Puzzling Power problem *not compression*

Hello Everyone,

I've got a bit of a situation here with my metro. I own both a 1994 XFi 1.0L w/5spd and a 1996 Metro 1.0 w/5spd. The 1994 has a real bad idle problem... I think it's the IAC (RPMs drop with headlights, blower (the more you add, the lower it gets) but thats besides the point. The car has about 100psi compression (real low) but is still peppy as hell. It gets up and goes.. real snappy. The 1996, has NOTHING. It's real weak in the power department. Trying to hold 65 on the highway can be difficult if it's up a slight hill. Usually I need to shift to 4th. Add a couple more people and forget it. The car becomes dangerously slow on the highway. I think I'm getting proper throttle response up to about 1/3 throttle. Anything after that seems to be taking as much as 10% of my 1/3's throttles power AWAY. I can acually FEEL this (slightly) on the highway when I floor it. In an effort troubleshoot this problem I've done the following:

Checked compression - 180-200psi all cylinders.
Full Tune up - Plugs (correctly gapped) cap, rotor, wires.
Had Cats checked (not clogged)
Had exhaust leaks patched up
Calculated fuel economy: 37.5mpg average 70/30 (maybe 65/35)

Now the only thing I've done to this car since I've gotten it (1k miles ago) is:

4 new 155/90R13 tires
rear right wheel bearings
TRANSMISSION JOB.

The tranny was replaced beacause of bad synchros in the original tranny. It didn't have 2nd gear and sometimes not 1st. I was able to get a transmisson from a 1995 1.3L metro which I put in. Now I barely drove this car on the bad tranny with the exception of getting it home and I dont remember it being any better then the new one. Meaning, I don think putting in a transmission from a 1.3 is robbing that much power from me.

Any ideas whats going on here??! The engine was replaced at 120K and currently has about 57K on it. The previous owner didn't know the meaning of maintainance. I mean it. NOTHING AT ALL, NOTHING. What could be going on here?

Engine idles pretty good. Drops a little low sometimes and shakes a bit but always starts right up in the morning nice and smooth. Another thing about the idle I've noticed is shifting to N and coasting to a stop it rides a little high...1450 or so and drops below 1K after I finally stop. Dont know if this info helps.

Any tips you guys can provide will be appreciated. I just put a new clutch in this car and I'm really dragging on it because of the increased RPMs I need to get anything out of the car from a stop.


Scott

I assume you have, but since you didn't specifically mention it, have you checked your air filter? If it's clogged, or even if its a poor quality filter that doesn't flow well, it would cause power problems.

I assume you have, but since you didn't specifically mention it, have you checked your air filter? If it's clogged, or even if its a poor quality filter that doesn't flow well, it would cause power problems.

Air Filter looks alright. It's still fairly bright white so I didn't see a reason to replace it in troubleshooting. I did however find oil splashes on the bottom of the filter and a small puddle in the corner of the air filter housing. I figured it was a PCV valve and I replaced it. I never cleaned out the oil as I didn't think it would really matter. it was only about 30-40 drops worth which isn't much, but it was there and still is.

one other thing is the TBI unit was caked in black crud from the oil leaking into the intake for so long. I never cleaned that either because I just assumed the important portions of the TBI was the injector head which was deeper in the carb where it still appeared to be clean.

Are there any air passages around the top I need to be worried about which should be clean?