rotor speed ?

Hello everyone. Need some advice about my 92 1L A/T. I just got it for 200 bucks from a lady who took a header into a water filled ditch with it. No body damage (the el cheapo bumper didn't even come off:-) She got it back home and tried to start it, of course to no avail. I bought it and drained and flushed the oil and transmission. Both of which had water in them. Someone who attempted to fix it earlier must have put oil in the spark plug holes after taking them out because I siphoned out quite a bit from each of the holes while going over the engine. I refilled all the fluids, installed new spark plugs and replaced the battery. the engine turns over but will not start. I checked the distributor cap and rotor button and it's still good. I made sure the rotor turned proving the timing belt is good. How fast should the rotor button turn when you try to start the car? It didn't seem to be turning that fast when I checked it. I put the battery on the charger last night and will try it tonight after work. Thanks for any suggestions and I really enjoy this forum. You guys gave me the courage to buy this car and fix it myself.

The belt may have lost a few teeth. I would remove the cover and replace the belt anyway. Cheap and easy to do. The 1.0l and 1.3l SOHC's are clearence engines so I would not worry about the valves being bent, but they may be burn't.

Thanks for the reply, I checked the belt and it was brand new (found out today from the lady I bought it from that she had it changed two weeks before her Dukes of Hazard impression). I checked the timing and it's all good. Did a compression check and all 3 ranged from 120-122. I know that is low but the thing should still start right? It is getting fuel, took out the spark plugs and verified its getting spark. It almost starts when the engine turns over but can't quite get there. I'm getting spark but could it be that I'm not getting enough to burn off the fuel. When I take out the spark plugs after trying to start it they are wet with fuel. Should I buy another coil and distributor cap/rotor? Thanks again.

take all the plugs out and crank it over for a bit to dry the cylinders out. buy a new set of plugs and a can of starting fluid. also check inside the distributor cap and make sure its dry. put the new plugs in and give it a shot of starting fluid, should start then. even if the plugs in it now look good they may not be working right if they are wet or carboned up, new ones are only $1.50 each

Also, make sure the spark is bluish/white and not redish/orange. A redish/orange spark is a week spark. How much of the car was submerged in water? I wonder if the computer got wet? I have a spare from a 93 A/T you can buy cheap if you want can't seem to get it to start on its own.

Thanks to both of you. I will do everything you suggested. I tried to start it before going to work and it fired up for about 3 seconds then died. Rechecked the timing belt and it's still good. I suspect maybe bad fuel (water), not much left in the tank.

That was it! Bad fuel! Took out the plugs and cleaned them and removed the air filter before starting. It seems the octane level was so low it needed tons more air to ignite. It couldn't get it with the air filter and cover on. It started with the throttle wide open and smoked like a big dog. I filled the tank with fresh fuel and let it run the rest of the bad fuel out. It idles good and starts right up everytime I try it with the filter and cover on. Thanks to all who replied and helped. The best $200 dollars I ever spent. I commute 100 miles a day to work in a 99 Tahoe which gets 11 miles to the gallon. Add that up! This $200 investment is going to save me over $300 dollars a month in gas alone! Whoever made the decision to discontinue these cars should be dragged into the street and shot. I'll bring the ammo:-)

Glad you got it fixed. I second the notion to cap the fool who dropped the Metro. I own an 04 Aveo and a 95 Metro and I like the Aveo but the Metro has much better gas mileage and less blind spots. I will do the dragging, now we just need someone with a pistol

Why waste the round?
Semper Fi!!! :evillol:

Your right. Bare handed strangulation it is!

Yeah, I love my '95 also..(up to 51mpg, now)...I suppose that burning that guy at the stake would'nt bring back the metro, but wouldn't it be fun to try??? (LOL)