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Could the problem be fuel injection? Does the 1994 Geo Metro have a computer which controls fuel injection? What about the exhaust (my Dad mentioned the exhaust system)? Could it be something with the engine? Last time I had the oil changed they forgot to put oil in the car and I didn't notice until a couple weeks later.
What should I have done first? The mechanic said they would probably have to try things one by one until they found the problem. Unluckily, I cannot qualify for a new car due to BAD credit, so I am stuck. If anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate any help...thanks.
By the way, the car's name is "The Flea", named by my nephews. I thought the name was great and fitting, so I kept it. They had considered naming it "The Fly", but due to its extremely small size, they named it "The Flea".
Thanks--Silver15
The most likely culprit of your driveability problems is that your catalytic converter is almost plugged up. I will describe the symptoms of a restricted converter (idles fine, but as soon as you apply more than a little throttle it starts to bog down on you. When you let up on the gas it seems to pick back up). If this is indeed happening then you need to replace your converter ASAP. If you let it go your exhaust valves will overheat and burn due to the excessive temps. The catalytic converter is replaced as a complete front half of the exhaust on the Metro from the manifold to half way underneath the car. I replaced mine in my 1990 this spring and it cost just over $120.00
Just pull your Metro onto a set of ramps, pull the emergency brake and block the rear wheels and place a couple of car stands underneath the frame just to be safe. Just unbolt the exhaust from the manifold and halfway underneath the car and remove it. Install the new exhaust and I would purchase a new exhaust manifold gasket ($10.00) to prevent possible exhaust leaks. It took me less than 15 minutes to do this.
I would demand a refund from these rip off artists that were fraudulent. If you paid with a credit card I would dispute the bill!!
The 3-cylinder Metro isn't a powerful car, but if it isn't tuned right, all those 48 horses you have start working like 20 or 30 and you can't move too well.
While you have the air cleaner cover off, check that air filter, if it is clogged your engine isn't getting air...also check to make sure all the vacuum hoses are hooked up and not spongy or cracked. Vacuum hose is 30-50 cents per foot and easy to replace. If any are leaking, this will also prevent you from accelerating or cruising smoothly.
You can also check your spark plug wires. Any good mechanic can look up the resistance limits for the Metro and test yours with an ohmmeter. If you mechanic tells you this is useless, just replace them, go to another mechanic. If the wires are good, why spend $30-$50 to replace them with new ones that may not be right for your car?
Another check you can do yourself is to see if your car has a cracked head or bad head gasket. This is a bit messy. When the car is cold in the morning, before you start it, take off the radiator cap. It won't burn you if it is cold to the touch and the engine is off. Of course if it is low, fill it, then start the engine with the cap off. If it starts steaming and bubbling within a few seconds, your engine is blown. If not, you're probably okay. You can still have a blown head gasket without consuming water, though.
I can't think of anything else, but taking the car to a Chevy dealer may save you some headaches. Call your BBB and see which Chevy dealer in your area has the fewest complaints and start there.
Thanks again.
As it turns out, the issue was a faulty ECM module. Fortunately it was not the main CPU of the unit, but one of the modules that controlled the ocygen sensors. The cause of the disturbance may have been an electrical failure with the module. In all it cost the dealership $1400 to replace the ECM module, at no cost to us of course (thank god for the 36m/36k).
The next day, my wife calls me frantically telling me guess what, the good 'ol check engine light is back on. So she took her metro back to the dealership again, and got another rental. This is getting to be more than a little redundant. Honestly I hope the main CPU of the ECM is shot, that way maybe we can get the heck out of this lease before it's too late. I mean, honestly should a 16,000 mile metro be having so many computer problems? I have an 8-bit Macintosh SE from 1988 that runs better!
I'm wondering if we should seriously try to get out of the lease and look for another car? It's been 18 months into a 36 month lease, so we're dead halfway through it, and my wife is sick of the sight of her metro. She loves the fuel economy but is having a miserable time toting the new baby around without four doors and with no a/c in this L.A. heat.
