Car Three Banger

russb wa

Member
******OTOTOT******

Fellers, I have an 89 metro 3cyl., really like the
car. It didn't start one wet morning, has
happened bofore, chalked it up to dampness, after
better weather, time, ~fires and tries to start,
but not quite able to run, had been misfiring once
and a while for the past couple or three weeks. I
have been advised it is probably da Ignition
Module.

Cheapest IM on the web so far is $160, expensive.
Did I mention I am cheap?

Can't think of a 3 cyl w/points, but there are
some V6s and I could grind of every other cam lobe
and bingo, 3 cyl. breaker point distributor.
Machine a tang and fab up a bracket, some duck
tape and ...

I will probably go out when it stops raining and
move the thing into the shop, take off the IM and
have it tested.

Any thoughts? Disti fabers?
 
Find an EARLY Saab (1960?) they were 3-bangers but they were also 2-cycle (oil added to the gas) gave the smoothness effect of 6-cylinder engine and had front wheel drive ........Dell
 
Any u-pull-it type junk yards around?? Maybe find another old Metro with parts you need for cheap.

My wife has a 94 3cyl Metro that she is about to run into the ground. She won't get rid of it till it falls apart. Very hard to find parts cars anymore.
 
I can remember about ten years ago when the u pull
yards had lots of stuff and the guys who were smart
were stocking up on the electronic stuff. I was
not. It is sort of picked over now. But yeah,
maybe.
 
Humn, that you mention it, I can remember them two cycle Saab cars. Didn't know they were 3 cylinder too. Some swaps gotta be easier than others, that's for certain.
 
I well remember them from when I was a refueling technician in the late 1960s. I even drove one once after working on the brakes.

Like the Kawasaki triples, they make lots of power for the engine size but did leave a smoke trail.

Dean
 
Thanks Dean. I have not had the car quite that long. I don't think it is the wires, but it isn't unreasonable to change them before getting in much deeper cost wise. It's often the simple things that we over look. Thanks again.
 
Had an air cooled VW. Wouldn't start on wet and cold mornings. It was burnt valves. Check compression.
 
A quick and easy check is to open the hood with the engine running at night and without much ambient light.

If you see light on/around the wires, replace them.

Dean
 
I would replace the distributor cap, rotor, and plug wires. Get good quality parts. I recently (a year or so ago) replaced the wires on my Suzuki Sidekick (same as Geo Tracker), and just in the past month or so started experience a misfire under load, and got worse with hot engine. Found it was arcing of wires - actually it has a large boot which goes through the valve cover, down to the head - was arcing through the large extension between wire and plug. There are a lot of poor quality parts these days. I temporarily fixed with a shrink tube, till I can replace (again), however I am at a bit of a loss on which to get - as you don"t always get what you pay for these days.
 
If it"s the ignition module, generally you can adapt one from another brand that"s cheap and available, like Ford Duraspark, GM HEI or Chrysler (these are the early ones from the "70"s to mid "80"s). They all work about the same-2 wires from the pickup coil in the distributor, a wire for 12 v., and wires to the coil to trigger it. Get wiring diagrams for the Metro and the donor module to see which wires go where. My nephew once had a home-made dune buggy with a Kawasaki 2 stroke triple. I used a Chrysler 5 pin module to replace the dead factory iginition box and it ran great.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top