I have a 94 metro thats been hard to start lately, Cylinders are flooding out fouling plugs, will not start at all now, Just put 3 new ac delco plugs in it, new rotor button, and distrubutor and just seems like not getting a hot enough spark to burn the gas in cylinders. and also seems to be getting way to much gas in cylinders. Anybody have an idea where to start on this.

Thanks
Tom

Have you checked the engine timing? You can advance or retard it by loosening off the bolts that hold the distributor assebly to the side of the block. When was the last time you replaced the timing belt? It may be worn out and have slipped a tooth. How was it running before this hard starting began? If it was getting steadily rougher, that may indicate the timing belt. When you try starting the engine, is it cranking? Take the distributor cap off and watch the rotor to see if it turns.

Jai

It has been steadily getting worse or hard to start. I think that you may be right, It is trying to sart but when it does it stumbles pretty bad, Kinda acts like timing. I'll check that out and see what I can do. I Tried advancing the timing by ear sunday and couldn't seem to impove it so it is locked down at the original location.

I would check fuel pressure and ECT both, to make sure fuel delivery is correct.

I did manage to get it running yesterday by advancing the timing. Once I did that it fired right away. Is that normal for them to do that as the belt wears?I think I may try to sell or trade it because I'm driving 300 mile a week with it and it is using or leaking a couple quarts of oil a week. Seems like when I pull into a full service station I have to ask them to fill it up with oil and check the gas. LOL

Tom

Tom, if the car has no other major problems you should look into replacing the motor with a JDM (japanese domestic market) motor. They can be had for less than 500.00 shipped and are not extremely difficult to install yourself. If you don't want to install it youself just ask your mechanic for a quote to install a used motor. The JDM motors have about 50,000 miles on them and should give your car a new lease on life.

Jon

To Late, The Geo Went BY BY today, Traded it for a 95 ford aspire that runs a lot better and is in better shape. Traded back to the guy I got it from whom has a lot of geo spare parts, He buys and strips them for parts.
The geo has been a lot of headache for me and the auto trany did not shift by itself. Good Ridens to Bad Rubbish I guess, hopefully the ford will be a better car and they are rated for 42mpg hwy.

Tom