Any suggestions?
carlady/host
There, I found out that the Flea had a blocked up fuel filter, dirty fuel injectors, malfunctioning TBI valve (thanks-I tried cleaning it and it helped but needed more help), bad oxygen sensor, sticking EGR valve, leaking water pump, bad muffler, and almost dead timing belt. Thank God I didn't wait any longer for the timing belt because once it pops in a Geo, the mechanic said it can ruin your engine since everything is packed so close together.
The catalytic converter, spark plugs, and firing system were fine. I think the symtoms differed from the catalytic converter, because the pulling, or "bucking" as someone described, happens when the car is coasting, not accelerating.
The EGR valve is the only thing that hasn't been taken care of as it will arrive from Dallas tomorrow. This has been a major overhaul but the little Flea is now acting like it is not ready to retire quite yet. The hesitation and pulling still happen so I hope the EGR valve will fix it, as the mechanic said.
By the way, I learned that the struts and tires did need to be replaced but were not the cause of the problem described. I had run over a parking lot divider and messed up the struts.
Another thing to note: no codes came up in the computer until the parts were tested separately (as multiple problems existed, one problem was masking another, preventing any codes from coming up on the computer).
Thanks and hope you can benefit from my experiences (hopefully you all keep up with maintenance a little better than I did. I think I learned my lesson).
I also think this mechanic may be putting you on, he is simply replacing parts, did he test drive the car at all?
Thanks ahead of time.
The link is here: http://www.gmfleet.com/na/us/productpreview/car/html/subcom/cmetro.htm
(should be on 1 line)
H.
I've had 3 Metro's and on ALL of them, I've replaced the tires with Michelins.
My choice of favorites are the Michelin Symmetry P175/70R13. They are a premium, all-season, comfort and mileage tire and I have never had any problems with them.
If you have a Discount Tire Company in your area, they are about $45.00 per tire (see if they are running them on sale).
Tom
Guess what? My wife's '99 Metro is still in the Dealership Service Dept. That's right, we first dropped it off there on August 14th, which will be one month ago tommorrow. They've given it back to us 4 times, yet the "service engine soon" light still is coming on about 2 miles after you start driving the car. What's worse, it makes a loud, hissing whine everytime you turn it off after it's been driven more than a few miles.
So far we've gone through 3 rental cars. As you know, the firts they gave us was a 2k Jeep Cherokee. Well, teh second time they gave us a 2k Ford Escort, which we hated. What an aged piece of junk that is. This time they gave us a k Ford Focus Sedan, wow my wife is in love. She's wanted a Focus since they first came out and now her mission is to dump the lemon Metro and get one however she can.
Anyway, teh dealkership is bringing a GM Specialist down to check out our Metro and determine whether the car is a definite "lemon", and if so we should be able to get out of the lease. Oh, by the way, another woman who was there at teh same time as we were had just bought a 2k GMC Yukon 10 days ago and the service engine light was coming on...same prob as us. Makes you think twice about the new Cadillac Escalade, eh?
Well, I'll keep you posted . . .
= (
Of course, previously autonews.com ran a story that put forward the Vauxhall Corsa as the Metro replacement. (Unfortunately, that story is no longer on the site so I cannot link to it.) So a large grain of salt may be in order.
Today's link is here:
http://www.autonews.com/html/main/stories/suzuki914.htm
"GM and Suzuki also are developing a Chevrolet-branded vehicle for the North American market, but it is not based on the YGM-1." (9/14/00)
As this is the most recent news on the subject, I'd tend to believe it. So we are back to speculating on the Metro replacement again.
I also culled through several other stories to come up with the following quotes:
GM will produce at an "undisclosed date" a "Chevrolet small car jointly developed with Suzuki Motor Corp . . . "
"GM is not saying much about the Chevrolet vehicle being developed with Suzuki. Although GM and Suzuki are developing the tiny Chevrolet YGM-1 for Asian markets, a GM source said that vehicle will not come to the United States."
As was the case with the Vauxhall Corsa rumor, I am not aware of any sites other than autonews.com reporting this information.
H.
Following the timeline laid out in the first 3 paragraphs, the Metro replacement will be seen no sooner than 2004.
