Chevrolet/Geo Metro

pipeman · August 2006

YOu can rebuilt the old engine. It is not expensive and you will have "good" engine for next 150000 miles.
Let me know.

supplee · August 2006

I would rebuild it but the guy I got it from threw a rod threw the block. I can get a 92 motor from a friend for $30. and was thinking of just using the block and crank and rebuilding it. The other option is to buy one of these Japanese 45K mile motors for $450.00 and putting a new oil pump( needs hole for pick up for the 97 } on it. I was wondering if the 92 block would have all of the necessary holes that I would need to bolt all of my 97 motor parts to and are the import motors any good? What does that pick up under the oil pump do? there are 6 points on the crank timing gear that it reads.

pipeman · August 2006

I didn't rebuild any new Geo 3 cyl. Only up to 1994.
Was I will do in your place?:
1. Strip both engine
2. find the diffrences
It is simple engine, nothing special. You will see the diffrences.
YOu can ask for the parts list from auto parts and compare.
$ 30.00 is easy to spend. But $ 450.00, I will thnik first.
Mark

crashpw · August 2006

ok I'm new to this forum , the oil you should be using is 5w, and the reason is there is a report out on geo's that using a heavier oil will burn the valves up because it can't go through the lifter holes they are to small for heaver oil, I know this from experience to have a head redone cost around 400 bucks. also I'm looking for automatci transmission part, for my geo if anyone has a junk one let me know if you would THX and HI to everyone on here

vanillalatte · August 2006

I just gave away an automatic tranny to my mechanic. It is in perfect condition with less than 50 000 miles on it. I swear. Come and get it for next to nothing. I am in St-Ours, South shore of Montreal
Vanilla Latte.

crashpw · August 2006

LOL thats ok I will try someone closer to my house in Ohio USA

crashpw · August 2006

The part I need for the trans is when you are looking at the front where the shaft goes in to the trans you have two parts bolted together and I need the back part, it has a chip out of the inner side closest to the shaft and its leaking fluid.

pipeman · August 2006

Please use Castrol or Penzoil 10/30.
Where you are?
If the climate is similar to Michigan use 10/30. In very cold weather close to 10 F or below used only 5/30 ( if really is cold). 10/30 works..

smoke76 · August 2006

I was just reading through all of the posts and have this to say; use synthetic oil, synthetic viscosity does not change to the extremes that regular oil does, ie. is more consistent and stable at all temps and I have gone 5000 + miles between oil changes without ever burning any valves. i also use premium fuel and with 200,850 on the odometer i still get 49mpg in my 90 5 speed 1.0L metro.

If someone wants to come to Nebraska to get it I have a 92 metro i bought for parts (bad valves) good auto trans and good body. $50 takes it.

And for an earlier discussion on geo metros being death traps and no good on slick surfaces, if its slick slow down(here lies the fix for being a death trap as well), these cars have no weight (therefore they hydroplane easily, especially with wider tires or tires with close tread patterns) otherwise you would need bigger than a 1.0 motor to move it and consequently your mpg would drop.

I Love My P.O.S. rusty metro.
97 miles round trip to work 6 days a week 65-75mph, never any troubles.

also if anyone is interested i have a set of Panther Custom Wheels 14x7 3 spoke aluminum wheels, never on car and never had tires on them, 3 still in original boxes, that will fit on a metro. email.smoke@yahoo.com

pipeman · August 2006

Hi. What kind of wheels they are?
Do you have any picture?
About the oils - if you drive more than 10 miles one way to work - do not use syntetic oils. The synthetic oils are good only for cold startups and short driving. The regular oils works fine. I like 10/30 all year around, good viscosity, break down easy and recover quick. Castrol and Penzoil is best.
THe 3 cyl. engine runs always around 3300 RPM at 65 MPH. (5 speed).YOu will need replaced the oil more frequently than on 4, 5 or 6 cyl engine.
My rules is - 3 cyl engine -3000 miles, 4 cyl - 4000 miles, 5,6 and 8 cyl. I go around 5000 miles.
My cars are over 200.000 miles and never have a problem with engine. Just basic service.
Use only WIX or Fram oil filter. They are very good.
Mark

smoke76 · August 2006

gimmie a day or 2 and i will get pics of the wheels for you.

pipeman · August 2006

Let me know, when you will send the pictures

vantagemotors · August 2006

I have a 1999 Geo Metro and when looking for parts most of the part stores on list up to 1997 or 1999 only, either as a Geo or Chev. Are the mechanical parts different from 1997 to 1999 ?

