Geo Metro convertible / Kubota diesel engine conversion (driving!)

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by kimer6

If you like the Metro convertible removable hard top with sun roof.....

I noticed your custom hard top in the first test drive YouTube vid - nice work, man!

[kimer6]

Hey...thank you! Do you know that I caused the price of gas to come down all by myself? Yup, bust my butt to make a 70mpg Diesel Metro when fuel is $5 a gallon, get it running, and then the price goes down to $3.45 a gallon! Need rain? I'll go out and wax the car!

[MetroMPG]

I'd like some warmer weather - please go out & buy a new winter coat or something.

Clearly you've got OPEC on the run! They must be worried that diesel Metro conversions are poised to overtake hybrids in popularity, so they're monkeying with prices to shift the tipping point and stop the pending insanity.

Is that an official MPG result? Is it really 70?

[kimer6]

I put 90 miles on the car yesterday using back roads, freeway, and flat areas. If you want an honest impression of how gutless it really is, drive your Metro and shift at 2100 rpm. That is all of the power you have to play with.

The governor is also something I don't like. At lower engine speeds the engine responds with very little input to the gas pedal. Nice. But in 5th as you approach 65mph at 3600 rpm and and governed engine speed, the gas pedal has to be mashed to the floor at all times.

On mild country roads with low hills it is a pleasure to drive. This diesel loves the 5th gear and 45 to 55 mph. Very little input is needed on the throttle. The engine is quiet, lightly loaded, and and seems like it will run forever on minimal fuel.

First gear is useless above 10mph. Let out the clutch and it is time to shift to 2nd before the governor cuts in. 3rd and 4th are the only gears where it is possible to actually use the gears before somebody starts tailgating. It is interesting to note that you can push the clutch in with the gas pedal to the floor and it NEVER gets above 3600 rpm. So I tried going thru the gears while holding the pedal to the metal....it sounds, feels, acts like an automatic transmission!

OK, I thought I had a Swift transaxle with the taller gearing. Right now I suspect that I don't. Whatever I have is taller than a stock Metro convertible final drive. This engine could certainly use the tallest gears. It is nice to have torque over a broad range.

Black smoke was a huge problem. It came and went at all different operating speeds and loads. Horses at the side of the road started coughing when I went by. I suspect that the injector tips are coked up or worn out. I remember seeing the one exhaust port with a 1/16" thick coating of dry soot.
I even have a catalytic converter installed near the exhaust manifold and it still trails clouds of black smoke. I took the air filter out and it still smoked. I'll swap the injectors from the spare engine and get at the cause of the problem. The soot comes from incomplete combustion due to poor fuel atomization. Injectors!

Lastly, there is no throttle valve in a diesel. The intake manifold goes from air cleaner to intake valves with no restriction.So there is no vacuum to operate the power brakes. I thought I was clever and used the vacuum from the engine mechanical fuel pump suction port (the engine pump is no longer used) to give the power assist about 10 inches of mercury vacuum. Not enough! The brakes are not adequate for normal road driving. I need to add another vacuum source and possibly a storage tank.

Getting back in my stock gas Metro convertible was an amazing transition. It had all the power I could ever want! Keep ya posted....Kim

[tasdrouille]

How's the timing?

[kimer6]

Timing...I don't know. Looks like a small version of the old style Caterpiller pump, part of the block and not removable, done with shims? I need a book!

[tasdrouille]

If the problem is just the injector nozzles you could give Liqui Moly Diesel Purge a shot. Lots of people run it straight at the fuel filter in TDIs to clean sooted injectors.

You can buy it from a TDI community trusted vendor.

[MetroMPG]

Thanks for the detailed update. I remain impressed.

And I completely understand the transition back to the gas car - I just ran errands this morning in the electric, with ~20 peak hp, and more like ~14 usable hp. (I pulled over several times to let cars pass me.)

Might be worth heading over to bennelson's Electro Metro build thread and see what he did for brakes in his EV (electric vac pump - though I'm sure you already have something in mind).

[Johnny Mullet]

I hope you don't mind kimer6, but I posted this on Geo Metro Forum with links to ecomodder and this thread. This is very impressive and I look forward to all updates on this. I applaud your efforts.

[bbjsw10]

Absolutely Awesome, I have had thoughts of doing something like this but in another body with Metro drivetrain. I just don't have the funds right now. Keep us posted and can't wait to see the mileage figures.