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Chevrolet (Geo) Prizm

1443 messages,  Last post on Mar 01, 2013 at 9:56 PM

You are in the Chevrolet (Geo) Prizm Forum.

What is this discussion about? Chevrolet Prizm, Geo Prizm, Sedan

Messages Page 86 of 145

#848 of 1443 Re: Are all Prizm's the same? [squeak6] by cindym1

May 06, 2005 (10:13 am)

Replying to: squeak6 (Mar 06, 2003 9:32 am)
I can't seem to find a separate posting for new messages - I'm a new person at this site, and although I'm pretty comfortable with forums, my screen just isn't showing a posting icon or lettering. So I'm hoping, that even though I'm tagging this on as a reply, someone will read it that will be able to tell me something about this issue.
My daughter was just involved in a head on collision (not at all her fault) while she was traveling 35 miles an hour. Her 1995 Prizm with only 83,000 miles is totalled, and surprisingly, her airbag did not activate at all.
She took a real hit with the steering wheel, and the seat belt did some damage to soft tissue and spine, but she was able to get out of the car under her own power. I'm impressed on how well the Geo Prizm held up in the crash. Her knee did get pushed into the steering column, but overall, for that kind of crash, good safety.
Our concern is really on why the airbag didn't go off. Any feed back would be appreciated. We're having the car towed from the tow yard to the GM/Chevy dealer for inspection and if there is any reason I should know about before I talk to them I'd appreciate any info.
We have two 1995 Prizms and have been really happy with them both. One had the 83000 miles and has been a wonderful car that my daughter was planning on keeping for at least 3 more years. Our other has over 150,000 miles. Maintenance has been preventative only except for replacing a gas tank on the higher mile one when some road junk punctured it. Both have held up great - in fact my daughter's rated excellent in the insurance inspection after the wreck. Anyone who has the bright green prizm will appreciate the fact that the person who hit our car said that she didn't see it:) Even the cop made a joke about that statement.
Thanks for any help or insight into the airbag malfunction? problem,
Cindy

#849 of 1443 Re: How big is the fuel tank? [mcdawgg] by fmz

May 06, 2005 (10:44 am)

Replying to: mcdawgg (May 05, 2005 7:49 am)
Good to know that, i have my old fuel pump replaced 2 weeks ago. i had a brand new one unused sitting at home and go it changed when the distributor shot out.
thanks for all your comments. i'll limit taking the car over 290 then.
 
one more question, i haven't replaced the timing belt, and i dont know when the old owner got it replaced. should i go ahead and replace it? also what other belts shoudl i get replaced
 
thanks

#850 of 1443 Re: Are all Prizm's the same? [cindym1] by pat

May 06, 2005 (11:52 am)

Replying to: cindym1 (May 06, 2005 10:13 am)
Welcome Cindy - I'm glad to hear that your daughter is okay! How frightening.
 
I'll just mention that if you look toward the bottom of the page and you are logged in, you will see the post box. To start a new thread, all you need to do is just put something in the Title box and then put your post in the Message box. Then you hit the Post My Message button and you're in business! After that, you have have 30 minutes in which you can use the Edit or Delete links that show up to the right of the date and time of the post if you want to.
 
Something that many folks - newbies and oldies alike - frequently miss is the Search This Discussion feature on the page bar. I don't know if this will help you, but you can use it to search for previous posts that may have related information in them.
 
There is no question that our style is unique among most message boards - lots of people have a bit of difficulty figuring us out. You'll get the hang of it and in the meantime if I can answer any specific logistical questions just drop me an email.

#851 of 1443 Re: Are all Prizm's the same? [pat] by cindym1

May 06, 2005 (1:32 pm)

Replying to: pat (May 06, 2005 11:52 am)
Thank you. The second time I logged on and scrolled down there was the posting section, so I felt very non-observant. I had just not scrolled down far enough to see that - I thought when I got to the #'s of messages and all that it was the bottom of the page. I'll know better for the future.
 
Until then, do you have any past information on airbag malfunctions or speed of travel that the airbags are suppose to go off on the Prizm and does anyone except for us think that they should have gone off during the crash? I've done some research on this and can only find a recall for the airbag sensor back in 1996. We bought the car used in 2000 and to our knowledge, it had not been in a previous wreck.
 
Some mechanics that I have talked to about this problem say that 35 mph is a borderline speed and the airbag may or may not go off at that speed, some say it most definitely should have gone off at that speed and with enough impact to total the car (the hood is now folded back on to the windshield). So we are getting conflicting reports of what the airbag perimeters are for a Prizm. GMC could not tell me any perimeter information, or any information at all without the inspection being done, which we are arranging to have done. It's tough because we are in Oregon and the car is in Virginia and just last month, when the car was paid off, our daughter got her own insurance, so it's not our place to be dealing with her insurance. Meanwhile, she's struggling at this point to get through the day in as little pain as possible, so we're trying to help her gather what material she needs to deal with the insurance.
 
