Pontiac - Vibe :: Will Not Consistently Start - Engine Just Never Gets To That Final Rumble To Stay On
Jan 19, 2014
We 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.
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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?
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My car began to not start almost every other time i tried to start without being jumped and now will not start at all without being jumped. the battery won't stay charged and I bought the battery brand new 6 months ago.
1987 chevy cavalier, over 100,000 miles....
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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.
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I have a 2006 Pontiac Vibe with an AC Compressor that my be frozen. My car was sitting for 6 months not be used. Before the AC worked great. When i put the ac on a few days ago, my engine died. I turned the ac off and started the car up again, and no problem. I pressed AC button and car slowly died. Does my ac pump need more oil, or a new ac compressor?
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I have 4 lights that came on simultaneously on my 2009 Pontiac Vibe. My check engine, AWD, Traction Control and my VSC Off is blinking. I had the codes read at Advance Auto and 2 codes came up and they are C1201 Engine control module performance and P0456 Evaporative emission system leak detected (very small leak).
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I have a 2009 Pontiac Vibe with 43,000 miles. Recently the check engine light, the vehicle stability control light and the traction control system light all came on simultaneously. Since then they have all come on or all gone off several times. Usually once they come on, they stay on for the remainder of the trip. Sometimes they will still be on when I next start the car, sometimes they will be off. What might be causing this?
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This being the second of no doubt numerous questions re the 1989 Dodge B250 camper I just bought for a summer roadtrip. Engine is the 318 V8 with 120k miles. Tranny was rebuilt in '99 at about 60k.
Problem: beginning about 40 mph, and growing increasingly severe with speed, is a low-frequency rumble/vibration, probably in the 20 Hertz range. Significant enough that I didn't want to drive home faster than 50-55 mph. Could feel the whole vehicle vibrating, through the drivers seat, NOT through the steering wheel or pedals. Definitely not the engine, because as soon as I let off on the gas, the rumble/ vibe disappears. Get back on the gas and it returns full force. Definitely a drivetrain problem, only under load, that disappears when load it removed. My best guess is it felt something like I've heard described as a bad U-joint, something I've never experienced in person. The tranny shifts fine and doesn't feel like it's the problem, unless maybe it's something to do with the torque converter at highway speeds?
I'm taking it into the shop next week for diagnosis and repair, but I'd be interested to know in advance what the range of possible causes might be. Will report back after diagnosis with bonus points for correct guesses!
PS, correct me if I'm wrong, but when I pulledoff the highway to check underneath, it looked like this van has 2 U-joints. Is that correct? The van has a rear body addition for the camper bathroom.
Also, the van has been sitting almost unused for almost 2 years, except for an occasional run around the block to keep thr blood flowing. Would that lack of use perhaps. contribute to a U-joint seizing up?
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I 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.
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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 ...
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I 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.
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My '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.
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I've had a noise coming from my rear end since I got the car and usually it stayed consistently bad. A year or more ago (I barely ever drive this car) I had the fluid changed in the differential, and that made the noise significantly better barely noticeable at all. Now, however, the noise is back and seemingly worse than ever. It's a low pitched grumbling noise almost a grinding and really only does it when I reverse or am turning one way or the other. Since this is such a high performance car, I'm worried the rear end is just going to blow out on me one day. What might be going on and what's causing the noise? Also, there's no play In the drive shaft for it to be a U-joint or anything.
2005 Pontiac GTO with a 6.0 L LS2 engine and a T-56 6 speed manual transmission.....
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I 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).
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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..
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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...
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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?
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I'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?
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Own 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 ?
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