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Old 06-30-2008, 01:28 AM   #1
FreshPrinceOfEWU
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I have a feeling i'm in the right spot now

I'm am now the proud owner of a blue 92' Geo Metro. She's my first car and I know nothing about her besides the fact that she runs like a dream. So I have a few questions that you fine folks may be able to help me out with.

1. I have 12 inch wheels at the moment. I was thinking about bumping up to 13's or 14's. Good idea or bad?

2. I bought the car for $1350 and it's pretty much what you would expect for something that cheap. There are things that I need to know but the owners manual is nowhere to be found. Does anyone have a PDF of the 92' owners manual so I don't have to go buy one?

3. I still need to go in for an oil change and some other things but I was noticing that after only a few minutes of driving that my temp gauge is right on the white line before it goes into the red and sometimes does go into the red. Is this normal? Could this just possibly be where it rides? I don't seem to have any smoking or steam coming out from under the hood so I was just wondering.

That's enough for now but i'm sure i'll have more questions later. Any help is appreciated. For now enjoy the crappy cell phone pics of "The Blue Beastie"



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Old 06-30-2008, 05:57 AM   #2
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Re: I have a feeling i'm in the right spot now

Read the 12" to 13" wheel upgrade thread: http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=901753
Lots of good info there.

Don't have a PDF for you, but there's usually owner's manuals on Ebay, 92 - 94 was pretty much the same.

Your temperature gauge should run dead center and never move more than the width of a hair. Could be a bad thermostat or water pump, or clogged radiator. Also might not be full, can be hard to burp the last air bubbles out of these cars sometimes.
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Old 06-30-2008, 10:16 AM   #3
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Re: I have a feeling i'm in the right spot now

Here is my two cents.....

You have one of THE most economical, fun to drive cars available today that
costs next to nothing and which YOU easily can repair yourself !!

If you go to any mechanic or shop - listen to them - then come back here and relate what they
told you.

Do not let them do any work on the Metro until you have come back here !
An auto shop is there to make money on repairs - they will want to do the work that YOU can
do yourself - but they will want $80 per hour and double the parts prices....

Ignorance is very expensive!

Expect about 48 miles per gallon !

If you learn how to fix it, the experience will stand you good the rest of your life!

The Metro is a good car to learn auto repair on - it is forgiving...

How many miles on it ?

Go spend $20 on a Chilton or Haynes Manual in an automotive parts store.

It is not the best, but it will help tremendously. Read it.

The very first thing you should do - do a compression test or have it done - then get back here and tell us the results.

Change the oil and filter immediately. Use ONLY 5W-30 oil.

Check the coolant level. Use 50% coolant always. Covers all weather conditions.

Is the battery older than four years? If so, replace it immediately or you may get
stuck in the middle of nowhere.

Replace the "Beep Beep" horn with a big American Horn from a wrecking yard!
It helps keep the monkey brained drivers aware that you are there.

Don't concern yourself with the 12 inch tires until you have everything else in shape!

Twelve inch tires are not all that hard to obtain. Unless you want to spend
money on new wheels, stick with 12" tires for a while - until you get used to
the Metro. The 12" tires wear very slowly! The car is so light!

Coast whenever you go down a long hill - saves a lot on gasoline. The Metro
rolls quite a long way without slowing!

Find a local "Pull-n-Save" wrecking yard to get replacement parts - you will save
one Hell of a lot of money!

Watch out! People drive like apes on dope! Drive defensively and you may
have this car a long while. Otherwise people will wreck it for you.

Lastly - go thru this Forum and read about this car.

You will not find anywhere better than the information you can glean off of this
Forum.

It may take time and patience, but it is all here !

DoctorBill
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Old 06-30-2008, 01:57 PM   #4
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Re: I have a feeling i'm in the right spot now

Welcome to the site. I agree with everything posted above. Even if that little car needs a few repairs, don't let it dicourage you! I recently got one and had to do more than I expected in repairs, but the little car still pays me back in fuel mileage.

Don't race the car! It is just a fun, economical ride.
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Old 06-30-2008, 11:08 PM   #5
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Re: I have a feeling i'm in the right spot now

Okay first off I want to thank everyone for their imput and feedback. Its good to find a place with people who are willing to help.

