Hey guys, finally got one! 94 Metro! But got ?s

[GasSavers_Lance]

FINALLY! It's taken me almost 4 months to find a good one. I'll post some pics soon.

I got a 94 that looks to have been well taken care of, for $1300. 136k, stock light green paint (still bright-no accidents), manual, A/C (works good), has modified seats because the 1st owner drove a lot of highway.

There is two cracks/missing chunks in the valance plastics, but I don't care. They're pretty minor.

It was running rough, but I found that the #2 cyl dist cap plug wire connector was heavily corroded. Autozone duralast #9007/$20 smoothed that out.

I am waiting for some Household Welder to dry on the driver's inside door handle because it was rigged without any real artistry/engineering prowess. The assembly appears to me to be of weak design. Is it common for these to break away from their mounts?

Anyway, ?s:

1. Engine light on with some previous owner paperwork that mentioned "EGR" via diagnostic testing-but not replaced. Also, there is a bracket that sits on the top of the engine that has nothing in it. It looks like it would fit something round like the EGRs that I see on eBay. Does/should it? I've got a manual on order. So, I don't have any reference for what goes there right now. It got very low emissions, but isn't the EGR a requisite to pass? Did this guy pull some tricks only to pass now and later I'll be screwed?

2. The car has some side to side roll when turning. I am thinking a sway bar and/or shocks/struts are fatigued. Does it have one (sway bar) and where should I get a good one? The struts in the back are creaking when pulling in and out of drive ways with a sloped curbs. So, I figure they gotta go.

3. Does anyone make an aftermarket rotorless ignition for the Metros?

4. The driver's window sticks pretty good when it gets close the the top of its run. Are the Metro's known for this? Any tricks or fixes? I am thinking some Teflon powder like for locks. If I can find any....

5. Radio display is fairly dim. Is there an adjustment for the brightness?

Thanks for any recommendations you have.

[MetroMPG]

Hey Lance -

Congrats.

I'll answer what I can...

Originally Posted by Lance

driver's inside door handle because it was rigged without any real artistry/engineering prowess. The assembly appears to me to be of weak design. Is it common for these to break away from their mounts?

Yes. (On the Mk 2/3 cars like yours.)

Does it have one (sway bar) and where should I get a good one?

Not 100% certain on this, but I don't think the Metros came stock with sway bars (though you had model differentiation in the US that we didn't have here). My '92 (Blue ForkenSwift) didn't, so I swapped over the front bar and mounting hardware from the '93 Swift (Red ForkenSwift).

The struts in the back are creaking when pulling in and out of drive ways with a sloped curbs. So, I figure they gotta go.

Make sure it's not the springs rubbing in their seats. The Blue Forkenswift does this, and I'm pretty sure that's what it is.

4. The driver's window sticks pretty good when it gets close the the top of its run. Are the Metro's known for this?

Yes. If you take the door apart you may see that the hardware holding the bottom of the glass has slipped out of position. The alignment problem makes it hard to put the window up & down smoothly. If you keep reefing on it, you could bend / break the lift mechanism.

That's all I know about. Maybe others can help with what I missed.

[CoyoteX]

you are stuck with the current ignition on it with the stock computer. I can't even find anything on programming the stock computer. There is nothing I have seen for a DIS setup that works on these 3 cyl engines. I am eventually going to go to a megasquirt based computer on mine and will try and get a coil on plug setup working somehow. Easiest thing is to get the pins on the distributor cap bent in as close as possible to the rotor without touching and it will last a lot longer. An MSD ignition will help from what I have seen people say but I have not gotten around to putting one on my car yet to say for sure if it works or not. The stock ignition is not that bad as long as your cap and rotor are in good shape though.

I would not bother with the sway bar really it adds weight and there are easier ways to make the car handle better. Just cut the springs down so it is sitting near the bump stops then it will handle much better Body can't roll if the suspension is bottomed out.... I cut 1.5 coils off the back and 1.5 off the front. But if you want a sway bar I probably have some laying around here if you are near me and want to get them.

[GasSavers_Lance]

Thanks guys.

MetroMPG: That's actually more of what it sounds like. More like the creaking a rubber bushing would make when fairly new. Maybe the shocks are new. I have been to focused on other probs to check yet.

The door/window appears to be lube related. I just got done using some spray Duralube and it has freed up a good deal. I figure I'll pay via dust and dirt buildup, but I don't know of any other way to get the window to roll up freely. I can't find any Teflon powder any where. I am open to suggestions if any one knows a better way to deal with this issue.

Coyote: I guess I'll have to live with sway. I just thought they were worn and not a characteristic inherent to the model.
Bending the pins on the cap sound interesting. I just checked MSD's website and there is no listing for Geo/Suzuki's. Whom else makes them for these cars?

What about K&Ns and headers guys? Would I see much benefit should I buy either of them?

Thanks again. Now I got to go to Home Depot, for some a nut and bolt to get this door handle to work. The glue I used is taking too long to cure. Arghh.

[skewbe]

Metrompgs website is a must visit. He's tried all kinds of stuff and been kind enough to write it down.

[CoyoteX]

I have an extra MSD 6AL I plan on putting on my car when the weather gets a bit nicer. I think just a MSD 5 or 6A would be fine, no real need for the rev limiter in the 6AL. I have heard of different reports of needing a tach adapter for the car to make it work properly but I am not sure so I figure I will hook it up and see what happens before getting a tach adapter.

Lots of people have hooked up aftermarket ignitions so if you look on teamswift there are lots of posts about it.

As far as bending the pins in the dist cap, put 2 layers of masking tape on the pins then bend them in a bit at a time till the rotor scratches the top layer only and you have it about as close as possible without putting a huge amount of effort into it. The extra effort to get it any closer isn't worth it because the cap will last a lot longer than stock with the pins bent in but you won't really gain anything by going closer.

[lovemysan]

I had a metro for about 6 months once. It was realy cheap to drive. Its funny I'd almost forgotten about it. But, about the EGR, when I bought mine the check engine light was on. It was for a clogged EGR, I elected to not repair it and wait. On a long trip I ran it hard for several miles and it healed the SES and the EGR. But if yours is missing then that won't cure it.