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Introduction; Hello from Winnemucca, Nv
Topic Started: Jul 26 2012, 02:15 PM (1,160 Views)
MetroMaiden
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Hi everyone, I'm Lisa and I have a 4 cyl 96 Geo metro sedan with approx. 110,000 that I bought for $500 from my niece. :) She thought it couldn't go past 55 because of her teenage logic, I guess. My husband replaced the rotors, pads, put a new muffler on it, oil/filter change and other cosmetic issues and I love her! She runs great now that her muffler is actually attached to her and the rotors eliminated the shaking while braking. I have been reading a lot of posts trying to learn and you guys are AWESOME! So much help here and that is great because if we can do it ourselves, even better. I have only had the car less than a month but have went on two trips that are 2.5 hrs away and she has done fine. If I stay between 65-70, I averaged about 34 mpg! Yeah!! Well, anyways, taking her on a longer trip this weekend that is 400 miles away, I don't anticipate any problems as this car has been in my husband's family since new but if you were to give any advice on what extra I could bring on this weekend get-a-way, I'd greatly appreciate it! Maybe replacement belts? I don't know, I'm a female, lol. Thank you so much! :)
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idmetro
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Welcome aboard! What you take on a road trip will vary on what skillset you bring and what you might expect to encounter along the way. I usually try to bring the following:

Full size spare tire (I hate donuts...)
Spare fan/alternator belt
small selection of hand tools - pliers, screwdrivers, wrenches 10-17mm
Jug of coolant
Quart(s) of oil (depending on how much you might use along the way)
small tarp - I don't much enjoy laying in the mud...
Roll of duct tape

No doubt others also have things they consider useful and will chime in shortly.
Edited by idmetro, Jul 26 2012, 02:33 PM.
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evmetro


Welcome
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MetroMaiden
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idmetro
Jul 26 2012, 02:33 PM
Welcome aboard! What you take on a road trip will vary on what skillset you bring and what you might expect to encounter along the way. I usually try to bring the following:

Full size spare tire (I hate donuts...)
Spare fan/alternator belt
small selection of hand tools - pliers, screwdrivers, wrenches 10-17mm
Jug of coolant
Quart(s) of oil (depending on how much you might use along the way)
small tarp - I don't much enjoy laying in the mud...
Roll of duct tape

No doubt others also have things they consider useful and will chime in shortly.
Thank you for chiming in, idmetro, and thank you for the welcome! I will be bringing the hubster so we basically have all those except for the belts. I think it is awesome how much cheaper the parts are compared to my other vehicle. I looked at the cost of new tires for the metro and was tickled at the price vs the last set of tires I stuck on my other ride. Cracks me up how much cheaper things are. :)
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MetroMaiden
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evmetro
Jul 26 2012, 03:03 PM
Welcome
Thank you for the welcome! Sweet ride! I wish I had the skills to do that. Looks great!
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Bad Bent
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Facetious Educated Donkey

Welcome to your new forum, MetroMaiden! :coffee

:hmm The rest of a tune-up would be NGK V-power BPR6EY-11 spark plugs, new spark plug wires, a distributor cap and rotor. The pricey cap has brass posts which I really like for longer live and maybe better conductivity. Check your air filter. Some members prefer adding a bottle of Chevron Techron in the gas tank (before your trip) and some of us like Seafoam which you can also use in the oil (before a change) and pour in the Throttle Body: Seafoam Maintenance

Well, 400 miles at 70 mph is 5.7 hours. At 60 mph it's 6.7 so the hour difference might equal 5 mpg :dunno . http://www.mpgforspeed.com/: if you get 34 at 65-70 you'll get ~37.8 at 60 mph. "It's the speed that kills the mpg, basically, as you well know. http://ecomodder.com And maybe Sage Petroleum Products, 3300 W Railroad St., Winn. has non-ethanol gas which should give you better gas mileage, while the average is $3.50 it may cost more at Sage. :dunno

Actually, I would buy a new timing belt and carry it with you. I do. Not to be paranoid but it's a good idea and you can replace the belt some day with the new and use the old as a spare which is what I did.