So, The Blue Beastie has 132,xxx miles on it but you would never know it by the way it runs. So smooth.

Since having the car (3 days or so) I have installed:
-New Wipers, Front & Back
-New Spark Plugs
-New Air Filter
-New Rotor
-New Dist. Cap
-New Plug Wires

I didn't really install them but a friend of mine who knows about cars did. I asked him about getting a compression test done on it and he said that there was really no need because it wasn't smoking or anything.

I added coolant and my temp gauge problem is no more! I still might have them check out the thermostat though.

The battery is fairly new and the guy I bought it from had the clutch replaced pretty recently.

I have been to my local Pick-a-part salvage yard and all I could find was a drivers side visor. Haha I suppose that I can keep looking though. It's actually pretty fun to get out there and rummage around.

I just got insurance and I tell you what, it's so cheap! I was happily surprised at this.

Tomorrow i'm going in to get the tabs renewed and the title put into my name.

I'll keep everyone posed as I update the Beastie. Thanks again!
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Old 06-30-2008, 11:54 PM   #6
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Re: I have a feeling i'm in the right spot now

"..the guy I bought it from had the clutch replaced pretty recently.

Go back to that guy and find out everything he had done or knows about from
any previous owner! This may save you a lot of futile work and money outlay.

If he saved any receipts and/or invoices - ask him for them!

"...a friend of mine who knows about cars did. I asked him about getting a compression test
done on it and he said that there was really no need because it wasn't smoking or anything.
"

I would still do a compression test. Better safe than sorry....

You only have three cylinders.....just one not working pretty much kills the Metro.

You can buy a compression tester for about $25 at Harbor Freight Tools.
They are in Spokane, so they must be in Tacoma.

Easy to do the test.

It lets you know

1. If the Rings are wearing.

2 If the Valves are getting burned. Usually #1 (far left) exhaust valve goes first.

You do the test "dry" and then with 1 oz of oil poured into the cylinder.

If the values are below about 180 lbs or so, you may soon have problems.
If all the values are not within about 15% of each other, you will soon have
problems. i.e. one cylinder a lot different than the other two.

The test after adding the oil tells if the Rings are going bad. The compression
goes up because the oil seals them off temporarily.

If the Rings are wearing, you will lose compression and start getting smoke out
the exhaust. If your oil goes quite BLACK after 3,000 miles, your Rings are
worn.

It is an easy diagnostic test that tells if the Heart of your Machine has impending
problems. If so, you can do "Heart Surgery" on this little bugger fairly easily.

Or.....not. Up to you.

I put it off and put it off - until one day - the machine stopped.

I got a Compression testing Gauge and found that my No. One Valve was a gonner.

It drove nicely up until that day. 147,000 miles on it.

DoctorBill

PS - I would take the Fuel Filter out (beside the Fuel Tank under the left side)
and bypass it with Fuel Pressure tubing. Cut the middle of the input Fuel Line
in the engine compartment and install the Fuel Filter there - easy to get at.

Where it is now located makes it an absolute BASTARD to work on!

If Your Fuel Filter is about to get plugged up, it will be at the worst time.
You will have intermitent engine die off and start-up. Drives one mad.
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Old 07-01-2008, 12:03 AM   #7
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Re: I have a feeling i'm in the right spot now

I see what you mean about only having 3 cylinders. So this is something that I can do pretty easily at home if I follow the directions? If not, how much more expensive would it be to have them do it when there checking my oil and stuff?

That last part about the fuel filter...right over my head. I'll talk to my car guy and have him explain it and then i'll come back here and let you know what he said.

Thanks again!
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Old 07-02-2008, 09:13 AM   #8
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Re: I have a feeling i'm in the right spot now

FreshPrince - don't be afraid of trying to do the work yourself. Except for the theory, being a mechanic is pretty easy. A bolt comes out, a bolt goes back in. When I started out, my mentor told me this, "You don't have to be smart to be a mechanic. You just need patience and a good memory."

