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I have a 2000 Metro hatchback w/90,000 miles on it. Other than preventative maintenance it has only been in the shop once, for a loose dashboard instrument wire.
Now there's a problem. When you first start it, it sounds like there's a hole in the muffler (there's not). Kick it into gear and it's even louder and has nowhere near the power it should have (imagine a Harley that's all noise and no speed). Once it finally gets into the high end of the gear, however, it "takes off"...the sputter is replaced by zoom. This happens quicker in the acceleration if your foot is only half-way down on the gas pedal; if you floor it it goes back to sputter and low-power until it gets near the top of the gear. Any ideas?
I had a 1996 Geo Metro that did the same thing about a month before it threw a rod. I took it to a mechanic who said that the spark plugs should be changed and the catilytic converter needed to be changed. I dont know where you live, but I am in CA and the car came from Illionois and someone had put a coil in the air intake to give it more fuel to keep it warmer in the cool weather. You may want to check it out. '
I hope this helps
thank you thomas
same problem,will not start when it is cold.Any input would be helpful.
thanks.
Any suggestions?
all input is welcome.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25788039@N00/3039973316/
Note that I'm standing in front of the vehicle, so the firewall is up. My hand is holding up the wires. They look like ground wires, but I'm not sure where to attach them. Any help would be appreciated.
Right now with them un-attached, the engine will try to start, but gets no fuel. I'm fairly certain the fuel pump isn't coming on. Another single-blade-edge connector ground wire will also smoke, presumably because the other grounding straps should be grounded and it's being forced to carry too much current. When I attach both wires shown above to the firewall, the engine won't even try to start, but the fuel pump sounds like it's coming on. I get a Check Engine light, the code for which I will pull once I'm sure where these two wires go.
Note that I have both the Chilton's and the factory repair manual set, but haven't quite been able to figure out the wire's identities or locations yet.
I just went thru the same project and found that those two sets of wires are indeed ground wires, their purpose is to provide a ground for all of the sensors in the head and intake manifold that require a grounded circuit.
You might need a mirror to see where they are mounted to on the back side of the intake manifold just below the air intake base. You need 2 bolts about 1/2 long not sure of metric bolt size but a 10m wrench fits. There is one on each bottom corner on the throttle body.
Good luck
Thanks! I tried a couple different things after getting recommendations from one other group, and found that having one attached to the firewall and one on the post where you mentioned seems to work best. I will add your input to the list if things go wrong. As it stands, I took the little Metro for a spin around the block for the first time since we switched out the clutch, and it runs! I'm really grateful for all the help I've had working on it.
Scott
Sometime, in no particular circontances, the car don'T start at the first try (not always but, we just ear the "clic" from the starter). 10 sec. after, i try again and it start with no problem.
I changed the alternator 4 month ago
the batterie 2 days ago
the starter 6 month ago
I'm realy not a pro in mechanic so i need help to find what it can be.
One thing is sure, it's not the batterie: it new from 2 day ago :P
Maybe the termanels? (is there a simple way to check if it's that?)
And for the started selonoid
(srry, i'm sure it gonna look stupid, but i realy bad in mechanic..) So the selonoid is a different part of than the starter. Cause my starter have been changed only 6 month ago... (do when we changed the started, the selonoid is also normaly changed??)
thanx for you help,
If you have noticed this problem before the replacement of the starter, then I would be looking for a bad connection in the wiring system; AS IN: a bad ground connection where the negative wire from the battery connects to the engine; or possibly a faulty ignition switch witch is inside the steering column. I hope that this info helps you.
PS: If the headlights dim when you here the clicking sound then there is a bad connection between the battery and the engine! On the positive or negative side!
new muffler. new battery. 1.3l 4 cyl. 4 door sedan tires are decent.
