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

[MetroMPG]

When I got the car last year, the check engine light was on. I read/reset the CEL at the time to see how long it would take to come on again... and it didn't.

Until this weekend! When (of course) I was getting ready to take the car in for its e-test.

It came on for p0455 -- EVAP system major leak.



This is the infamous "your gas cap is loose/missing/defective" CEL, so I swapped caps with the known-good one from the Flea and reset the CEL. Hopefully that's it, and not an actual problem with the EVAP plumbing/components.

Now I just have to do a few more drive cycles to see if the light comes on again.

The guys at the e-test facility said GM OBD-II cars are the worst for getting the system montors to return "READY" status (required to pass e-test). They said GM's seem to take a lot more distance/cycles than other makes to self-test its various systems.

[gone-ot]

MetroMPG - My ACTRON™ CP9135 OBDII AutoScanner™ manual says:

Page 3-2: "Pending Codes: These codes are also referred as "continuous monitor" and "maturing codes". An intermittent fault will cause the computer to store a code in memory. If the fault does not occur within 40 warm-up cycles, the code will be cleared from memory. If the fault occurs a specific number of times, the code will mature into a DTC and the MIL will turn on."

[bold red colour emphasis is mine]

[MetroMPG]

Oh my goodness. 40 cycles?

The shop says the car is allowed one "NOT READY" code and will still pass, provided the CEL is not lit. I guess we know which one that will be.

[gone-ot]

This OBD-II info might (?) be helpful (slide 12, page 6 and slide 15, page 8):

http://www.nysada.com/portals/0/webi...nspections.pdf

[MetroMPG]

But I'm sure the EVAP problem is not fixed.

After resetting the CEL and reading the info you provided, I ran the car through multiple drive cycles but prevented the EVAP test from running by keeping the tank topped up.

I was given wrong info earlier: we're permitted TWO monitors in "not ready" status to pass (provided no MIL/CEL is set). The EVAP was one that was not ready; heated O2 sensor was the other. I didn't read up on what conditions the O2 required for self-test.

I will still need to drop the tank at some point and inspect the EVAP plumbing. While the rest of the underbody is really clean, the rats nest on top of the fuel tank looks pretty rusty.

[MetroMPG]

Well, the Metro has been on the road for a week. So far, the mileage is an unimpressive 57 (uncalibrated). Considering the last tank in the Miata was 51, that's extra disappointing!

I've been doing a few things to it, starting with...



... this 5-minute cardboard grille block I slapped on before a highway trip last week.

But what it really needs is a giant air dam / grille block. That's coming soon.

I've also done:

• engine kill switch, on the shifter
• exterior mirrors delete/relocation to inside
• engine/transmission oil change (slightly lower viscosity & synth)
• swapped driver's seat from the Firefly (I padded it for extra comfort!)
• tracked down an annoying buzz/rattle under the car (worn shifter linkage)
• took the driver's front quarter off to push out a sizeable dent that a family member inflicted on it
• started applying this winter's anti-rust spray in the nooks & crannies

My goal before the weather gets too uncomforable...

• lower the car a bit (Metro spring chop!)
• get the air dam on it
• I should really grab the inline coolant heater out of the Firefly too

The car actually came with a remote starter. I'd like to pull it out. Too many clumps of wires under the dashboard.

[Daox]

Ykyaemi:

Originally Posted by metrompg

so far, the mileage is an unimpressive 57...

[MetroMPG]

Well, it's true!

---



Borrowed some coil spring compressors this afternoon. Chop chop!

While I have no ABA testing for lowering the Firefly, just comparing trip-by-trip results showed it made a big difference in combination with the air dam.

While the Flea got purpose made race car springs, I'm hoping to keep the Metro just a little higher and softer.

[MetroMPG]

I chopped:

- 1 coil off the fronts
- 3/4 coil off the rears

This lowered the car 1 inch front & back.

Wasn't hard to do (didn't strip or run into any siezed bolts as I did with the Firefly).

The ride is definitely firmer, and body roll is reduced, but it's perfectly acceptable. If it had a faster steering ratio, the car could be almost sporty.

The ride is no worse than my parents' 2009 Civic Hybrid, for comparison. Definitely more civilized than the ~2 inch drop the Firefly got this summer from the Swift GT race car lowering springs.

[Frank Lee]

Good job! :thummbup:

One thing I noticed when I did it was concrete slabs may look nice and flat but they are wavy and if the car rolled at all you can't duplicate the measurements. Perhaps it doesn't help much but after I discovered that I measured only on the car, say from top of tire to inner fender.