LUVTruck.com

I got my wife a metro last year because i wanted to make sure she had a reliable, economical car. But my wife is.... well, she just doesn't THINK sometimes and now I have to fix "a weird noise" that's coming from under the hood.

Turns out she's been running the engine about 2 quarts of oil too low. Now the engine has developed a ticking sound that i couldn't place correctly until i took off the valve cover to find the No. 2 exhaust valve is not contacting the rocker arm like it's supposed to. In short, the valve is sticking slightly open, and the rocker arm is smacking against the valve stem.

I ran some seafoam through the engine to try to free it up, but this has had no effect on the valve in question.
Am i doomed to repeat the past and perform a head rebuild on ANOTHER engine? What problems can i expect to grow with this valve sticking the way it is? any chance i can just smack it loose?

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To the Oquirr hills for awesome thrills! Go-go 4wd, Activate!

Try marvel mystery oil. Ive read and heard lots of good things. No bad that I know of. BITOG type it in and search? I fill the oil filter on my LUV with it before every oil change and use it in my gas. Itll thin your oil just so you know. They been in business since the twenties if they were selling crap well you know

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1980 4x4

yeah, well after speaking with my brother and really thinking about this situation, it looks like a head rebuild might be in order. i'm going to try to clean out the lifters and see if i cant get that valve unstuck. if it does then i will be the happiest MF IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. Other wise, well, there goes my new truck...

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Check the valve spring, it may be broken. Another thing you might try is use a type of pry bar and manually open and close the valve. It might have burned, if it wasn't setting on the seat correctly. A compression test or leak down (hot) will detect that.

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The light at the end of the tunnel, may just be a train coming!

well, i didnt sleep more than a few hours last night. im guessing it's because i went to bed mad, but anyway...
it was a low of 11Deg last night, and this morning was just as cold, but i went out there anyway....


I removed the exhaust rocker rail and took a closer look, and sure enough the no 2 exhaust....uh.....adjuster is stuck. im going to dip it in some brake parts cleaner and see if i cant get it loose.



Is there any way to remove this adjuster? or would i have to replace the entire arm?.

ALSO, just because im a dumbass apparently, im not seeing any lifters on my engine. i was under the impression that the lifters would drive a pushrod to open and close valves, but this engine has OHC. so what gives? anyone care to set me straight? The guys on the metro forum are telling me that it may be a stuck lifter, and looking at the engine of the 1.0L 3cyl engine, THAT engine does indeed have lifters. Strangely enough, Kragen/O'Reilleys lists my engine as having 8. Confusing, :no? econfused

I also checked to see if any of the valves were stuck, but they are all flush. i have yet to put a height on each one, but i dont think they are worn just yet.

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I'm just guessing, but it looks like the lifter is in the rocker and that's what has collapsed on you.

yup. i think thats what it is too, but ill soon find out. im on my way to Checker right now to find out for sure!

thanks guys!

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To the Oquirr hills for awesome thrills! Go-go 4wd, Activate!

It has no lifter, and while you have the rocker assembly off, see if you can push the valve down by hand, if it is bent it won't come up all the way, which will not let the rocker contact it either, but it looks like the rocker assembly may be the culprit, probably seized due to lack of oiling, if this fixes it, you are charmed for sure...

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If you think no one cares, try missing a couple of payments...



FIAA!

SFPP!

In the Mitsubishi world that thing on the rocker that is collapsed is what we call a lifter. They go out all of the time for really no reason. Replace the lifter, blow air through the oil hole in the rocker to make sure its open, expect to replace a few more soon.

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Certified pilots, looking down on people since 1903.

yeah. im going to have to wait though. for all of them at once, it will cost me close to 150 bucks. thats something i dont have right now.

but, yes, i dont know why they call those things lifters. they are more of just constant adjustment contacts.

in theory, its a good idea, since you dont have to adjust them all the time, but then at the same time its a stupid part since it fails so often. think im going to try and find me some adjustable rockers...

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To the Oquirr hills for awesome thrills! Go-go 4wd, Activate!

ok. so i found some lifters at napa, and they were still a bit expensive, but when i was met with the reality of having to share my truck with my wife, I went over right away to pick them up.

Sorry rondog, looks like ill have to push back the trip for about 2 weeks more.