p10leadman · August 2006

I beleive the listings will be under Chevrolet or Chevy, not Geo metro at that point. GEO was a joint project and was being dissolved at that point. Be careful of mixing some 1997, 1999,200 parts there are some differences... :shades:

p10leadman · August 2006

not being a mechanic in CA., I am not sure about the emmissions testing. My gut feelings is that it will effect it, otherwise Chevy / Geo would not have designed it that way (Hhhmmm??) sorry I do not have a better answer. Parts for Geo's are becoming harder to find. (junkyards) There were some rumors that Suzuki was thinking of re-starting the Suzuki Swift model (base model for Geo Metro), which would be like VW re-starting the Beetle... with gas prices zooming, it may happen. :shades:

smoke76 · August 2006

pics are in my photo album, wheels, in my profile.

smoke76 · August 2006

I run synthetic oil in all 6 of my vehicles year round, last year on my trip to sturgis i logged 1,827mi. in 3 1/2 days on my harley, average of 12 hrs a day riding time. I havent had any problems vtwin to v8 weather it was -50F windchill or 118F without heat index. The coldest weather ive ridden my harley in was about 36F, not fun. The others have been driven in all of it. Most of my filters are K&N (air & oil)I use Fram oil filters on my van, ranger, and geo.

2stews · August 2006

I have a 1995 Geo Metro coupe with a 3 cyl/stick. I also have a 1996 Geo Metro sedan with a 4 cyl/auto. I want to put the 4 cyl from the '96 into the '95...I know this can be done. My son wants to keep it a stick...
Can I take the 4 cyl and bolt the std trans to it and install it into the '95?
...did they ever make a 4 cyl with a std transmission for
'95-'96 Metro.
...I just got done bolting up the std trans to the 4 cyl,
but now I noticed that rear engine mount does not line up by 2" and I wonder if the drive axles will work...?
....will I have to change the computer & wiring harness?
(will the '95 3 cyl computer run my '96 4 cyl engine if I get engine mts & drive axles figured out...?)
Help ....PLEASE!

jimbob1 · August 2006

I'm no real help, but I can tell you there are 96 Metros with the 4 cyl and manual tranny. I'm driving one. It is the sedan, not the coupe.

pipeman · August 2006

You will need pressure plate, clutch, bearing etc for manual. You can go to autoparts and ask for clutch, pressure palte for 3 cyl and 4 cyl. engine. If the part nymber are this same, you can used. But the best way is to compare the parts.
I'm not sure it is worth to swap the engine and parts. Many differences in work. Somebody on this site made comments that computer CCM is this same. I do nopt belive, but?
Good luck

stobar · August 2006

I own a 98 Chevy Metro, 3 cyl, 1 liter, 5 speed that I bought about 18 months ago. The car only had 28,000 miles on it (owned by a retiree in Florida). After purchasing the car, I had all the fluids, belts, and tires replaced, with the exception of the timing belt. I just went over 42,000 miles on the car. The car is now 8 years old. I would like a recommendation when I should consider replacing the timing belt. Although the care doesn't have the mileage, I'm worried about the age. Thanks for your response.

p10leadman · August 2006

replace it today, not tomorrow. Price is well spent.
I own a 1995, 1996, 1997 Geo Metro's and a 1997 Suzuki Swift (a metro) so, I know my Metro's.
:shades:

hb2474 · August 2006

How much was it to install the aftermarket A/C?

mary02 · August 2006

The door handle on the driver's side of my '92 Geo broke off. Only has 30,000 mile on it. Want to keep in as good a shape as possible. Someone mentioned www.abebooks.com regarding parts, but what is search for once I get to the site? Any ideas. Also how to I post a message and not necessarily to one person? Its my lst time.

vanillalatte · August 2006

Contact Paul Bollen in Ville Brossard at 450 443 4263 He has tons of parts, is inexpensive and ships all over. Frederick

vantagemotors · September 2006

I was noticing on my 99 Metro when in traffic and inching ahead that a brake seemed to be sticking on. I would nudge ahead in line and the car would come to a stop on its own. It was not severe, but enough so that I took notice. I had not checked the rear brakes since I bought the car so I decided to pull the rear drums. I found the park brake pivots sticking on both sides, more so on the left rear. The shoes on the left rear were even worn a little more than the right. I had noticed the park brake lever seemed ok other than it took a hard pull to make it hold. This was obviously because the pivots were seizing and they were not traveling the full amount. So as a helpfull hint, if your park brake does not seem to hold properly or you feel some brake resistance when you are at low speeds, it might be wise to pull your rear brakes & check your park brake pivots!

vanillalatte · September 2006

Thanks!

stan_top_down · September 2006

The unit was around $700 as I recall (from a firm in Phoenix). It would have been much cheaper to drive the car out there to have it installed, but I didn't have time.

