1996 Geo Metro Won't Start
Upton OGoode
will turn over, but not start. It was this way when I got it, so I do
not know how it came to be in this condition. It apparently had been
sitting for a few months when I got it, but the previous owner was
unsure of what planet he was on, so any additional information was not
readily available. I did have to replace the starter to get it to
turn over, so I am assuming (worst-case) that the old man probably
tried to jump start the car and at some point may have connected
either the cables or a battery charger incorrectly. I have had it in
a shop for several months, and they are about out of ideas.
The motor will actually try to fire (it gets about 5 pulses to the
coil each time I try to crank it) but will not continue starting or
run. It has good compression on all cylinders and the timing belt is
lined up properly.
At first the shop told me it was a bad ECM, which they replaced, but
now they say that this is not the problem. We've had the replacement
ECM back to the manufacturer and they say it is still good. The shop
has tested and replaced the cam position sensor. They also claim to
have tested all the ignition components and the relays. There
apparently don't seem to be any trouble codes stored in the computer
(again, according to the shop).
The car appears to have the proper ground straps installed. I have
removed the ignition module and swapped it out on an older (95) metro,
but the module seems to be okay. I have also checked the fuel pump
and it seems to be working, although when the hose is disconnected
from the throttle body, the pump will run for a few seconds and then a
relay clicks and the pump shuts off (presumably the fuel pump relay).
The pump seems to run for a longer period of time than the coil gets
spark, so the two don't appear to be directly related. The shop has
indicated that it could possibly be fuel related. Their specific
recommendation was that the fuel injector would be bad from sitting,
but it seems to work as long as there are pulses to the coil.
There had been some sort of alarm or remote starter installed at one
time, but it has been removed. I am assuming it was probably an
alarm, given it has a 5-speed tranny. The only evidence I could find
was a spliced wire going from the fuse panel to the starter. Neither
the shop nor I could find any other wires either spliced, disconnected
or broken. Again, they claim to have gone through the wiring harness
before reinstalling the ECM in order to eliminate what may have
damaged the ECM (when this was the assumption).
Apparently the next step will be to go back through the diagnosis of
each component separately, followed by replacement of all the
components up to and including the harness. At this point, if anyone
has specific knowledge about the fuel injection system and how it
would affect the ignition system, or any other info that I may have
overlooked it would be appreciated.
Stan Weiss
to tell if it was fuel or ignition. Mine wanted to run on the fluid. I
then remove the fuel line to the pressure regulator to check fuel
pressure, it was fine. So I checked power to the injector with a NOID
light and replace the ECM. 2 1/2 years later and still running.
Stan
CURLY
> I have a 1996 Geo Metro with the 3 cylinder and 5-speed. The engine
>
pointing out whether you have a fuel or ignition problem. Do you have
spark? Do you always have spark, or does it come and go? How fresh is
the fuel in the tank? I just repaired a hard/no start by changing the
fuel.
Good luck.
Fred
sensor has failed open. Perhaps this is similar; also look for crank
and or cam position sensors. They will prevent the car from starting
as well, but they tend to set a DTC on the dash.
CURL...@YAHOO.COM (CURLY) wrote in message news:<4d1cb886.0401...@posting.google.com>...