Blown motor, cracked head

[sixkiller00]

Just sold a 91 Metro to a friend of mine and after talking to him tonight it sounds like the motor went. I'd picked up the car used with 75k on it and it ran fine - it now has 89k and I thought I was selling him a pretty good little car.

He said the motor made a bang, there was smoke but he went ahead and pushed it the couple of miles to his house. It didn't have much power and he pegged the temp meter.

When home he topped off the radiator and bubbles were coming up when he ran it. Oil looked just fine.

Anyhow I'm kinda honor bound to get this thing running.

I didn't have much luck looking on line for a used or rebuilt 3 cyl. The motor that's in it is carbureted.

Any suggestions where to look or suggestions other than swapping out the motor would be appreciated. I'm located in W. Washington.

Thanks
Mike

[doug2060]

The 91 does not have a carburetor. It is TBI (Throttle Body Injection - Fuel Injected). This clarification may help you find what you're looking for. Does it still run? If so is it knocking?

[sixkiller00]

I was wondering about that.
I wonder if someone didn't do a swap because it sure looks like a carburetor on this motor to me. I'll look more closely at the online manuals and see if I'm missing something. I know someone did 'something' because the valve cover was resealed with rtv.
I'll be picking the car up on Saturday but according to my friend it still runs. Here's what he says.
Prior to having real trouble the car stalled a half dozen times, over a three day period, while driving it at speeds from 30 - 50 mph. The cel would flash on then off and it would stall. He would restart the car and it would run fine for the rest of the trip.
Five miles from his house he said the motor made a noise and began running rough with no power. He limped home. The cel did not come on at all. The temp guage pegged hot. It was blowing white/gray smoke out the exhaust.
Once home the coolant was low - very little in the reservoir and about two quarts low in the radiator. He topped it off with water and ran it. It ran rough and continued to blow white smoke and he said bubbles were coming up through the radiator.
The oil, new valvoline syn 5-30 was right at the full mark and shows no contamination.
He moved it today and he just told me that it seems to be running just fine!
No bubbling radiator, no smoke.
I'm picking it up tomorrow so I guess I'll see what I can see.
I originally thought it might be a bad valve and only running on two cylinders but I don't see why that would cause it to overheat.

This car belonged to a girl that my wife and I took in after her mother died last year. She's now off at school and doesn't need nor want the car so I sold it for her.
During the 15k miles she put on it when she stayed with us I maintained it for which included rebuilding the steering, struts, oil changes, fuel filter, battery, brakes, tranny filter kit, tires, etc. The body and interior is in very nice condition. Before I sold it I tested the compression and each cylinder was at 175 lbs and didn't bleed off. I thought that was pretty good.
Given the condition of the car and all the stuff I've done to it I just can't see junking it though it is just a $1000 dollar car. Though I think I've spent that much just maintaining it.

[doug2060]

It sounds like a blown head gasket at the moment. Don't push it until you know for sure. Water going into a cylinder will cause the loss of power mentioned.

[cal058]

Mike,
I also live in W. Washington and have a 99 that I am using for a parts car.
It has a 3 cyl. in it and all my others have 4 cly.
I have no need for the motor so if you need some parts, let me know.

Carl

[sixkiller00]

Thanks Carl I'll keep you in mind.
First thing I have to do is figure out if this is a fuel injected or carbureted motor. It is a 1991 and here are a couple of pictures of the motor. I think that's a carburetor behind the valve cover. Does that mean this motor's been swapped or did they build some non injected Metro's in 91?
I drove this quite a ways and it ran fine but now it's got a tick which sounds like a valve to me.
The head gasket is bad. Once the thermostat opens up the radiator would foam and lose coolant through the reservoir. I suspect that's why it eventually overheated for my friend. He didn't bother to check his coolant level everytime he started it... .
Also there was quite a bit of fresh clean oil in on top of that carburetor and in the bottom of the air cleaner housing.
My friend wants to spring for a reman head so I just have to figure out what head to order.

[Woodie83]

That's a throttle body. There was never a carbureted Metro, they're all fuel injected.

[doug2060]

See that little black device hovering over the intake shooting fuel into it... Thats a fuel injector. That oil in the filter housing gets sucked in through the valve cover. It's pretty normal. Just wipe it out if it's excessive. You may want to check out the water pump. They go bad in these things and can also cause the problem. It may have also caused the head gasket to go too.