2000 Metro no-startsubmit new thread

[dragon_kin01]

2000 Chevy Metro 1.3l inline 4, automatic. Story goes, customer replaced spark plugs and wires, car ran 8 miles then died. Hasn't run since.

Head gasket was blown. Replaced head gasket and timing set. Engine now had full compression across the board (110 psi in cyl 1, 100 in 2,3,4.) Cranks, but no start.

Got a cam sensor code. Replaced cam sensor, no start.

Test spark and fuel. The engine has spark on all four cylinders. Fuel injectors three and four pulse while one and two do not. Swapped positions of injectors one and two into position three and four, three and four now trigger, one and two still don't. Used a test light to check the pulse on all four injector connectors and found that one and two do not pulse no matter what injector is in their connector.

Ohms out the crankshaft position sensor and reading was below spec. Replaced the crankshaft position sensor, once again cranks but doesn't start.

Tested for pulsed at the computer for all injectors. Injectors three and four pulse at the computer one and two do not. Talked with the shop foreman at Watson Chevrolet. He and I came to the conclusion that the computer had been bad. Since no new computers are available for this car, I went to a junkyard picked one up. Slapped it in and lo and behold same problem.

Sent the first computer off the Cardone to be re-manufactured. Came back today, slap it in and lo and behold same problem.

What am I missing? Has anybody else had this problem or anything similar?

[Woodie83]

First off, that compression is a disaster, it comes out of the factory with 200 psi, "minimum allowable" is 150 psi.

Second, it's NEVER the PCM, just put that out of your mind. That's why the part is not available, no one's ever seen one go bad except for reversing the battery terminals.

I'm pretty sure the injectors are fed twelve volts constantly (by two separate wires) and the PCM grounds them individually to fire. Could just be a bad wire or bad crimp connection where the wire splits into two, check to see if the injectors are missing their twelve volts, or missing their ground pulse. KeyOnEngineOff all four injectors should read 12V on both terminals.

If that is right, then I'm back to Crank or Cam Sensor. With that low compression, maybe the timing belt is grossly out of time. Make sure all the teeth are on the reluctor ring behind the crank sprocket.

OH YEAH! Almost forgot, you didn't put an oil pan gasket on it, did you? If so, that's your problem, spaces the Crank Sensor too far away from the reluctor.

[Crvett69]

when you check compression make sure all 4 plugs are out and your holding gas pedal to floor while cranking. like he said your compreesion is way to low. if your timing belt is on correctly then i would put a tablespoon or two of oil in a cyl and check compression again. if it jumps more than 30 pounds your rings are bad, they may have overheated it

[dragon_kin01]

ok check the crank tone wheel, no missing teeth, no bend in the wheel. im not worried too much about the compression since the vehicle ran before it came to me. no bad wires. crank sensor does control injector pulse. it seems like 1 and 2 arent grounding to trigger the injectors. where else to look?

[Crvett69]

did you use a pan gasket?

[dragon_kin01]

no pan gasket. thats what led me to test the crank sensor. it still the silicone

[dragon_kin01]

okay guys problem is fixed. Turns out that the engine was 90° out of time. On the camshaft sprocket, there are two timing marks. One has an E over an I and vice versa. I had the camshaft with the I over the E set for my timing mark. That put the motor 90° out of time. Also, the ground wire for the computer which is a black with red stripe wire was fried from the computer to its ground point. Ground point is at the back of the camshaft were the cam sensor is. There is a four-way ground at this point, the blue-black wires are for the coils. The red black wire is the computer ground.

[Crvett69]

with compression that low figured timing belt was off, its real easy to mix the marks up