H.
I'd also want to have a standard transmission. Seem a 5-speed is listed as standard equipment on the 2001 fleet model, but automatic is a REQUIRED option. Guess I have to stick to used models for awhile. Wonder if the 2001 Swift offers a 5-speed? I almost got a GREAT deal a few months ago on a blue 2000 Swift GA 5-speed but they doubled the down payment on me. Hmm...I might be forced into buying used cars forever...
I would assume the English language page is outdated, and that the Cultus is the current model. Or that Suzuki makes some "export-only" models. If the 2001 Esteem corresponds to the Baleno, then it's still in production in Japan (at least for the U.S. market).
The site is http://www.suzuki.co.jp/ , and you can click directly to the Cultus from http://www.suzuki.co.jp/dom4/lineup/frame.htm . No Cultus hatchback.
H.
carlady/host
This time they replaced the gas tank and then found that all the fuses had blown! Well gee-whiz.
Let's review...
#1 Check gas cap (duh!)
#2 Replace Engine Control Module
#3 Replace major wiring system and solinoids
#4 Replace gas tank and do repair to fuel line
#5 Replace fusebox
So yeah we're in lemon law territory, however there's two problems. #1, GM refuses to buy the car back until the Service Manager clearly states that the vehicle is "unfixable". Apparently having "major problems" does not equate to unfixable, however in further reflection I'd beg to know what exactly "unfixable" is without having been in a major accident.
#2 We contacted an attorney here in Glendale who specializes in lemon cases, and from what we told him he was almost positive that we had a case and we'd win. However, we'd need a $1700 down payment for his attorney fees. Now, upon victory GM would pay off all of our legal fees under the lemon law, however we do not have $1700 to throw around in the first place.
So we're stuck with the lemon Metro. We'll probably be getting it back in a few days, and, assuming the "Service Engine Soon" light doesn't come back on, we're going to head straight for the Ford dealership and try to trade it in. We already spoke to a rep who said they can buy out the lease, especially since my wife only owes about $2500. She's got her eyes on a dirt-metallic Focus ZX3 with the sunroof and 16" six-spoke wheels.
I'll keep you guys updated!
Well we got the Metro back on Wednesday night, and when they gave it to us we heard a really loud "scrape" coming from the driver's side door as the serviceman opened it. We checked it out, and for some god unknown reason the driver's side door had been miss-aligned and would not even close all the way. We complained to the manager and they kept it overnight again. Thursday morning we picked it up, the door was fixed. Of course we had no explanation as to how it had been miss-aligned in the first place!
The engine light is no longer coming on so "apparently" the problem has been fixed. Still, I don't feel any overwhelming sense of reliability from the Metro. It seems as if a suit will hold no water now, and trading it in as you pointed out would be an exercise in debt expansion. However, my wife is still fed up with her car, not only due to the numerous failures over the last 18 months but just the fact that she's stuck in a tiny 2-door car with no a/c and 55 horsepower while lugging around a new baby up and down L.A. mountains in the late summer heat. Yeah I know, then why did we get the car? Well I could go into detail as to what led up to getting the Metro, but I'll suffice to say the car we had broke down, we needed cheap, fuel-efficient transportation and we needed it quick. We didn't want to have to worry about the pitfalls of a used vehicle so we went with a new Metro. Oh, and no we didn't plan on getting pregnant. So there you go, our saga...
I'll let you know what happens as it happens!
Anyway, it's all over now, my wife went back to the Ford dealership yesterday and struck a deal. It wasn't ideal, but I have to admit it was not bad at all for getting out of a half-done 36 month lease into a car worth more than twice as much.
Here's what she got:
2000 Ford Focus SE 4-door, 5-speed, Metallic Autumn Orange, all-Black interior, spoiler, fog lamps, 2.0L 16v Zetec engine (as opposed to the 8v split port), floor mats, cassette, a/c, tachometer, pdl, pw, pm, tilt/telescoping steering wheel, 15" alloy wheels.
