92 geo metro 1.0 won't run

[camarocasanova]

Friend of mine owns this car I am at my wits end...

Ok 92 1.0 5 speed

It barely ran when he brought it to me. Won't start/stay running.

I thought maybe it was in the throttle body at first. So I took it apart and checked it all out, even put in a used injector from the junkyard. Didn't fix it. Then, I thought timing or timing belt problem. I went to replace the timing belt and found the sprocket on the crankshaft was "walking" it had worn a hole in the crank, and destroyed the woodruff key. So I thought that was why it wouldn't run right. Welded the hole, and put in a new woodruff key, sprocket is now as it should be. It was hell trying to figure out the timing belt, I aligned the top sprocket with the mark on the valve cover, and aligned the bottom with the woodruff key straight up since there is no mark on the area behind it. Still won't run or sputters, pops, revs up and down, when it does run. Compression check 120 per cylinder. Cam is ok, distributor is aligned properly with cam/cam sprocket. It has thrown code 21 and 42 according to the computer. I am at my wits end with this car. HELP!

[geozukigti]

If the timing is all right, 120psi per cylinder is a dead engine. Stock is 185psi. Did you check the engine with WOT or idle? Test the compression with WOT for a better compression reading. Is the fuel filter plugged?

[bansheetaz]

Originally Posted by geozukigti

120psi per cylinder is a dead engine. ?

where did you get this figure? 120 is plenty to support combustion. ive seen alot of these cars around 110 that run just fine.

[camarocasanova]

Fuel filter is relatively new...

Car gets fuel and spark-so

[gijimbo007]

Hello,

I use to have a 93 with the 1.0. When I replaced the timing belt there was a mark on the block for the lower pulley and a mark for the upper pulley (camshaft) to line up with. I am going to ask the easily overlooked question. Was the piston on the compression stroke when you were aligning the pulleys? I didn't ask it for a dumb reason. I have simply overlooked the obvious when I had a similar problem.

I personally liked the my Geo with that 1.0L. It took a tremendous beating and kept on running. Laugh at this one. I used my Geo to pull my 79 F250 about 6 miles home when it lost the fuel pump in traffic. Yes it was a funny sight but it worked.

Good Luck,
Jim

[carpenter_jai]

where did you get this figure? 120 is plenty to support combustion. ive seen alot of these cars around 110 that run just fine.

I agree with this. My compresion are all cylinders 125 dry, and 150 wet. Engine runs fine with lot's of power. Only problem is poor gas mileage (36 to 39 MPG, always varying).

You should also search for old threads on getting the right timing mark. This can be tricky since there are ussually two marks on the cam gear.
Jai

[camarocasanova]

Thanks for the replies

Piston was at TDC I used a screwdriver to check it to make sure it was on the compression stroke. I even took off the valve cover to make sure the lifters were in the right place as well as having the distributor rotor in the right place as well.


The only thing I am completely stumped on is there appears to be no timing mark for the bottom sprocket. I used the notch / that looks like that at the top of the cam sprocket lined up with the valve cover notch just like everyone and the book says to do. On the bottom I went straight up with the woodruff key and tried it in several places near where I guessed and still nothing.

This sucks.

[geozukigti]

There's a mark on the oil pump most of the time. I have noticed a lack of markings on some newer aftermarket oil pumps though. Here's a picture of a 1.3 dohc just for reference. It's pretty much the same on a 1.0. In my experience, 150 is decent for a metro engine, but once it's drops to the 120-100 range, you have a lot of idling problems, poor mileage, oil burning, hard starting, and other problems. That low of compression is a good sign the motor is on it's way out. But, just like anything, it could die in a week, or 4 years. Ya never know.