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Time to ecomod the gas hog
Well, unfortunately, my 1998 Metro (The Zimmer in profile) has a major problem with the transmission internally. Some bearings are grinding really bad and I cannot drive it anymore until I find a decent replacement and purchase a new clutch kit. This really saddens me since the car is a 1998 and so far has had a lot of repairs needed since I got it from rebuilding the head, exhaust, brakes, etc and the frame also needs some attention before long and now the transmission is toast :mad:
At least my old reliable Chevy 4X4 (Black Betty in profile) has never let me down in the last 6 years of ownership even with me neglecting repairs :thumbup: I have been busy the last couple days on my truck. I had a set of manifolds given to me from a friend (mine were both cracked) and got a couple donut gaskets and fixed the entire exhaust from manifolds back with 2 1/2" straight pipe and reused my Chery Bomb muffler. I also tuned it up with a fresh oil change, cap, rotor, plugs, wires, fuel filter, etc. The best part was finding a very used hard bed cover at a yard sale Friday for a whopping $20.00 :eek: I started my ecomodding with the above repairs and also............. Removed Trailer Hitch Hyper-inflated tires to 50 PSI Removed weight from behind seats and emptied the bed Installed the bed cover Using driving tips from here Check out the pics..................... http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...lkbetty001.gif http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...lkbetty003.gif http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...lkbetty005.gif I also went and filled the fuel tank today and am going to see if I can improve the MPG from around 10 to 16 or better. The fill-up cost me $92.00 :o Now some of you may say why not just fix the car with the money you blew on the truck. Well, I spent roughly $80.00 on tune-up and exhaust repairs and another $20.00 for the used cover. I did all this in about 10 hours and 15 beers and all of these neglected items on my truck were way overdue. Also, finding a decent trans is not easy for the Metro. There are a few in local scrapyards, but either they have over 200,000 miles on them or asking price is way too much for a $400.00 piece of crap car that I am a little pissed at right now for letting me down. Normally, any beater car that I get goes to the scrapyard when any major issues come up and this car already had one fixed and still has two more issues needing attention, so it can sit where it is until I decide to fix it. I even kicked it today and left a huge dent that was not really intended to be that bad, but yeah, whatever. It was nice driving the old gas hog today. The acceleration was effortless, the automatic transmission was smooth, and the sound emitting from the tail-pipe was pleasing to my ears and less loud than the grinding metal gearbox in the Metro. She is black, sleek, and sexy and lets me pound her all I want without ever a complaint after all the years I have been using her. :confused: |
Bummer about the Metro transmission. Double bummer that the replacements are hard to find/expensive.
If I were you, I would take this as a sign from a politically correct "higher power" to source one from a 1.3L car so you'll benefit from the taller final drive when you get around to fixing, rather than kicking it. :) |
Do you have a real use for a 4x4 pickup? If its just to haul stuff you could always sell it and find a smaller truck/2wd truck. Or even a minivan, you can take the seats out of those and get way better than 10 mpg.
Sell me the metro? |
11 Seems low for a regular cab with a 305. I'm sure you can bring that up. How does the plugs and air filter look? I'd throw a bottle of Chevron Techron fuel treatment into the tank. The 4x4 hurts a little, putting synthetic fluids in the 2 diffs and transfer case during your next maintenance interval might pick up 1mpg which isnt too shabby when you are sitting on 11.
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"and slowly, the oil beast creeps up inside even an ecomodders veins...AAAAHHH!"
Sorry, That's all I could think of while reading about how exhilarating the beast was to drive....:) Too bad about the metro, I bet parts for it are at a premium these days. I'm kind of at the same dillema right now, with the toyota needing welding and exhaust. Looking ever so carefully at the new vehicle option. |
The MPG readings now is because of the major exhaust leak and lack of maintenance and that stuff is all done now, so an increase in my mileage will be substantial since it got about 18MPG when I first got it.
Future mods will include............... Partial Grill-block Synthetic oil in the boxes More weight reduction Sell the Metro? I got the car for next to nothing, but already have over $500.00 invested in repairs and upgrades. I think if the trans and clutch run me another $500.00 then I should be fine until the frame breaks (OMG don't get me going again). I got this car to save me money in gas, but the cost of repairs is making me break even. Not for sale...........................yet ;) |
Looks good. Now what is the cap that you replaced? How about getting rid of that tailgate?
