'96 Won't start

Our '96 1.3l Geo Metro has been a very reliable towed for several years. This week the DW was driving home and it stopped, she called, I called, the hook came and brought it home.

Early in the "check" phase we discovered that a piece of the rotor (inside the distributor) broke off and tore up the distributor insides. Had the copper windings of the position sensor wrapped around the shaft, broke the magnetic pick-up in the position sensor.

Replaced rotor, cap, wires, plugs and the position sensor and fully expected the thing to start right up, no such luck.

I need help from a Metro gru that is intimate with the insides of the 1.3l distributor. Please respond on the forum, directly to pdrappo@gmail.com or by voice to Paul at 813 624-2176

Hey Paul, If the innards of your distributor were damaged your best bet would be to find a used one at a parts yard and just put your new parts on it. Good luck!:)

Hey guys, I really need help here. been thru the complete ignition system, replacing major components in order from the plugs to the igniter..... still no spark.

What am I missing?

Did you try the coil? It may have been burned out depending on how the distributor was damaged. Also check to be sure the wiring and connectors are ok and clean.

Thanks for the reply. Replaced the coil with a new one. Have 12v power to the coil but no spark out to the distributor. All the wiring, in the ignition system, checks out OK.

When the ol' girl stopped on the DW it threw the code P0340, Camshaft Sensor Circuit. After we replaced the sensor in the distributor the code cleared and there are currently no codes.

Have you checked the timing belt? You may also want to be sure the distributor is turning properly by taking the cap off and starting it to see if the rotor is turning properly. Did you replace the distributor? It may have other un-noticed damage. Make sure all your fuses etc are OK, they may have been damaged them when the stuff came apart inside the distributor.

Since the sensor issue did you reset the computer? If not remove the ground wire from the battery and give it a few minutes then put it back on.

Probably blew the IGN fuse in the box next to the battery.

Replaced the distributor, coil (has power to the coil, 12v, but no spark out), replaced the ignitor (ignition control module). Cam turns, checked rotor with cap off and looked in the inspection hole, but dunno if it's correctly aligned, will check that today.

Didn't reset the PCU, will try today. Gotta get this baby goin...... we need to leave Florida for a RV rally in Iowa, need our towed (dinghy)

All fuses ok, both to look at and checked with MM.

Eureka!!!! It's back in business and wow am I happy and embarrassed.

As usual, it all boiled down to pilot error once again. The DW suggested we try our original distributor again so we did. In the exchange we switched the new camshaft position sensor to the original distributor and while setting the air gap I remembered reading from one of y'all how critical the air gap is, set it right and it started right up...vrooooooom!

Thanks to all for the help and suggestions, this forum is outstanding.

Good to hear. Good luck with it.