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2 Cylinder Metro?; Little Help Please
Topic Started: Apr 22 2014, 10:02 AM (554 Views)
chapel.hill.dave
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Chapel.Hill.Dave
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I just picked up my second metro from an amateur mechanic that rebuilds metros and other small cars. This was his go get parts junker, not well maintained, not rebuilt or anything. It felt more than a little underpowered, but mine was just rebuilt after I got it and it's not under-clocked or retarded at all, so I thought it just wasn't a good comparison to one worn down over time. Driving it home, I felt like I went through the gears really quick and I was in 5th at like 30 mph or maybe even 25. I start poking around when I get home, notice a spark plug wire is lose at the cap, check it out, it's a dead end, part of the wire is missing, so I guess it's running 2 cylinders right now.

So the question is, should I just put new plugs and wires on, start it up, and hope for the best, or did he probably have to manipulate the timing, electrical, and other stuff to get it to run this way, and I'll blow it up by trying to fix it without tweaking a lot of other aspect of the car? I could call him and ask him, but I assume you sell someone a car like this and don't mention it's running on 2 cylinders, then your honesty is in question to begin with.

Thanks for any help, as always, I barely know how to plug in a power cord so electrical stuff generally baffles me.
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Old Man


First thing I would do is a compression check to see how that "dead" cylinder compares with the other two. Take a look at this "How to":
http://geometroforum.com/topic/5015648/1/#new
then make a decision as to whether to pull the head or just do a tune-up.

I would bet that the Exhaust valve is burnt on the "dead" cylinder.
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freegeo
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It wouldn't hurt it any to do a tune up on it. Plugs, wires, cap and rotor. Good Idea to do a compression test on it to see what kind of condition the motor is in internally. If you need help doing those things the guide / how to section has lots of good info.
Edited by freegeo, Apr 22 2014, 10:21 AM.
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geogonfa
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:+1 on the the compression test first, then proceed from there...
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nwgeo


:+1 on compression test 1st.
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Oddmodman


Well honestly it should be really easy to listen to the exhaust and tell if it's running on 2 or 3. Very distinctive. But yes compression test.
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Since1990
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I have read of some people intentionally disabling one cylinder to get better mileage. I suppose it works, but the owner would probably tell you if this were the case.

I would put a plug wire on first, to see if it's just a bad wire. If it still runs bad, pull the plugs and examine/clean/gap, then try again. If the plugs aren't clean, do the compression check.

I don't like to do any more work on a car than I have to, and Metros don't really require much work.
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