1999 Chevy Metro 1.0L 5spd ecomodding thread

[Daox]

HLR100 is the part number for the Duplicolor kit. Its $15 on Amazon.

[willie@eco]

Just spent a few hours reading this entire thing! Ive always wanted a Metro, maybe this year i'll own one. Just got into this whole hypermile thing last year, hast been so good. Sold my 92 Civic LX which was the car i wanted to start ecomodding, but ended up with a 94 Geo Prizm Lsi 1.8L 4 speed auto and it SUCKS on mpgs lol, 200 miles per tank on good days.. Ur MPG figures are out standing fella! Im very impressed! Hope u dont sell it and u end up keeping her and making her better. imho

[Daox]

Thanks for the kind words Willie. It is a good car, just a lot of issues from previous owner neglect I think. Nothing that isn't fixable, and it isn't even expensive to fix, but its all time consuming.

This morning was the first morning I used the block heater... all I can say is WOW, 1000W is nice! I plugged it in for about 15 minutes before I left thinking I wouldn't get a ton of heat out of it, but it was better than nothing. By the time I was out of the driveway, my scangauge said my coolant was at 80F, and it was 20F outside.

Yesterday's conditions were about identical to today's. It was 20F out, I went out and scraped the car. I then jumped in, fired it up and went on my way. However, on my way my windshield started to re-fog up on the outside. This is unfortunately fairly common for me. I then had to pull over and scrape the windshield again (engine and defroster running). For half the 7 mile trip to work, I had the defroster on the windshield to warm it up and keep it fully cleared. The rest of the time I had the heat blasting on full to keep me warm. I think I got about 45 mpg.

Today was completely different. I went out and plugged in the block heater (its not on a timer or remote... yet), went back in and grabbed some breakfast. Then I went out and scraped the windows, unplugged and fired it up and off I went. The windshield did start fogging up, but at that point I turned on the defroster and I was able to keep going. I got cabin heat way sooner and didn't need to have the fan blasting the whole way to work. This also meant I was able to do a good amount more engine off coasting which obviously helped get me 53 mpg in to work today. Love it so far, and thats with only 15 minutes of preheat!

[Baltothewolf]

Nvm I see it, and I think I'll get the 1500w unit. I like overkill. heheheheh

[Daox]

I thought about the 1500W heater too. I decided against it when I learned that a 15A 110V outlet is only really rated for 1380W continuous draw (80% of the breaker rating). At some point would like to run a couple other things off the 110V plug in, so I need some overhead too though.

I also felt the coolant hose coming out of the heater this morning, and it was HOT. I'll have to get my IR temp gun and get a reading off of it just for giggles. If I was going to a higher wattage heater, I'd definitely try to mount the heater in a better position for better natural convection. Its too far off to the side right now IMO, but it was easy to install there.

The other option that I'm pursuing is an electric water pump which would circulate the coolant while the heater is plugged in. I need my garage back to finish up that project though.

[pletby]

Sure is nice isn't it? I can sure tell the difference too. The only problem I see is I have to give up my interior car warmer for now as together they draw more than that circuit can handle. I'm ok with that but my Wife is the daily commuter at the moment. I'm still mostly out of commission. She likes getting into a nice warm car with soft seats. I might have to switch back to the regular block heater unless I'm going to drive. Happy Wife...

[pletby]

Oh I'd be super interested to see how the pump turns out. Would it be possible to run the blower fan on low to pre warm the cabin without cooling the engine too much? Might solve the interior warmer issue.
I have a large deep cycle battery so blower fan could run for a while no problem.

[Daox]

That is absolutely possible. I'd definitely like to get it that far, but I can honestly say that that is a ways off.

[Baltothewolf]

Power isn't an issue for me, the garage has a outlet for a dryer, and my little bro (electrician) wired up something that gives me 3 20A 110v outlets off that plug so yea.

[Daox]

Cool, you're all set then.