KymcoForum.com
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Iahawk on January 26, 2025, 03:03:06 PM
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I'm at the point where my teen daughters will need their first car so I purchased a car from my mother's next door neighbors, whom I've known for years. It's a 2006 Pontiac Vibe (twin to Toyota Matrix / Corolla wagon). I knew it had some miles....but it has 214,000 (344,000 km)! Surprisingly, the car is in great shape, mechanically. Cosmetically it was rough. It had sat outside most of its life and had sat undriven for the past 6 months.
After checking the car out and taking it to my mechanic to get it up in the air, I bought it. Nothing mechanically wrong with it, just needs a lot of maintenance done, like an old bike!
I proceeded to start on the detail job..engine cleaning, interior cleaning and then full exterior detail. Headlight restoration made a big difference! I have to wait to restore the plastic exterior trim for some warmer weather. Very pleased with how the car turned out (from 10 feet away...I joked that they must have stored bricks on the hood and roof).
Now it's on to the replacement parts...have changed oil and filter, headlight bulbs, rear wiper, interior dome light bulbs (led) and have waiting in my parts pile:
serpentine belt
valve cover gasket
new denso iridium spark plugs
pcv valve
air filter
cabin air filter
cam chain tensioner o ring (lots of seeping from various o rings on motor)
intake gasket
throttle body gasket
new antennae
new rear hatch struts
probably a few more I'm forgetting
I'll also change the brake fluid, coolant and trans fluid. The car will need front pads and rotors, soon, and this will be my first go around with rear drum brakes. The alloy wheels will need to be refinished, too. Corrosion on all 4. Nothing is complex on this car and parts are cheap. Since I don't have a motorcycle / scooter project to keep me occupied, this will have to do!
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the worse thing for a vehicle is to sit undriven, expect the exhaust to have some rot
couple years ago, I bought a 140k mile '02 Tacoma from a friend, I know that he takes care of vehicles meticulously and he had receipts, but also evidence he only drove it a couple thousand miles i the previous 3 years, reason he was selling
he had replaced the rotted exhaust, I didn't even get it all the way home before brake lines started bursting, then the shifter cable, next was the steering rack, more brake lines, the starter, neutral safety switch, if it wasn't one thing it was another
final straw was an apparent head gasket failure, I didn't even have it checked, just sold it for scrap, bought a 130k mile '16 Frontier that I am very happy with
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Shoot Hawk, that's a pretty good looking car!
And, yeah that model has a good rep!
Rear drums... I've a lot of VW experience with drums.
THE worst set of rear drums was ---- well, I married a cute blonde - 9 yrs my junior - so there's that - but damsam. "Girl, when was the last time you had your Fairmont serviced ...other than oil changes?!"
The rear shoes had ground themselves DEEP into the drums. Metal-on-metal stopping for who knows how long.
So, drum will not come off!
I was pretty strong in those days - so I was able to ape the wheel/drum off ...with clips and springs and brake parts flying about. 3/4 of a hot summer day.
Drums were surprisingly inexpensive at NAPA.
I was surprised to learn that my Chevy F-150 has rear drums.. I think it is an O'6. (good truck, 75K - but $1400 so far on front brakes and total-lines replaced)
Good luck and keep us in your story here!
Stig
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Chevy F-150 ?
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Chevy F-150 ?
or Ford-erado?
I had no idea of the surprising cult following these old Vibe / Matrix cars have. Owner forums with details on everything you'd ever need to keep them running strong. It's even a car that people 'car camp' in...the back seats fold flat (as does the front passenger seat) and if you slide the front seats up you can put a mattress in the back to sleep!
Here's a few more pics. (replaced 1 of the 2 reverse lights this morning with an led...it's like having a rear headlight!..will replace the other side today, too)
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Chevy F-150 ?
Oh, it might be a Ford Silverado.
I keep forgetting what's on the steering wheel.
I don't know much about American cars.
Stig
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pic of upgraded led reverse lights...nothing like laying on the floor on your back jamming your hand up into a 3" gap between dirty, rusty metal inner structure and the bumper cover, unscrewing a bulb that likely hasn't been touched in 19 years...all doing it by feel because your arm blocks any view...
but, Damn, those leds are like little headlights!
