
I have an issue with my cruise control that only occurs when there is warm/hot weather, or if my car has been sitting in the sun for an extended period of time. The issue does not happen in the Fall or Winter, and generally not in the morning after my car has been sitting in the garage overnight. The issue that occurs is that sometimes I can turn on my cruise, set the speed, and then seconds or minutes later it'll just cancel the cruise speed without me doing so or hitting a pedal. Other times I cannot even turn on my cruise control, or the cruise light keeps flashing on and off. I've checked the fuse box and everything looks fine there, but I couldn't specifically find a fuse labeled for cruise control.
View 2 RepliesWhat's that noise coming from the front end driver side. About 2 months ago Firestone replaced my 06 Vibe 5 speed manual base brakes, rotors, calipers, brake line & fluid replaced. The car is still making a noise when braking at low speeds. It generally happens after the cars been driven awhile or when warm. It sounds like metal on metal scraping. I can also feel vibration in the steering wheel when braking, is it possible that the hub bearing is going. I had the bearing replaced on the passengers side 2 years ago. Doesn't quite sound like the first bearing replacement. I took it back to shop and they replaced the brakes again when they replaced and flushed the lines. The problem is by the time they get to the car it's cooled down and they don't hear the sound. Should I have the hub wheel bearing replaced or is it something else.
View 3 Replies