The MSRP was about $15,500 on the car, and originally they wanted at least $2300 down to pay off her car and help get the Focus plus $391 to compensate for the negative equity. We dogged them out for hours, and finally we landed at $350 down and $350 per month on a 36 month lease. That's something like $13,500 total for all payments and the residual will be about $7900. I know, it's kind of high for a lease but the sheer joy my wife has with her new car more than makes up for it.
You know the funny thing is my wife was really sad to see her Metro go! After all the breakdowns, she really loved that little car!
- alex
not quite certain how it works. Just wanted to
ask
anyone if they have ever had problems with a Geo
Metro's wheel bearings. I have had my Geo for 6
years (1994), and the front wheel bearings both
inner/outer and left/right, go out about once a
year. It cost about $250-$350 to replace each
time. I was curious if anyone else has
experienced
the same problem, I want to know if it's just my
car or other Geo's that this occurs on. Thanks.
My current tires never rub but it did reduce my final drive ratio by about 7%.
I have a red 1990 Chevrolet Sprint 4 dr auto 1.0 L with only 67,000K oops, I mean KM. (I never did understand why you Americans use the letter K to indicate miles? You think it would be M?)
Anyway, I bought this car off a little old lady for $1900.00 canadian funds who owned it brand new and only put 6000 KM a year on it. She ended up buying a 2000 suzuki swift to replace this one. Was this a good deal for me you think?
The only problems I have come up with so far is the muffler needed to be replaced for $58.00 CAD and the transmission (which is going to be looked at this upcoming Tuesday by a GM dealer) has a shift problem. In drive it stays in drive when you start up from a stand still, but if its in 2nd, it starts from a stop in first like it should and shifts to 2nd. Should I take it to the dealer or just a tranny shop? What does everyone think it might be so I have a rough idea on what I could be looking at? Also is this inherant in the metro auto trannies?
There is also a wearing road sound when the car is in motion, but thanks to this info page I am pretty sure its the tires or the rear shocks. Also, there is a little electrical clicking noise coming from the TB injector, I never thought it would be that noticeable, but it is.
Thanks to all for reading this and thanks to the regulars who are here a lot helping the new sprint/metro owners.
Nigel.
The little old lady admitted to me today that her SON-IN-LAW was the one who had been driving the car for the last 5 yrs and that he was the one who actually sold the car. Can you say odometer fraud???? They sure coughed up the purchase money quite fast today. The moral is dont trust anyone, if its too good to be true it probably is.
Anyway, I still have not left the group cause I ended up buying a 1992 red Geo Metro 2dr hatchback 5 spd today for 2300 CAD which is about 1500 USD with only 122 thous original KM which is about 75,000 miles. Once again, I have to thank the group for the info between the automatics and standards economy wise. It greatly influenced my decision.
So, is this car a good deal and how long do you think I can keep this car running provided I keep a good mantinence schedule anyone???
As for problems, this one has loose front wheels. What I mean by this is when I grab the front tire from the side (either one) I can physically feel a little bit of play before the steering wheel moves. Its only about 1/4 to 1/2 inch movement.
Nigel.
seymourjohn, it is a throwaway car, but people like me and many others who own them just hold onto them like pack rats. I'm driving an Aspire at the moment, but I'll unload that salvage titled POS as soon as I find a tachometer equipped Metro I can afford.
djmick, I would buy the car if you either have the cash or can get a loan. Banks won't finance salvage titled cars (unless the loan officer knows you REALLY well). If you don't, well, I only wish I had enough cash because it's a deal. The best automatic Metro I've seen lately is a 1997 for $3700 here in Dallas with 43K on it. Now as to the warranty, call a Chevy dealer with the VIN# and have them check to see if the warranty has been voided. The VIN should start with 2C1MR22 if coupe, 2C1MR52 if sedan. IF they balk, call another Chevy dealer. It's a free version of Carfax. Odometer fraud, salvage/flood history, and the first owner (which in this case would be Enterprise Leasing) are all in GM's records. My 1995 LSi was an Enterprise rental, it served me through 112K and still drove when I got rid of it.
The sound system is a music connisuers delite, and the climate control could not be more satisfactory.