Any information on the standard and usual operations of airbags would be helpful at this point. No warning light was lit on the dash showing anything malfunctioning before the crash.
 
Thanks for any help,
Cindy

#852 of 1443 About fuel gauge . . . by lilslugga2002

May 07, 2005 (12:15 pm)

I was very worried that I was going to run out of gas on May 5th, but that stupid gauge was so off. It read empty as I arrived at work on the morning of the 5th with ~328.4 miles on the tank. I assumed that from my average miles per gallon from the last couple of tanks I would easily have enough fuel to get me home. My ride to work is around 18 miles each way. Well when I went home of May 5th to fill up, I was amazed. I went 346.4 miles on 10.803 gallons of gas, which turns out to be 32.1 MPG, a full 1.8 standard deviations above my average MPG -- my highest yet! And the funny part was this was mostly city driving. I could have easily put 400 miles on that tank . . . and yet the gauge still read like I had nothing left in the tank. I think it's because my rides have been much longer. Plus the dramatic temperature change and maybe the gas stations have put additives into the fuel for summer purposes (I don't know if this is true). I've shifted to 4,000 RPMs many times, and once or twice to 5,000 RPMs, but geez my car is 12 years old, and the engine bay looks like crap, I can't believe it's performing so well for its age. By the way, this is a 1993 Geo Prizm LSi 5 SPD Manual with a 7A-FE engine that I am talking about.
 
Pictures of the car again (updated some):
 
http://pine.linuxaeolus.com/LS/1993Prizm.jpg
 
http://pine.linuxaeolus.com/LS/Stick.jpg
 
Here's an update of the Fuel Economy table:
 
http://pine.linuxaeolus.com/LS/GasData.jpg

#853 of 1443 01 PRIZM , Engine running Lean problem by endoffile

May 08, 2005 (3:55 pm)

CEL came up yesterday and took it to autozone to get analyzed. they said that engine is running lean after checking the code and said something about oxygen is not getting sufficiently.
 
He advized to get a new ctalytic convertor for the exhaust. I am confused, as I dont know anything about cars. Is this true ? what should I do ?

#854 of 1443 1990 Geo Prizm starting problems by doug15

May 12, 2005 (11:10 am)

1st, last year the ignition barrel was changed out, seem to be fine until about 3mths ago, now almost every time you turn the ign key, either you hear the soleniod click, no start or nothing..hold the key..then it starts, of course other routines are opening the drivers door..thats helped 2-3 times...jiggle the key...if it's the starter how do you get in there to replace it??? can the solenoid be replaced or?????
 
By the ways i was glad to see a lot of confused people asking about gas tank qty and mileage......

#855 of 1443 Re: About fuel gauge . . . [lilslugga2002] by fmz

May 12, 2005 (1:10 pm)

Replying to: lilslugga2002 (May 07, 2005 12:15 pm)
That's pretty good mileage
My car is at 250119 miles right now...the car shakes alot, makes alot of noise, and recently started to feel like it will turn off when i at a stop light with the brakes pressed down on (I usually dont put the car in Parking gear at a stop light)
 
If this one breaks down anytime soon, i'll go to dealer and get a new car.
I do keep up with oil changes and tire rotation. That's about all the maintainense i have done on it
 
Got a new fuel pump, regulator and fuel filter on it last month with new spark plugs and pvc valve...really dont feel like spending so much money on this car anymore even though i like it alot and hope it keeps on going.

#856 of 1443 Is my 93 Geo's engine shot? Please advise by aroman

May 16, 2005 (6:53 pm)

Hi there! We have a 93 Geo Prizm, standard with a little over 123,000 miles. after fueling at a gas station, as we drive away the engine starts knocking. After about 15 minutes we pull over, wait for then engine to cool, check the oil and see that it is low. We pour oil in and while it's not a whole container, when we check the level it reads almost full. Get back in and drive away, the knocking is not as loud or consistent but it is still present. The knocking begins to get louder so we pull over again. When we check the oil again, it reads low. We pour a liter of oil in. As we drive away the knocking continues. We kept driving (because we were FAR away from home with our infant daughter) stopping only for about an hour. At this point, the car begins to stall out. Eventually we got over the bridge but by the end of the night, we just pushed it to a parking spot and left it there. Our mechanic looked at it and said that the engine had no oil in it. They poured a large amount of oil in to it and started it up but of course the knocking was still there. The mechanic suspects a leak though I have never seen any oil where we park. (I suspect that it is burning) He also thinks that the engine is pretty much gone. He suspects the rattling is a bearing or something that's broken off or loose and is rattling around whenever the car is started. We cant afford to pay for the engine to be repaired and it's not worth it. We've only owned the car for 2 months. Any advice would be appreciated. Sincerely, Azul

#857 of 1443 Re: Is my 93 Geo's engine shot? Please advise [aroman] by pat

May 17, 2005 (4:05 am)

Replying to: aroman (May 16, 2005 6:53 pm)
Hi aroman, welcome!
 
You might want to try the Got a Quick, Technical Question? discussion also ... good luck!

Messages Page 86 of 145

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