I think my local independent mechanic charged me $500.

Be careful, though, the hose ends were not properly crimped in the kit (possibly so the length of each could be shortened if necessary). The vendor asked if my mechanic could crimp them; the mechanic never did, assuming they were already crimped. Result: leaks. The second time it happened I had the mechanic pull all the hoses & have them crimped - I haven't had a leak since (over a year).

The AC works really well - it's been driven from Amarillo to Arlington, TX, Lubbock, TX, & St. Louis, MO this summer, and it worked flawlessly. In the hottest & most humid area it's a good idea to set it to recirculate the air.

Hope this helps!

mary02 · September 2006

Thanks, I'll call him and let you know how I made out.

paulc6 · September 2006

Hi, new member. I just put a new clutch in my 93 metro 3 cly , also new timing belt. Unfortunately I think I have it off one tooth, are there any marks on the cam and crank pulley I can verify with? I see some on the cam pulley but none on the crank. I don't want to buy a manual, any help would be appreciated.

mahasski · September 2006

i have a 1995 geo metro 3cyl. 1.0 liter , manual 2 dr coupe..my battery isn't being charge when the car is running..i put a new alternator in and a brand new battery in . i had new battery and new alternator checked to make sure they were working and they do...but still battery in not being charged when car is running...has anbody had this problem...please let me know what i can do.....

paulc6 · September 2006

I finally got my timing belt installed correctly.
on my 93 1 liter. I found the marks on both cam and crank pulleys. good thing it is a non interference motor or I would have messes up the valves for sure. It Has 160,000 miles and runs great, hopefully I can get at least another 60,000 miles

stobar · September 2006

Thanks p10leadman. I appreciate your response and I don't doubt you, but my mechanic says the timing belt looks fine. I'm still skeptical or I wouldn't be posting this. What is the standard mileage when most people replace the timing belt? Although the car only has a little over 42,000 miles on it, with it being over 8 years old now, I'm concerned. In old posts, I've seen that some people replace at 50,000, and others wait longer. My mechanic hasn't done me wrong yet, but I'm at the point that my piece of mind overrides his opinion. I'm going to let the shop replace the timing belt. Is it a time consuming process, and is the timing belt expensive? Again, many thanks!

vantagemotors · September 2006

The manual says to replace the timing belt at 100,000 miles. Most manufactures estimate people will drive 12,000 miles a year, so a little over eight years to reach that mileage. Your belt is likely still ok but it might be worth the peace of mind to replace it soon. A belt & tensioner should be about $80 to $90, two to three hours tops to replace.

dangerdude · September 2006

Hi Lorax, I just got my project Metro on the road. I resued it from going to the junkyard! I LOVE it! My wife LOVES it! I'm getting 48.8 MPG! It took a lot of cleaning up but the engine & tranny (5-speed) run so sweetly! I do all my own work and found when your advised to change the water pump whenn doing the timing belt .. just do it! I didn't see why until I left the old water pump on after I did the belt THEN it started leaking! So I re-did the job. Got good at it too (hah) I spent a few dollars on new parts but now I have a comfortable, dependable, nimble neat car. I wish I had TWO of them! (maybe I will) I love mine! They are easy to work on too! Hope this helps! Drop a line if I can help somewhere. DangerDude, Oh By the way, my Metro has 184,000 miles on it and runs like a Rolex!

supplee · September 2006

I just rebuilt the motor and got it in and now the rpm goes up and down at idle. if i put the timing light on it the timing osculates from 0 to 10 deg. before top center. I don't know if it was doing this before I got it because it had a blown motor when I got it. any Ideas as to what the problem is would be appreciated. Dan in Edmonds, WA
(The motor I got to replace the blown motor had 175k on it and when I pulled it apart there was no cylinder ridge and you could still see about 60% of the cross hatch in the cylinder walls.)

