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#31 of 1693 Timing Advancement by inuvik Jul 23, 1999 (5:39 pm)
Alex Travanti: To advance the timing you will need a timing light. Any old run of the mill timing light will do. Hook the timing light up, one lead goes to positive 12v power source (battery), one lead goes to ground (battery) and the third lead that looks like a large clip goes over cylinder #1 plug wire. No #1 cylinder is the one closest to the pulleys on the engine. Do not unplug the plug wire from the engine. Just clip this big lead around the plug wire. Find your distributor on the engine. You will see on bolt along the side the distributor cap, I believe it is a 12mm. With the engine cool loosen that bolt, do not remove it!!. Re-tighten it barely more than hand tight. Start your engine and let it warm up. Once it has reached normal temp turn off all accessories (fan, headlights, a/c) and continue to let idle. With the engine running point the timing gun at the bottom pulley and squeeze the trigger. The timing light will begin to flash in conjunction with the spark going to the #1 cylinder. A mark will be visible on this pulley while the gun is strobing. Loosen the distributor bolt again so that you are able to twist the distributor with a small amount of force. The distributor should not be floppy loose. It should be loose enough that in order to twist it there is a small amount of resistance to overcome. With the engine still running squeeze the strob light trigger and point it at the bottom pulley. A mark will appear on the the pulley everytime the timing light strobes. You will also see a metal tag or some other indicator that usually has a range of numbers. Usually from 0-15 with graduated marks in between. Whatever number the mark on the pulley matches up to while the engine is running is your degree of timing advancement. So if the mark is aligned with 0 then your timing is Top Dead Center (TDC). If your mark is aligned with the 2 then your timing is 2 degrees Before Top Dead Center (BTDC) and so forth. If the number is aligned with a negative number -2 then your timing is After Top Dead Center (ATDC). While continuing to squeeze the timing light twist the distributor cap ever so slightly clockwise. You will notice that the mark will move in relation to the numbers. Keep twisting the distributor while checking the timing. So if you started with +2 continue until you are at +7. Or if it was 0 you should continue until you are at +5. You should notice a increase in idle speed. This is normal. Tighten the distributor bolt (not too tight, they really don't have to be that tight) and drive around. You should notice a increase in power and more eagerness to rev. If the engine is pinging (spark knock) when you accelerate or driving then you have only a couple of choices. You must either run higher octane fuel, reduce the timing advancement (smaller number), or install colder range spark plugs. If your engine is pinging you MUST make changes so that is does not. Spark knock will destroy a engine if it is severe enough. It will burn holes right through pistons. So it will require a small amount of experimentation on your part to find what timing setting is best for your engine. For example on my metro it is set at +12 degrees. But I also run 91 Octane and spark plugs that are 2 heat ranges colder than standard. You should find that your mileage will improve, your performance should improve. I know that this is kind of a wordy reply but it is important to do this carefully. If you find that there is no benefit or the engine just pings all of the time no matter how little you advance the timing, just set it back to your orignal setting and you're no worse for the wear. But I've never seen a engine yet that won't take +5 advancement from factory settings. You have to remember that they are set from the factory to run on the lowest grade fuel possible and then detuned slightly. So try it, or have a friend help with you. It won't take that long once you've done it once. Less than a minute once your figure it out. Hope this helps: Inuvik
#32 of 1693 Bad Timing by occupant1 Jul 29, 1999 (3:27 am)
Hmm...that won't work, man. The distributor on my '95 is on the end of the camshaft (that's where the plug wires come out of) and the coil is on the firewall. The timing is non-adjustable (see the label underhood and I asked my mechanic too) and computer controlled. This car has what is known as DIS. Distributorless Ignition System. That "distributor" is merely a big coil pack for distributing the ignition spark. If you advance the timing by say, turning the camshaft afew degrees, the computer will not advance timing AT ALL under any circumstances and most likely the engine won't even start or will run very poorly.
#33 of 1693 Timing by inuvik Jul 29, 1999 (6:17 am)
You are absolutely correct, I wasn't aware when or if Geo went to distributerless ignition. You are also correct that there really isn't much of anything you can do to it. All I know is that my 1989 Geo still has a distributor. My guess is that the change was probably made sometime around 1994. My fault for not qualifying the information that I posted.
#34 of 1693 Geo Performance Parts by inuvik Aug 06, 1999 (1:52 am)
Has anyone seen anything on the internet for Metro performance parts. I am in the process of retiring my '89 Metro with a '90 Metro. Since my '89 will be a spare I thought it would be a blast to goof around with it and try to squeeze some extra ponies out of the 1.0 liter. Nitrous anyone?
#35 of 1693 Alex Travanti by alext Aug 06, 1999 (6:51 pm)
Hey, I'm looking myself. Unfortunately there's not much. The Suzuki Swift GT/GTi, which is basically a geo metro with a 1.3L twin cam, does have a number of performance parts, but I guess no company is willing to sell parts for such a small engine as the one litre since most people who drive them have speed as the last thing on their minds. The best you can do is a get a K&N air filter, a heavier-flow muffler and exhaust tip or try the timing fix from a few posts back (since it is a '90, as we have now determined to not have DIS). You might be able to pull 70 hp out of the metro if you're lucky. I really don't think it could handle NOS...but heck, you don't have much to lose if it blows up!
#36 of 1693 Lemme try again by occupant1 Aug 06, 1999 (11:54 pm)
They scribbled my post so since I don't know what that means, I'll type it again. A local speed shop which caters to...hmm...how shall I put this...young males with nothing better to do with $15K then spend it on a 10-year-old Civic Si...has parts for Geo Metros and Suzuki Swifts. But the throttle bodies and other parts they have fit only the Twin Cam 1.3L engine. Which means you must have a 1998 or newer 4-cylinder LSi Metro or a Swift to use them. I think a 1996-1999 Taurus SHO spolier would look good on the top of the hatchback. I also know 175/70R13 tires fit fine, and larger 185/65R14 tires should also fit if you get 14" wheels. My favorite (on the Tire Rack) is the Borbet Type M. I like the look of doubled 5-spokes. You can get a 2.5" exhaust made for your car with one of those Maxwell House sized chrome tips. You could get your car lowered 1-2" for a...um...dare I say "aggressive" stance? Thanks Maureen, I feel more creative now.
#37 of 1693 carlady by mzn Aug 07, 1999 (10:11 pm)
Thank you very much, occupant1! carlady/host
#38 of 1693 fan wouldn't turn on. by romicva Aug 08, 1999 (7:09 pm)
Help! My Geo Metro91 started to give me troubles. Can't use AC 'cause fan stopped working. (I leave in VA). Checked power on the connector that goes into the blower motor - nothing is there. Checked all fuses that could find - all are fine. For some reason there's no power on the motor when tirn the fan on. Maybe some relay is dead. Any ideas will be welcomed. Thank you all in advance.
#39 of 1693 Geo Performance by inuvik Aug 09, 1999 (4:48 am)
I found a interesting company that converts geo metro motors to aircraft motors for ultralights. They have a bunch of different HP version and claim 85+HP in their turbo model. They also offer parts for the do it your selfer. http://www.raven-rotor.com/html/ultralight.html Take a look. I'm interested in the headers right off the bat.
#40 of 1693 racing fuel? by aboltman Aug 11, 1999 (3:22 am)
would the 3cyl engine stay together if i put sunoco racing fuel in it? There's a station in my hometown (next to the racetrack) that sells it. It's quitea bargain at only $4/gallon.

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