Is it a bad idea to drive too fast?

[elionwyr]

I just purchased a '95 Geo Metro LSi, and am about to try to fix the non-functional blower motor (or try to).

I have a few questions..

* I read on Car Talk that driving at speeds of 75mph for extended periods of time can be hard on the motor of these cars. Is that true?

* My hood currently takes two people to open it - one to pull the lever by the driver's seat, and the other to actually open the hood. I can't see any evidence of a spring mechanism. Is this a normal problem? Were these hoods designed with no spring, or is this a gotta-get-it-repaired?

* The car has about 128K miles on it. What maintenance do I want to look out for?

* Also, I have a 'check engine' light that won't turn off. Fluids all look fine. Any ideas as to what I might be missing?

Thanks in advance..!

[popup]

On the 95 Metros you can read the code by putting a spare fuse in to a test location then watch the blink/pause pattern of the check engine light. You then look up the code in a table and you know what the problem is. That's about the best description I can give you from memory. The whole process is described in the Haynes manual I have at home. You can clear the code by removing the fuse for the tail lights for a few moments.

[popup]

I have not had the hood problem but a friend of mine did on his 1993 Metro. He said he resolved the issue with some WD40. So I would say it could be a cleaning and lubrication item.

[popup]

I did the heater/AC blower switch repair with a zip-tie yesterday, it worked like a charm! You need a 10 inch zip tie. On my 94 there were three little screws holding the trim piece on plus three clips at the top. Get down low and look up to see the screws. Make sure that you point the vents down before replacing the trim. My friend warned me to do that and I didn't and I had to take it all apart again. Remove the two screws holding the AC controls in place. push the left side back into the dashboard a bit and pull the other corner out where you can get to it. Run the zip-tie thru the curved slot then around the switch and pull it real tight.

[crazyinkc]

The hood can be fixed by adjusting the rubber bumpers on the 2 corners on the core support. The hood will pop up from tension caused by the bumpers. Adjust them until they just pop the hood up and the hood is flush with the fenders and lube the latch as suggested by popup. Good advise popup on the vents for the trim bezel but he has an MK4 and the vents are on the dash unlike the MK3 you have which has the vents with the radio/HVAC bezel.