To really "do it yourselves" there are Service Manuals available on eBay: Two volume, green, buy now starting at $35 I have a set and it's good reading material. :news :lol
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MetroMaiden
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Bad Bent
Jul 26 2012, 05:53 PM
Welcome to your new forum, MetroMaiden! :coffee

:hmm The rest of a tune-up would be NGK V-power BPR6EY-11 spark plugs, new spark plug wires, a distributor cap and rotor. The pricey cap has brass posts which I really like for longer live and maybe better conductivity. Check your air filter. Some members prefer Chevron Techron in the gas tan and some of us like Seafoam which you can also use int the oil and pour in the Throttle Body. Seafoam Maintenance

Well, 400 miles at 70 mph is 5.7 hours. At 60 mph it's 6.7 so the hour difference might equal 5 mpg :dunno . It's the speed that kills the mpg, basically, as you well know. http://ecomodder.com

Actually, I would buy a new timing belt and carry it with you. I do. Not to be paranoid but it's a good idea and you can replace the belt some day with the new and use the old as a spare which is what I did.

To really do it yourselves there are Service Manuals available on eBay: Two volume, green, buy now starting at $35 I have a set and it's good reading material. :news :lol
Thank you for the tips, Bad bent and the welcome! The rest of the tune-up will happen after this trip so hopefully we won't have any problems. We did do the seafoam and I could tell the difference, that was neat, lol.

No hurry on getting there but when I do 75 mph, I go down to 27 mpg. I am hoping after the rest of the tune-up the mpg will go up. What is the typical mpg for the 96 Geo?

So, 2 belts to keep in car? A new timing belt, fan/alternator belt? A service manual would be awesome, thanks for that advice. Youtube and this forum has been fantastic. You guys are so awesome and so forth giving on advice and instructions. :)
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allmountain40
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Welcome aboard.
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Bad Bent
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Facetious Educated Donkey

MetroMaiden
Jul 26 2012, 06:16 PM
No hurry on getting there but when I do 75 mph, I go down to 27 mpg. I am hoping after the rest of the tune-up the mpg will go up. What is the typical mpg for the 96 Geo?

So, 2 belts to keep in car? A new timing belt, fan/alternator belt? A service manual would be awesome, thanks for that advice. Youtube and this forum has been fantastic. You guys are so awesome and so forth giving on advice and instructions. :)
You are welcome.

Well, on the tune-up can you take the distributor cap off and see what the condition of the posts and rotor is? I have taken a small piece of sand paper or nail file and gently scraped off any "corrosion" build-up. It will help with having a clean strong spark. I then hold the cap maybe a foot from me and blow out the cap so it is clean, no moisture. Install it firmly but so it will not crack.

You have a 4 cylinder. If it's a 5 speed manual transmission the Government says 33-39 mpg. You might do 5 mpg better if you have good compression, run the tires at max +3-4 psi and other mods. We have a 3 cylinder with an "econo" cam so my data is useless. :shake :-/

Yeah, 2 belts just in case. But the timing belt is not necessary if you have a newish one. Replacing would require a socket set, loosen the alternator, and remove 2 pulleys and the timing belt cover. Easier with the RF wheel removed And that is moi on long trips. :-/
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MR Bill
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Welcome to GMF
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Woodie
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If your car is an automatic (I suspect it is based upon the mileage you're getting) then you should really keep it to 65 mph. An automatic will get 35 to 40 mpg, a manual 40 - 45, and a manual 3 cylinder 43 - 48.

I'd replace all three belts now, and don't carry crap. They'll last five years or 100K miles with no worries whatsoever.
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bogs
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Duct tape heals all wounds

Welcome here :)

The main problem in answering the question "What is the typical mpg for the xx Geo?" is that there are a lot of variables no one can account for, driver, your area, cars overall condition after 16+ years, etc etc etc.

My car is a '96 4 cyl. 5 spd. sedan, so the following is just my cars returns and what I've noticed. Ymmv.

I've logged a few weeks at the 70+ mph range, mine has never returned less than 38 mpg on my commute. Going slower as BB mentions increases the mpgs, my last few weeks look like this at around 60 mph (the 50 mpg was an anomaly slow moving week) -
Posted Image

Woodie's post above mine is a good general outline for the various engine / transmission combos, but like I said, a lot of other things can affect those numbers.
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evmetro


Pretty neat to see somebody from Winnemucca. I lived there for about a year when I was a kid. Interstate 80 ran right through town back in those days, and we had a five digit phone number since it was such a small town.
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Johnny Mullet
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Fear the Mullet

Welcome to the site! You came to the right place.
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Jittney
Anchorage 92 XFi

Welcome to the forum, MetroMaiden :)
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