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[QUOTE= She is black, sleek, and sexy and lets me pound her all I want without ever a complaint after all the years I have been using her. :confused:[/QUOTE]
Hmmm.... hmmmm ....( I must be a pervert. );) It's a shame that truck gets such lousy gas mileage. It really looks nice. Ninety two dollars for a fill up ?? gasp !! |
Just with the drive today after all the work I have done, I can actually feel the truck has more power and I can drive with a very light pedal and it will climb hills without kicking down anymore. The biggest reason for my poor fuel mileage was the exhaust leak. There were flames literally coming out of the manifold cracks.
It will take a little less than a week to update my fuel log and I hope the mileage doubles, but I don't expect that much of a gain. |
from time to time I drive either a 2004 chevy 2500 quadrasteer 4wd, or a 2001 f250 powerstroke, and I must say that it is enjoyable for a good 20~30 miles, then it sucks. IMHO but they are overbuilt which is good fore reliability/ durability . .
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Sweet find on the cab cover. Your mileage should go up with the fixer exhaust.
It is nice driving around topless, power on tap and a singing exhaust...... |
i have a 77 p/u and ya its killing us
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You could remove the front axles, differential and drive shaft from that beast. Leave a lot of weight and mechanical drag at home.
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I have an 05 1500 crew cab. Got to have it with 3 kids and thw wife for trips etc. Otherwise it sits in the driveway, sucks its a nice truck and the monthly payment hurts too. I've had 3 diesels in the past, one was chipped and got well over 20MPG...why did I trade it in:confused:dumbass for sure. Should have kept it without a doubt. It sucks knowing you need a truck for hauling stuff. I won't get caught dead in a minivan no way. BUt to give you an idea of how much my truck gets used I traded my 06 2500Hd duramax/allison in on this used 05 1500 Crew cab about 2 months ago and have only put 300miles on it.:D:( happy/sad feeling there folks. Its a ****ty dilema to be in. i think i'm going to buy another metro as a spare to build up or build down hehe
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Please don't choose a 15mpg vehicle and then blame the kids for that choice. Thanks :)
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" lets me pound her all I want"
Kick it like you did the Metro and you'll break a toe. I drove my truck today because, of the two vehicles I have, it gets the better mileage. The Forester is too integrated for me to go disconnecting any drive axles or anything like that. Hey, that truck stands to gain a lot. The tuneup was probably most of what it needed, but the body is just an aero disaster. Spend an afternoon on it and you may find yourself beating the old diesel's best mileage, no sweat. |
i was looking at my same generation chevy , mine is a diesel 1 ton dually crewcab so it's even more of a disaster than yours aerodynamically.. however just looking at it it seemed that with the addition of a areo bed cover or topper and some frontal things like a air damn and some grill block there really not that aerodynamically crippled...
However I get 20mpg with the beast and its next on my list of veggie converted vehicle's. I don't drive it as a daily driver just a tow vehical for our camper. |
I do plan on a partial grille block on the truck. They also make fender skirts that are custom for these trucks, but I don't think I will do all that on my truck. That's what the Metro is for!
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I'll be driving my '99 2wd suburban up your way next week. I have some family in Chesterland and Orwell. I love our Sub on long trips. You can take a weeks worth of gear and still have room to seat five. I have Jet DST and am working on getting the suburban above 25mpg. I can hit 21-22 right now. I know some of the old body style chevys can hit 25 if they are 2wd.
Care to sell the old metro? |
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Sorry, I decided to fix it since I can do it for around $400.00 and I would end up putting that in gas for the truck to drive it for a month, so with expectations of even higher gas prices in the future, I am keeping it no matter what :thumbup: You can read up on the repairs and ecomods on the Metro by reading This thread............ Mullet's Metro Ecomods |
im happy for you're great find on the cap, sux about the metro though. anyhow i really like GM vehicles, i know many instances where they have lasted forever, recently a guy here in wisconsin logged his 1 millionth mile in a chevy pickup, its a delivery vehicle if i remember correct and has needed no major maintenance. it was a really big thing all over the news and i think GM even had a press crew out for the event.
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I know the poster meant well, but if you remove the tailgate you will have more drag, not less. There have been tests to prove it.
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My '95 S10 did great with it down. The truck was lowered 4 up front and five in the rear with lower profile tires. Not one of those crappy lowering kits either. It costs $3600..made it like driving a go-cart. I think the thing is that if you can get air under the truck, you may have problems. The thing I don't understand is that removing it will drop your ET in drag racing. Doesn't this equate to more aerodynamic? I could always tell when mine was up. I read the paper on the wind tunnel with a few current model trucks. I just wish they had taken the wheels off and set them nearly on the ground for some testing. Things may have been much different. |
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