Ecomodding my winter beater: a unicorn no-rust (*) 2000 Chevrolet Metro 1.0 5-spd

[MetroMPG]

I'm not sure if the wire could be responsible for the other issue, but it's possible. The problems outlined in that thread haven't happened again since I last posted about it there. And I never found a "smoking gun".

When it warms up a bit more, I'll trace the mystery wire to find out where it goes. I'll update both threads when I figure it out.

[MetroMPG]

I've gotten a few P0400 CEL's in the past couple of weeks. I had some earlier in the winter, so removed and cleaned the EGR valve with carb cleaner as best I could.

It came back, so I just swapped everything with the known good parts from the Flea.

It sure idles smoother and runs better at low RPM than it used to!

I busted the wee hose fitting off one of the electro-valve actuator thingers. It may have been cracked all along, so there would have been a very small vacuum leak. Or it's a coincidence and the prob is elsewhere. Who knows!

I'll swap the components back one at a time and see what happens.

[MetroMPG]

As posted in the YKYAEM thread...


Some mystery former-Suzukiclone owner left a bag of car parts in my mailbox...




Cap/rotor/wires, well used. How did they know I recently had trouble with the car when the wires were damp? They also left a new-in-box rotor for the 4-cylinder engine.



I wish they'd also left a note so I knew more about them and when they last had their Suzukiclone.

[MetroMPG]

First fill that's comfortably above the Metro's lifetime average in a few months. Winter's over!

[MetroMPG]

I got a pretty easy 70 MPG US round trip, over 180 km yesterday. 12 C / 54 F.

That's with DWL on the back roads/scenic route, at a cruising target speed of ~75 km/h in order to compare the Metro's MPG against the Prius Prime's ICE-only MPG on the same route at similar speeds.

Outcome: The Prius won, and did it in wet weather vs. dry for the Metro.

The Metro's summer tires are back on (RE92's), plus it recently got a fresh oil change and a cleaned up distributor cap & rotor (electrodes were getting pretty carbon-y). I should check the spark plugs.

[MetroMPG]

2nd best fill with the Metro (basically a tie). 71.5 mpg is decent. And it was a kilotank too: 1035 km (and I still had 5L left - enough for another ~150 km!).

The muffler broke on this tank.

I've never seen this kind of failure before: the inlet flange weld broke. So the inlet pipe is loose and the muffler is sliding free on it. If the hangers broke, the muffler would slide right off and I'd be left with a straight pipe.

It's louder, but not obnoxious. I'm not in a hurry to replace it.

[Shaneajanderson]

Interesting failure mode. My guess would be that the weld was slightly undercut, and/or cooled too quickly causing it to harden, and therefor be more crack prone.

Alas, we may never know.

[MetroMPG]

Brake fluid leak (weeping from a corroded section).

I won't lie: my first thought was, "is it time to sell the Suzukiclone fleet and buy a Mirage??"

I had just run a couple errands where I saw fantasically high fuel economy: 100 mpg (US) round trip in town (deserted streets - every traffic light in my favour, and lots of engine off coasting).

Maybe because I was "driving without brakes" even more than usual!

[Gasoline Fumes]

Cal-Van (or similar) inline flaring tool and nickel-copper brake line. Easy and never rusts!

[Gasoline Fumes]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

[IMG]I won't lie: my first thought was, "is it time to sell the Suzukiclone fleet and buy a Mirage??"!

MetroMPG --> MirageMPG?