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spent some time cleaning out the spare tire well and the cover for it that also holds the jack. Years of sand, dirt and crud in there. Also sprayed down the rear cargo carpet with upholstery cleaner and used my drill mounted scrub brush to give it a good cleaning, followed by a vacuum. That drill mounted scrubber is something I wish I would have found years ago..it really makes quick work of cleaning carpets and upholstery. Replaced the antennae with the rotted rubber and rust with a new one from Amazon. Looks like new.
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hawk, that's it👍
...nothing worse than to sit idle without a project🛠
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Looks in good nick Hawk and knowing you, it'll be concourse condition for sure before too long!
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wanted to give an update on the old Vibe...today was front brakes day. Removed the old, crusty, rusty rotors and pads, cleaned up the calipers and brackets and installed new Advics coated rotors and Akebono ceramic pads. Nothing was hard, it just took me a long time as this was all new to me.
The caliper bracket bolts came loose with my 2 foot breaker bar providing leverage. The whole job took about 4 hours start to finish. I then went for a test drive with progressive braking at higher speeds to bed in the brakes. The pedal feels much better and the car stops waaaaayyy better than before. The old pads were completely rusted solid into the caliper bracket, that explains the uneven wear and why my rotors were hotter than they should be after a short drive.
Since my last update I've changed coolant, brake fluid and trans fluid, replaced rear (edit: Hatch!) struts, replaced most exterior bulbs with led (except headlights, kept those halogens). I'm off work this week so I may use 1 more day to do the engine work (valve cover gasket, intake gasket, plugs, serpentine belt, belt tensioner, throttle body clean...etc.)
After doing brakes on a car I realize that they really aren't much different than brakes on our bikes. I spent $149 on the rotors and pads. Saved a few hundred dollars vs taking it to the shop, got better components and likely did a better, more thorough job than a tech would trying to work as fast as possible.
pics of new pads and caliper put back on.
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I just went back thru all the pictures you've posted so far, I have a hard time comprehending, here in Northern New England, an '06 vehicle with over 200k stored outside, would be a rust bucket
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I just went back thru all the pictures you've posted so far, I have a hard time comprehending, here in Northern New England, an '06 vehicle with over 200k stored outside, would be a rust bucket
good catch..I think you're right. This car must have lived indoors for a good part of its early life. I know it's been parked outside for the last 6 years or so? Surprisingly the clear coat isn't peeling. The car has a replacement right front fender and the hood appears to have been painted at some time? Paint chips reveal black coating underneath, doesn't look factory. The rocker pinch welds are also nice and crusty. They are hidden by the plastic cladding.
Honestly, I'm just hoping to get a few years out of this car. Anything beyond that will be a bonus.
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I'm seeing a lot of Japanese quality and thinking in that car.
Wonder how many Asians were on the assembly floor in Fremont?
My late brother was involved with the marketing of the new Ohio assembled Accords years ago.
Honda held a show and greet at Pebble Beach in Monterey.
There a Marysville Accord sat for inspection beside a Japanese Accord.
The guests, Asian & N. American, were asked to decide which were made in Ohio.
Save for the tire brands - my brother said most were stumped.
(the lucky rascal also got to play the course with his son!)
Hawk - umm, they have medication for that you know? ;)
Stig
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pushed on with the Vibe, today. Wanted to do valve cover gasket, replace o ring in leaking cam chain tensioner and replace spark plugs. Almost got it done...valve cover was fairly easy (old one was rock hard and came out in chunks), cam chain tensioner wasn't too bad (only dropped same nut twice..only to find it both times in the engine bay!)...and 3 of the 4 plugs came out easy. The 4th plug?...I don't know...turned about 1/8 turn and nothing. Tried tightening it, and loosening it and it was making bad sounds. Shot some penetrating fluid in the hole and called it a night...trying to regroup and research the ways to attack a stuck plug. Alternately loosening and tightening?...tapping with hammer?....and getting motor hot to heat everything up to help remove plug are the main solutions I'm finding.
Did a few things I've never done before...put wrench on crank bolt to turn motor over to find tdc for cam chain tensioner replacement. Hoping I wasn't going to screw something up! Thank you, Youtube!
Engine was about as dirty as I'd expected, viewing through the oil fill hole. Lots of varnish. Maybe had conventional oil on longer intervals?
