Metro running rough
bigredmetro
12-05-2007, 10:38 PM
Got a 93 metro 1.0 3 cyl. 120K Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'll try to explain my problems fully.
Problem 1:
I was changing the oil the other day and while the front tires were jacked up off the ground the tires were spinning slowly while the car was in nuetral with parking brake on. For the past couple days the metro has been running real rough at idle. Today I noticed that if I'm sitting at a light with the brake depressed (and clutch) the engine idles rough and seems bogged down like its about to die. When I let up on the brake the idle gets smoother. The car it not rolling forward though. So it seems as if the clutch is grabbing. What could be causing this. Anything I need to adjust. I put the clutch in about 40k ago. Haven't had a problem with it until know. The car runs fine once I take off.
Problem 2:
Blue smoke. Alot at idle. If I'm sitting at idle it smokes alot and when i take off its a pretty big cloud. Its not consistent though. Did a compression test last week. Results: All 3 cylinders are around 165-170 dry and 220 wet. From reading other posts, it seems the the rings are bad. It's burning a quart of every couple hundred miles. I used some Restore oil additive and didn't help. Actually started running worse. Is it time for a rebuild or JDM? There is no water in oil.
What Iv'e done: Plugs, wires, air filter, PCV valve
Any suggestion on what look at. From reading posts on here, I trust yall's knowledge and wisdom on metros. I love my metro and have put about 70k on it in the past 2 years. Just want to keep it running. Thanks for your help!
Problem 1:
I was changing the oil the other day and while the front tires were jacked up off the ground the tires were spinning slowly while the car was in nuetral with parking brake on. For the past couple days the metro has been running real rough at idle. Today I noticed that if I'm sitting at a light with the brake depressed (and clutch) the engine idles rough and seems bogged down like its about to die. When I let up on the brake the idle gets smoother. The car it not rolling forward though. So it seems as if the clutch is grabbing. What could be causing this. Anything I need to adjust. I put the clutch in about 40k ago. Haven't had a problem with it until know. The car runs fine once I take off.
Problem 2:
Blue smoke. Alot at idle. If I'm sitting at idle it smokes alot and when i take off its a pretty big cloud. Its not consistent though. Did a compression test last week. Results: All 3 cylinders are around 165-170 dry and 220 wet. From reading other posts, it seems the the rings are bad. It's burning a quart of every couple hundred miles. I used some Restore oil additive and didn't help. Actually started running worse. Is it time for a rebuild or JDM? There is no water in oil.
What Iv'e done: Plugs, wires, air filter, PCV valve
Any suggestion on what look at. From reading posts on here, I trust yall's knowledge and wisdom on metros. I love my metro and have put about 70k on it in the past 2 years. Just want to keep it running. Thanks for your help!
leonbentz
12-06-2007, 06:29 AM
If you idle rough with the brake on, then you might have a vacuum leak in the power brake booster. Spray WD-40 on the air hoses and around the booster, to see if the idle changes.
As far as oil burning, check your PCV, which would be found on the top, center of your intake manifold. Make sure it's clean inside and free. If that doesn't help, then you could have bad rings or valve seals.
The 1.0 compression should be around 199 pounds per hole, when they're in newer condition. The compression you're getting isn't too bad, but it is low for an engine with 120k on it. Mine was showing 184 - 194 with 207,000 miles on it. I pulled it down and the ring end gap was still .015.
I guess the only way you could really tell, is if you pulled the head.
Worst case scenario, if your cylinders look good and don't show much wear, then you may get by good with a remanufactured head. I bought one for only a couple hundred bucks. The bottom ends in these things seem to hold up pretty good, but the top ends have a couple issues. A lot of people have found that if you run oil that's heavier than 30W, then the lifters can't work correctly and they tend to burn valves. Mine is high miles that had an easy life, fortunately, but I have heard of a lot of people loosing a valve or two.
Good luck, I hope this helps.
As far as oil burning, check your PCV, which would be found on the top, center of your intake manifold. Make sure it's clean inside and free. If that doesn't help, then you could have bad rings or valve seals.
The 1.0 compression should be around 199 pounds per hole, when they're in newer condition. The compression you're getting isn't too bad, but it is low for an engine with 120k on it. Mine was showing 184 - 194 with 207,000 miles on it. I pulled it down and the ring end gap was still .015.
I guess the only way you could really tell, is if you pulled the head.
Worst case scenario, if your cylinders look good and don't show much wear, then you may get by good with a remanufactured head. I bought one for only a couple hundred bucks. The bottom ends in these things seem to hold up pretty good, but the top ends have a couple issues. A lot of people have found that if you run oil that's heavier than 30W, then the lifters can't work correctly and they tend to burn valves. Mine is high miles that had an easy life, fortunately, but I have heard of a lot of people loosing a valve or two.
Good luck, I hope this helps.
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