[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Just chiming in to say we had an '06, since new.

Finally had to scrap it at about 200k miles.

Terminal Rust i'm supposing ?

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Originally Posted by justincampbell

the tires are the size that Sirrotica said are the skinny ones(205/55R16).

Try dropping the air down to at least 25, maybe 22
That will work dry and ice.
Can go as low as 20, but you might see some premature wear with extended use.
Which is still way better than sliding into a ditch or another vehicle.

When we have snow, its usually a doosy. But short lived.
04 V6 Acura TL front wheel drive with wide low profile tires 245/45/Z17 gets around fine with 20psi in the tires.
Makes tremendous difference - when it needs it.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Baron Von Zeppelin

Terminal Rust i'm supposing ?

No - I think one of the kids ran it out of motor oil or something.

At any rate - engine problems deemed not worth messing with.

K

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

From your comments, it sounds like you, "just don't like the car".

On the contrary, before we got all the slick stuff, I loved it. It was actually supposed to be my wife's vehicle, but I liked it so much that I drove it most of the time.

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by Baron Von Zeppelin

Try dropping the air down to at least 25, maybe 22
That will work dry and ice.
Can go as low as 20, but you might see some premature wear with extended use.
Which is still way better than sliding into a ditch or another vehicle.

When we have snow, its usually a doosy. But short lived.
04 V6 Acura TL front wheel drive with wide low profile tires 245/45/Z17 gets around fine with 20psi in the tires.
Makes tremendous difference - when it needs it.

I'll have to try that.

[justincampbell]

I'm pretty certain that having some weight over the rear would make a huge difference. I've got a 150 lb suitcase weight(for a tractor) that I could use, but I'm not sure it's a good idea to have that just laying in the back. In my head, I keep seeing an image of the car rolling and the weight crushing my Son.

[Sirrotica]

One of the first trips we took with ours was to my home town of Erie PA in January. I drove the car, and we had 14 inches of snow overnight.

Now since I have driven most anything and everything automotive in feet, not inches of snow, for nearly 50 years, I found zero problems in the snow, and ours had the wide tires when new.

Since we've had it over 12 years ands 320,000 miles it has had about every tire brand on it made. BF Goodrich, Firestone, Pirelli Continental, Cooper, the cheap tires don't do anywhere as well as the better tires do in the snow, and after they're 50% gone so is about 50% of the traction in snow. Buying cheap tires on a Vibe is the same as buying cheap tires for a muscle car. They'll hold air, are round and black, but there's where the similarities end.

My wife and I drive ours in the snow frequently, with the wider tires on it. Being a veteran of deep snow driving for most of my life, I have zero problems driving it, or worrying about my wife driving it in the snow,

The rest of the car has been a mechanics dream, change oil and filter, I had to replace 1 alternator, the throttle body wore out and replaced it also. The electric fan broke sending the fan blade through the radiator at like 250,000 miles. 2 batteries since new.

The one thing I do hate is the regular replacement of the headlamps, due to an unresisted daytime running lights circuit the headlights have about a 6 month replacement of the bulbs. Sylvania bulbs last about 3 months if you're lucky, steer clear of that brand. They can be kind of a pain to change, but I can do it blind folded practically I've done it so many times.

That's about the only real flaw I can see in the car.

More questions? , https://forums.genvibe.com/phpBB3/ everything you need to know is there. It's like, PY for Vibes.

[justincampbell]

Something is definitely wrong. When I first posted, I was just estimating the recent MPG drop. Filled the car tonight and it was actually way worse than I thought... 14.5 MPG average. Granted it has been very cold and it was primarily in town driving for most of this tank of gas. But, cmon? 14.5 mpg? My 4wd truck averages that much.

[Chief of the 60's]

How much warm-up time do you do when the weather gets cold? My truck goes from 14.5 mpg down to 6.4 mpg in the winter months.

Sometimes remote start causes more harm than good.

[cruzn68]

Originally Posted by Chief of the 60's

But yes, if driving through deep snow and crappy roads is the norm then an AWD version is what you need but fuel economy sucks on those.

Define 'sucks'. I had an '05 AWD and averaged 28mpg in mixed driving and would get 30-31 highway.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by justincampbell

Something is definitely wrong. When I first posted, I was just estimating the recent MPG drop. Filled the car tonight and it was actually way worse than I thought... 14.5 MPG average. Granted it has been very cold and it was primarily in town driving for most of this tank of gas. But, cmon? 14.5 mpg? My 4wd truck averages that much.

As I posted previously about your poor mileage: At only 60% of the expected fuel mileage, yes, something is wrong. It goes under the radar especially in cold weather because engines "love" to run rich. Since you don't have access to a scan tool, your ability to diagnose is limited. About the only thing you can do without a scan tool is to pull a couple spark plugs to verify a very rich condition. If the business ends look like fluffy charcoal, it's dead rich. If the plugs look normal, their is likely an external fuel leak somewhere from the tank to the engine. Things that can make the engine run very rich without the benefit of a scan tool. 1. Fuel pressure regulator hose off or cracked. 2. defective fuel pressure regulator. 3 one or more leaking fuel injectors, but not likely 4. any exhaust leak in front of the O2 sensor. corrugated flex pipes are common leak areas 5. defective coolant or MAP sensor 6. defective O2 sensor as mentioned. Scan tool with live data would isolate this pretty quickly. Good luck

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by Chief of the 60's

How much warm-up time do you do when the weather gets cold? My truck goes from 14.5 mpg down to 6.4 mpg in the winter months.