I have a 1999 Chevy Metro LSI (130K miles) with a 4 cylinder engine and a 5-speed transmission. I have experienced a similar problem to what you have described when the weather was cold. Typically, I start and drive the car for a few miles and when I stop at a stop light, the engine starts misfiring (sputtering) when I begin to accelerate. I have discovered that when this happens, I will find water droplets on the spark plug boots down inside the valve cover. If I wipe the water off, the problem all-but disappears after driving a short distance. It doesn't seem to happen when the weather is warm. My only guess so far is that the water droplets are caused by condensation in the spark plug bores, but I have no idea why. I have replaced the spark plugs (which all had very wide gaps) and considered replacing the spark plug wires. But when the weather warms up, the problem pretty well disappears. I am curious if there is a technical service bulletin about condensation inside the spark plug bores???
Check For: 1st, Vacuum leeks (all hoses) first listen closely for a vacuum leek near the intake, ( to test,Pinch hoses with pliers to block off air flow; then listen for the engin to slow down to an idle; because air leaks of any type will make the idle high) And maybe replace or checkthe PCV valve it is only $3.00
2. Idle speed control solenoid (ISC) located in, Upper rear of throttle body it has 2 wires clipped to it, most likely, a white and blue wire, and a red and white one. There is a good chance that the ISC is bad if there were no bad vacuum hoses found.
. 3. EGR Valve may not be holding, take it off and try to blow through it, if you can, then clean it out by chipping away the carbon until it seals; if you cant get it to seal then buy a new one.
I hope that this helps you to get started in the right direction! I have limited time to help, so off to work I go! Zenden
The vehicle is a 1993 with a 1.0 liter 3 cylinder engine. It has a 5 sp. standard transmission.
It problem happened before a few months ago and if I let the car sit for a day or two it would start right up. I have also checked the timing and compression. The compression was a bit low on one cylinder but I don't think that would explain how it will start if I unhook that valve temporarily. It almost has to be flooding while it sits for a period of time. Right now I have to leave work every two hours and run the car for a short period of time or it will not start when I get off work at 1 am. It is about 45 degrees out right now.
First did you test for codes by inserting a fuse? This will tell us pertinent info to proceed. So in order to proceed you will need to test for codes you wont hurt anything on the system. Then report the code to me.
Because there are other components on the throttle body with similar colored wires, I need to know where this component with the clip is located. On the throttle body with the air breather cover removed and standing in front of the car; looking at it from above, the Temp. Sensor would be in the rear of the throttle body with the wires plugging into it from the driver side. Are we talking about the same component? If not please state the exact location.
It sounds like you are talking about the same sensor. It is toward the back of the t/b but screws in horizontally from right to left as you face the engine from the front of the car. Is it possible to post an image on this board?
To know what your gas mileage should be and to help diagnose it is need to know, how many cylinders, and dose it have stick shift, with or without AC.
The spit and sputter can be caused by a TBS, but not the high idle. A high idle is usually caused by a vacuum leek; this is what I would be looking for first; most likely there is too much air coming in from somewhere! It could also cause that spit and sputter, it would also cause a lot of extra gas consumption.
Many things can be a cause of to much air; sticking Throttle bodies, a bad PCV valve, a blown head gasket, (Yes! with out having any other symptoms of a blown head gasket) As in! Oil in the water; water in the oil; water coming out the exhaust pipe, or flames shooting out of the head gasket, and or over heat problems. It could have a bad intake gasket, bad idle control valve, a bad A/C idle control motor that’s sticking, some one could have adjusted the factory set idle to compensate for a primary problem in the past, there could be carbon built up around the throttle body, the Idle control valve could be sticking from carbon build, or it could be bad, this would be a good possibility. All of these things are possible and must be part of the process of elimination when diagnosing.
First closely listen with your ear for an air leek while the engine is idling; If you don’t here one, then replace the PCV valve, if the trouble is still there do a vacuum test with the idle as low as specified, if the vacuum is still low find the leak it will becoming from somewhere. The 1989 GEO metro 3 Cyl. 5spd with a full tank of gas with no passengers on a flat road at 55 MPH will produce over 60 MPG. City driving could give you up to 47 MPG. If you are equipped with an automatic Trans you will never produce that much efficiency. I hope that I have helped you in some way, it is very difficult to diagnose on line, if not impossible at times