I love my wife, but i will NOT be sharing my truck with her. no way, not no how!

if you are wondering why, it not only has to do with the metro, but with the THREE cars we have had something go wrong with them after she spent any amount of time with them. My Pontiac Grand Prix had transmission problems because she kept shifting all the way into 2nd, and would drive that way to work....on the highway....at 75. She came home and told me that the car had been running high and was smelling weird. she burned the trans fluid...


Our jeep cherokee, she overheated and blew the head gasket. Had to pay almost 1200 to get it fixed.

and the most horrific of them all?

HER 99 toyota corolla had almost 200,000 miles in 5 years. How she managed that, i will never know.
One trip we went on when we were dating, i serviced the car before heading to tucson, and when we got there, the oil pan was DEATH VALLEY BONE DRY!!! in the morning, we found the oil had exited the car in the form of black smoke....all over the rear bumper.


So, yeah, I think i will keep my truck to myself...

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To the Oquirr hills for awesome thrills! Go-go 4wd, Activate!

Your first problem was buying a Geo Metro!!!

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Life is a DRAG RACE!!!
I like my Luv WILD!!!

Sometimes too much to drink isn't enough!!
Kinky is using a feather. Perverted is using the whole chicken.
http://www.wildluvracing.com

yeah, but in reality, it came down to spending 1200 for a metro that i knew was going to be better for her to lear how to drive a manual trans, AND got better gas mileage, or getting her something else that would be more expensive to fix...

Besides, we took it to california not too long ago, and we paid 97 bucks for the gas to go and come back. cheapest vacation ever.


i think i made the right choice

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To the Oquirr hills for awesome thrills! Go-go 4wd, Activate!

Yep they are good on gas. I was just giving you a hard time!! My dad has a Geo Metro and he is always giving me a hard time about riding in the Geo. Being 6'4" I don't really fit to good in the passenger seat. I always tell him I would rather walk then ride in that thing!!!

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Life is a DRAG RACE!!!
I like my Luv WILD!!!

Sometimes too much to drink isn't enough!!
Kinky is using a feather. Perverted is using the whole chicken.
http://www.wildluvracing.com

Just out of curiosity...why not just go to your local boneyard and pick up a decent used head to swap in or use for parts? That's gotta be a little easier on your wallet.

My daughter's first car was a Geo Metro convertible with the 3 banger Suzuki engine. It developed a bad valve... so I went to the local Pick-a-Part junkyard, yanked a decent used head, swapped them, and adjusted my valves all in about 3 hours.

And no...it didn't have much power at all running on only 2 cylinders....lol

You can use http://car-part.com/ to help you find a decent used head for a reasonable price if they don't have one in your local boneyards where you live.

The small block Metro motors are decent motors but i prefer the big block though. 1.0 vs 1.3.

From the pic's the motor is pretty clean inside so you might get away with just the top end fix but just to make your day why was it that low on oil?

I had a Metro with the small block 1.0 and it ran pretty good after i got the cam back in time.

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1978 pro street step/side 455Buick, 4sp,4.11s, 31/18.5s

it happened to be low because my wife didnt ever check the damn oil level.

i know its my job as her husband, but i told her, "you help maintain what you drive"

it's a family rule

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To the Oquirr hills for awesome thrills! Go-go 4wd, Activate!

would this happen to be a XFI geo metro?

or is it newer than 94, i think thats the last XFI year.
http://metroxfi.com/
http://metroxfi.com/2008/01/how-to-identify-a-geo-metro-xfi/

XFI geo have a 53MPG city rating 58 high-way.

the only auto rated higher (that i know of), is the honda insite 70mpg EPA highway, sold 99/06 or so.

as to geo MPG there not all good on gas.
one with a auto trans and the 1.3L I-4 will be hard pressed to get over 33 mpg.
thats a small two door 2,250LB at best auto, getting only 30+mpg

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86trooperT/D 2.2
84 L\B 4x4Diesel LS 2.2
84 S\B 4X4 gas rust bucket 1.9
86 L\B 4X4 gas 5 speed 2.3
the twins, 81 pup and 81 LUV both are diesel 2.2



The Energizer Bunny is trying to keep up, and is starting to gasp for air!!

no, its not an XFI. its a manual 5sp 1.3 4cyl. its really not that bad on gas. when we took our trip to los angeles, we averaged about 40 mpg. on 10 gallons. city averages about 28 or so. sometimes(because my wife is still learning to drive a MT, she only pulls 275 on a tank of gas. either way, its a ok car.

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To the Oquirr hills for awesome thrills! Go-go 4wd, Activate!