Sometimes remote start causes more harm than good.

Depends when and how cold. The only time I go out to start it prior to driving is first thing in the morning. When it is around freezing usually only 2 or 3 minutes. The last week has been below 0 F, so I have been letting it run for between 5 and 10 minutes in the morning.
We also have an '05 LeSabre and the average mileage only changes by about 1 or 2 mpg during these times.

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by cruzn68

Define 'sucks'. I had an '05 AWD and averaged 28mpg in mixed driving and would get 30-31 highway.

Sucks compared to the FWD Vibe. The AWD ones I sold got high teens, low 20 avg. Not what I call good compared to FWD or other AWD vehicles like the Subaru Outback. You either got lucky or did an awful lot of downhill driving with a tail wind to hit 31. > https://www.officialdata.org/cars/Pontiac/Vibe%20AWD

Vehicle Model - Combined MPG - Highway MPG - City MPG


2009 Pontiac Vibe AWD - 22 - 26 - 20
2006 Pontiac Vibe AWD - 25 - 29 - 22
2005 Pontiac Vibe AWD - 25 - 29 - 22
2004 Pontiac Vibe AWD - 25 - 29 - 22
2003 Pontiac Vibe AWD - 25 - 29 - 22

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

As I posted previously about your poor mileage: At only 60% of the expected fuel mileage, yes, something is wrong. It goes under the radar especially in cold weather because engines "love" to run rich. Since you don't have access to a scan tool, your ability to diagnose is limited. About the only thing you can do without a scan tool is to pull a couple spark plugs to verify a very rich condition. If the business ends look like fluffy charcoal, it's dead rich. If the plugs look normal, their is likely an external fuel leak somewhere from the tank to the engine. Things that can make the engine run very rich without the benefit of a scan tool. 1. Fuel pressure regulator hose off or cracked. 2. defective fuel pressure regulator. 3 one or more leaking fuel injectors, but not likely 4. any exhaust leak in front of the O2 sensor. corrugated flex pipes are common leak areas 5. defective coolant or MAP sensor 6. defective O2 sensor as mentioned. Scan tool with live data would isolate this pretty quickly. Good luck

Thanks
I've been debating whether to park it until warmer weather or just take it to a shop. It's been between -14 and +6 F here and I don't currently have a place to get it inside(no heat even if I had the space).

[Formulabruce]

I always put Motorkote in my used engines. This will help with fuel economy . I owned and drove a few of the Vibe/ matrix FWD for work. The front end IS STIFF. Tire choices are huge for these cars. .Automatics don't do well with fuel either.

[cdrookie]

You need to know if it's showing any codes. Go to the auto parts store and have them check. A quick thing to check is the airbox, did squirrels fill it full of nuts? No I'm not joking. The O2 sensors has been mentioned but the cat is also a known issue along with the intake manifold gasket, and a dirty throttle body. The genvibe forum is pretty much dead but tons of info there when it's working. The Facebook page, of the same name, will answer any questions you could possible think of. The 05, or 1.5 generation(05-08), is regarded as the best out of all the years. Get new tires, good ones. When you're sitting in the ditch, waiting for the wrecker to show up, that little bit extra for quality tires starts sounding pretty good.

[Charlie Brengun]

Originally Posted by Chief of the 60's

How much warm-up time do you do when the weather gets cold? My truck goes from 14.5 mpg down to 6.4 mpg in the winter months.

Sometimes remote start causes more harm than good.

Is that weather or fuel related though? The cold itself wouldn't cause such a decreasein mileage would it?

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by Charlie Brengun

Is that weather or fuel related though? The cold itself wouldn't cause such a decreasein mileage would it?

Its from letting it idle for quite awhile to let it warm up and defrost.

As I type this it is 6 degrees out with 5 inches of snow & ice on the truck. I'll leave it run for a good 20 minutes to let it warm up. That will kill fuel economy even on a Prius.

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by Chief of the 60's

Its from letting it idle for quite awhile to let it warm up and defrost.

As I type this it is 6 degrees out with 5 inches of snow & ice on the truck. I'll leave it run for a good 20 minutes to let it warm up. That will kill fuel economy even on a Prius.

The winter formulation of gasoline will also lose mileage, the BTU's in the formulation probably are reduced 20%, so that the fuel will start easier in lower ambient temperatures. In winter the lighter hydrocarbons are a larger percentage, because they aid in starting a cold engine. After October/November you'll see a noticeable loss in fuel mileage, until March/April when the oil companies again reformulate the gasoline.

I don't miss living along Lake Erie in the winter, the weather in mid Ohio is so much milder once you get south of the lake 100-150 miles. Probably have had 12-15 inches of snow this season, not overnight.....

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by cdrookie

A quick thing to check is the airbox, did squirrels fill it full of nuts? No I'm not joking.

I read this and felt like an idiot for not thinking of that myself. I wasn't lucky enough for it to be so simple though. Blew a little air through the tube ahead of the filter too thinking it could potentially have an obstructions as it makes some weird bends. But, it was clear of any noticeable foreign material.