If you bought the car to save money on fuel, why pay some ridiculously high shop rate to fix it? Start out slow and simple, work your way up. If you are not sure, there are a thousand voices here that will help.
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Old 07-02-2008, 09:53 AM   #9
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Re: I have a feeling i'm in the right spot now

You have got an awesome car. I had a '91 that I wish I still had (have a '96, now) in addition to my current one. I'm a Suzuki guy from way back, and just love these cars. They're easy to work on, very forgiving, and even at 56 hp, a blast to drive (if you have a manual, that is).

I use the Chilton for most work, it's a good manual for most jobs.

I would NOT do the tire mod. 12" tires are super cheap (they're the ones they advertise for $19 each!). I used to get out the door with a set of tires for around $100. The 13's run me about $125.

The one thing I would caution you on: safety. The crash-worthiness of the 89-94's is pretty poor. After the redesign, safety went way up. So you MUST drive defensively, all the time.

Enjoy your new toy! It looks like it's in pretty good shape. Ask all the questions you want here, we'll be glad to share and try to help.

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Old 07-27-2008, 11:59 PM   #10
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Re: I have a feeling i'm in the right spot now

Well i'm back to report on the progress of the beastie.

So far so good I would say. I replaced the thermostat, got the A/C working, changed the oil, and did a few cosmetic things (new roof and bumper primer).

Everything has been going fine until tonight when....

The temp gauge started to go into the red, their was a strange squeeling sound whenever I put my foot on the gas and my check oil light came on. I made it home but I need to know whats wrong before I take it back out.

Anyone know about the squeeling and the temp gauge? Bad water pump possibly? I'm going to have my friend look at it tomorrow but I'm curious as to what you all think.
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Old 07-28-2008, 05:30 AM   #11
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Re: I have a feeling i'm in the right spot now

Might be a seized water pump, might be that the engine is finished.

Just as with traffic lights and octagonal signs, red means stop. If your temperature gauge moves above the midpoint, something is wrong and you should keep very close notice. If it moves into the red, you should stop driving.

When you say "check oil light" I hope you mean the "check engine light". The oil light is there to tell you that your engine is running with no oil and damage is being done already, it is not a gentle reminder to check something next time you get a chance.
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Old 07-28-2008, 07:48 PM   #12
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Re: I have a feeling i'm in the right spot now

If you replaced the thermostat, there is a good chance you had air traped in the sytem. Oem stats have a hole in them to help bleed out the air. Aftermarked ones do not, so this makes it a little harder to get the air out.

First check the leverl of antifreeze in the overfull tank. Is it normal it it low?

Make sure you get all the air out and the overflull tank is 1/2 full.

You may or may not have blown a head gasket or something worse.

If it's still not runing properly, you next step is a compression check. You can do this yourself. The tester can be fount at walmart for $25

Follow these easy to do instructions:

http://www.teamswift.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=27748

Report you wet and dry numbers back here. We can tell you the state of your engine.
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Old 07-28-2008, 11:34 PM   #13
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Re: I have a feeling i'm in the right spot now

Well we decided that it was the water pump that was screwing up. So I went to auto zone and picked up a new one for $50 but it has a lifetime warranty so that's good. I also got a gallon of antifreeze.

I come home and me and my friend start taking things apart. Turns out that to get to the pump you have to take a lot of crap off. We got everything off and put on the new pump and put everything back on. I go to start it and it turns over but no start.

The timing belt. We marked the damn thing and everything and thought we had it right, guess not. Tomorrow we have to take everything back off and try again and then drain the radiator and put new coolant in.

The life of a metro owner...
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Old 07-29-2008, 01:44 AM   #14
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Re: I have a feeling i'm in the right spot now

don't try putting lines on the belt to line it back up. there is a line on the cam gear that line up with mark on valve cover and mark on lower gear that lines up with arrow behind it. both marks should be straight up when putting belt on, if there ar 2 marks on cam gear the correct one is directly oposite cam dowel pin, dowel should be down and mark up. don;t be afraid to turn gears with belt off to line marks up. engine won't bend valves doing that
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Old 07-29-2008, 01:58 AM   #15
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Re: I have a feeling i'm in the right spot now

Here's a photo that may help with the bottom (crank). It kinda' throws people off a bit. The top (cam) should be self explanatory. You should also put a new timing belt on while you're in there if you haven't already. They are usually pretty cheap and will save you future troubles. Good luck with your metro, this work will all be worth it in the end.
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