I have a 1997 Geo Metro and it's a great car. A three cylinder 1.0 L engine that gets around 40mpg. These days with the price of gas, I can't see driving around without my Metro.
The car is old and has had a few problems here and there but nothing major. When I bought the car one of the first things I noticed was that it had no working headlights. It did have parking lights and the daytime running lamps worked. So, it could be driven at nights but the daytime running lamps are not as bright as the functioning head lights. I knew this had to be fixed. I was somewhat lucky in the fact that the previous owner also included a Chilton's book that included the wiring diagram. Fixing the headlights actually took about 5 minutes.
I also noticed I had another problem. The dimmer switch for the lights didn't work either. I could push the switch forward to flash the high beams but that was it.
So here is the fix to repair the headlights on a Geo Metro. You are really in luck since I also took pictures.
Haynes Chevrolet Sprint Geo & Chevrolet Metro 1985-2001 (Haynes Manuals)
From what I read this is a common problems with Geo Metros, yet easy enough to fix.
You will need to be able to get underneath the dash and look up. Right under the steering column. You will need to be able to look up and find the wiring and plug coming down from the steering column. Here, you will find a plug that comes apart. One end goes up your steering column to the light switch and the other end, or other plug goes to your fuse panel or fuse box.
In my case, it was easy to tell I had the right wires due to the plastic plug piece showing a brownish burnt color from the outside of the plug. Here is a picture.
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| See the brownish burn marks indicating we have a bad connection. The left side of the plug goes back to the fuse panel. The right or top of the plug goes up the steering column. |
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| Another view showing where two wires - one for the headlights, the other for the dimmer switch - burned out on my Geo Metro. |
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| A view shwing the location of the plug. Nearly directly under the steering column |
Okay. Now what wires are what. On this 1997 Geo Metro, the headlight switch for what turns on the headlights is a red wire with a white stripe that comes down the steering column into the plug. This then connects to a red wire with a white stripe on the other end of the plug which goes back to the fuse panel.
For the dimmer switch, the wire coming from the switch down the steering column is a white wire with a black stripe that goes into the plug and meets, on the other end of the plug, a brown wire with a white strip that then goes back to the fuse panel.
All I did was clip the corresponding wires and then uses two wire connectors and crimped them on the ends. An easy 5 minute fix. It great having nice, bright functioning headlights again. Here are some more photos that may help with the repair.
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| A closer photo showing the headlight switch wire(red with a white stripe) and the dimmer switch wire(white with a black stripe) coming down from the steering colum. 1997 Geo Metro Stereo Wire Harness Geo Metro 95 96 97 1997 (car radio wiring installation parts)  |