Plugs showed lean burning, which makes sense with my intake gasket leak that I need to fix. And the beat goes on...
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acetone and transmission fluid mixture, I'm told works better than Kroil as a penetrating oil
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thanks, Randy...I have both ingredients on hand. I think I'll continue with the soaking and seeing if it will budge. If that fails I may try driving it to get it nice and hot.
(Randy - the other day I was looking at the member list, you can sort by date of sign up..you and I joined 1 day apart in 2015)
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I borrowed the tools from a friendly local gas station to change the plugs on my 67 Mustang convertible. The car ran fine. I just got it in my head to do a little PM on my new acquisition....even though I didn't own tool one.
Car was 8 yrs old. 7 were no problem, but one plug would not come out.
I split the borrowed socket !
I paid the station for his pro line tool....and, at their advice, left well enough alone.
That Champion plug is probably still in there.
I just paid to have the plugs changed on my 19yr old Silvertomatoe. No way jose' I was going to attempt them.
And put new Iridiums in my daughters Xcion - easy peasy. Toyota dealer wanted $167. The 4 NGK's were $28, and the install took me 30 mins.
Stig
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I just paid to have the plugs changed on my 19yr old Silvertomatoe. No way jose' I was going to attempt them.
And put new Iridiums in my daughters Xcion - easy peasy. Toyota dealer wanted $167. The 4 NGK's were $28, and the install took me 30 mins.
Stig
I agree..certain engines I'd pay to have it done but a little Japanese 4 cyl? Gotta give it a shot!
And SUCCESS! The overnight soak in PB Blaster and this morning's few hour soak with ATF and acetone (thanks, Randyo) did the trick. Progressively tightening and loosening the plug over a few hours must have broken the threads loose and gotten a little juice down there. New plugs in, all buttoned back up...and the car started!
I had visions of the plug breaking or the threads pulling out of the head....now on to the next job, intake gasket, throttle body clean and a few more o rings (Toyota sure liked to use o rings for all the various parts that plug into this motor). I can count 5 o rings and I'm probably missing one.
What could possibly go wrong? 8)
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good deal ! I was envisioning a heli-coil
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removed intake manifold to install new gasket, cleaned throttle body (pretty gunked up), replaced vvt solenoid o ring, cam position sensor o ring and dipstick tube o ring and found 1 more I need to replace (the oil screen o ring that feeds the vvt solenoid)..too many damn o rings!
Plan for today is to thoroughly clean the intake manifold of old oil and crud and then reassemble.
That just leaves the serpentine belt and belt tensioner to replace. That will wait a bit as to replace the tensioner a motor mount has to be unbolted and the motor jacked up an inch or two so the tensioner bolt can be removed. Not difficult but I think I've done enough work on the car this week.
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What could possibly go wrong? 8)
famous last words... I got everything cleaned and replaced and buttoned it back up. Started the car and it idled quite high and then ran like crap. Idle went up and down, down to a few hundred rpm and car died a few times. It smelled funny, too. I thought maybe the computer was relearning the idle with a clean throttle body and no intake air leak. I shut the car down and was going to walk away for a while to think about it....I was just opening the door into my kitchen when it hit me....OH, SH*T! SH*T, SH*T, SH*T! What did I forget to do?.....remove the paper towels that were stuffed into each intake port to keep dirt and crud out of the motor.
I removed the intake system in about 1 minute flat...pulled the intake back and couldn't see the paper towels. Oh, sh*t, did they get sucked into the motor? Bending valves? Nope, they were just sucked in bit further. I pulled them out with some long needle nose pliers. They were dirty and smelled like gas but were otherwise in the same shape as I'd put them in. Nothing got into the valves or motor.
I went from thinking I'd just grenaded the motor to a feeling of total relief. Started it back up and it ran fine..high idle, but that is normal with a Toyota after a throttle body clean until it relearns the correct idle. Disaster averted.
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Love it, Hawk!
Reminds of the day I tried to set fire to my LIKE.
I always place paper towels under the valve cover to catch the drips when checking the valves
Buttoned everything back up and rode down to the reservoir. Parked, and smelled "burning".
Pulled a wad of scorched and blackened paper towels from below the scooter.
Glad I'd only ridden a couple of miles!
Stuff happens....
Stig
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Stuff happens....
Stig
Amen!