p10leadman · September 2006

hey ..if you find out, let me know also..I have the same problem in my 95 geo metro, 4 cyl...
:confuse:

p10leadman · September 2006

more than the car is worth.
:P

p10leadman · September 2006

I own a 1995,1996, 1997 (2) Geo Metro's...all have composite headlights. That is the clear plastic lenses, not sealed beams. I went to look at 2 Geo Metro's this week, a 1995 and a 1996, both had sealed beam headlight systems.. was the composite headlights a accessory add on? When were they made as a standard feature ? :surprise:

93redmetro · September 2006

Hi. Just purchased this one. Steering wheel vibrates when driving down highway. I checked to see if it was all coming from engine by placing in neutral and coasting on the road at about 45 miles per hour and there was less vibration but still there. Seems to be a combination of engine vibration and elsewhere. I put new tires and wheels and struts front and back and had tires balanced and front end alignment.
Vibration still there.
Could it be other front end parts? Wheel bearings? Could CV joints cause this?
If the timing belt is off one tooth, would this cause substantial engine vibration? The engine starts very easily
and the timing was just set by my mechanic.
Do three cylinder engines cause steering wheel vibration regardless of what you do or should we be able to get rid of the vibration? If I take my hands of the wheel I can see it shake.
Thank you for any ideas you have.

dangerdude · September 2006

Dear fellow Metro fans .. Here's a question I haven't found explained in the Haynes shop manual. My Metro has high mileage, which doesn't really mean anything to a well maintained machine, But my gearshift lever is rather loose and I'd like to re-bush and snug it up a little so it doen't dance around when idling in neutral. It has about a quarter inch vertical play. I'm assuming this can be corrected with a new rubber grommet or something replaced at the base of the shifter. Anybody ever done this one?
This doesn't effect shifting .. just want to snug it up a bit because I'm fussy about my powerful, babe-magnet, hi performance Metro! Thanks! DangerDude

vanillalatte · September 2006

Yep! You should change the nylon based bushings. that part of the shift linkage is quite easy to get at. A couple of screws, you remove the console from inside. Then you have access. I don't remember but you might have to remove the wands. Very easy job, and not expensive. Have fun.

minor · September 2006

We just bought a crashed 2000 Metro at auction, it was pretty strip down, no fuse box, distributor, or keys, we have put it all back together except for the airbags, but it will not start it gives the first spark and does to start, but then it it stops sparking, we had the computer check and it is fine, if we check the distributor off and move it at a fast rate it sparks well, could it have a security swith that activated itself after it was crashed?

Thanks,

vantagemotors · September 2006

A vibration like you described is almost always caused by a wheel or tire. You say the vibration was there with the old tires also so it is unlikely it is a tire or balance issue, although it is still possible. I would be checking the rims closely for bends. You may have to go to a tire shop and explain you still have a vibration even after having new tires replaced. They should put them back on a balancer & check the balance first, then check the rims for runout. By your description its likely you have a bent rim.

vantagemotors · September 2006

I just did this recently on my 99. My shifter was stiff though, not loose. The bushings are at the base of the shifter and can be accessed under the car. You will see the shifter beside the exhaust pipe, it has one bolt running through the shift shaft which has two bushings, one going in from each side. Mine was seized and rusted making the bolt hard to remove. Yours is likely not going to be hard to remove since the bushing are worn. Clean everything and replace the two bushing and you should be good. There are more bushings at the transmission end of the linkage but hopefully the bushings at the base of the shifter will fix you up.

93redmetro · September 2006

Thanks for the advice.
I'll have the wheels and tires checked.
Best wishes.

93redmetro · September 2006

Had the wheels rebalanced today and the technician noticed that the aftermarket alloy wheels have a larger hub-opening diameter than the car and said I need to get hub fit rings to make the wheels hub centric.
Does anyone know the hub diameter of the 93 metro 2-door
convertible?
I need this dimension to order the set of hub fit rings
for the alloy wheels.
Thanks!

vanillalatte · September 2006

Hi there and hello!
A wobbly wheel is the worst way to wind down a country road.
The hub size is 58 millimeters. Happy trails. :P

93redmetro · September 2006

Thanks very much, vanillalatte!
Should be smooth riding from here on out!

mimetro · September 2006

I'm about to drop a new engine in my '97 and decided to put in a new clutch while I had it apart. I didn't check the travel or resistance on the clutch lever w/the old clutch, but with the new one it's really hard to move and only travels about 1 inch. Is this the way it's supposed to be? I'd like to know before I reinstall the motor/transaxle.
Thanks

Chevrolet/Geo Metro

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