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Smart Roadster - The poo brown go-kart.


SiC

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  • 1 month later...

The other day, I had a Groupon offer pop up on my phone for a aircon regas at my local Mr Clutch fast fit centre. For £32 I thought it was worth a shot to see if this will actually take any gas. As these cars are notorious for cracking their aircon pipes at the compressor, I wasn't expecting much...

 

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Not only did it take a vacuum, it still had over 200g of gas left still in the system! A very much perfectly fine. After a 5 minute run, the vent temperature was already 8C, despite being 23C outside. 600 odd grams of gas is also an awful lot. I guess because the system stretches from one end of the car to the other, there is a lot of pipework.

 

I'm pretty chuffed it managed this. Not totally essential in a soft-top, but really, really nice when stuck in traffic in a city on a baking hot day.

 

I've done around 900 miles since having it, so still not done loads - but then its only supposed to be a fun car that I take out occasionally and have a blast in. Being so small, its super great for getting around the city mind. You can weave in and out, squidge between gaps that other cars can't go and have great fun blasting around in it. 

 

Its also one of the few cars that people look at. I'm not sure if its admiration or just trying to figure out what car it is. So very different and distinctive against so many other bland modern things out there.

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Since I've had this, the interior fan has never been able to run on fan speed 4. This is commonly caused by the switch contacts being dirty. The official way to get to the switch is to pull the dash completely out. However the very useful evilution guide says that its possible to get to by taking the instruments out.

 

So after attacking bits of trim with a torx T10...

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You can just see the white fan switch connector in the middle of this picture behind the steering column.

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After scraping my hands to bits I managed to free the switch.

 

Unfortantly the reason the fan didn't work on speed 4 became clear.

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Bugger. :(

 

The remains of the burnt connector were stuck down in the switch housing. I did try to scrap the contacts clean on the connector and also gave the fan switch contacts a rub down in the hope it might make some difference. Its usually these contacts that cause the problem when they oxides up.

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As the connector burning is a fairly common problem, it is possible to get replacement looms from Mercedes/Smart. Handily there is a dealer up in Newcastle who sells all this stuff direct on eBay. So after relieving £18 from my wallet, I ordered this - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131672836837

 

It seems a lot for a connector and some wire, but I guess its not too bad considering 1) its German, 2) its a genuine part and 3) its available in stock.

 

Looks like some more hand scraping action will be needed to try and extract the dud connector, so I can splice on a replacement loom and terminals...

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Guest Hooli

Are there any electrics that work on these? it's beginning to look like a goona2 that's shrunk in the wash...

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Well they do suffer similar problems. Water ingress in the body computer (I've sealed the main source of leak on this), chaffed wiring in the engine bay (which I fixed and was causing the gear fault originally), dirty connectors, burnt connectors, etc. However most of it is well known now and relatively easy to get to most.

 

Unlike the Laguna, at least its fun to drive! 

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Guest Hooli

LOL, they do look fun. Only modern I've seen that is nearly as small as a Midget & those are the perfect size for driving around sideways in...

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They're surprisingly hard to get the back out on! Or I haven't had the guts yet to push hard enough to get it to. There is a bit of reputation that when they loose grip, it can happen all very suddenly. However its suspected a lot of that is due to the factory tyres weren't that good.

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I think it was Bridgestone tyres that the roadster got fitted with from the factory as standard and it was supposed to be the best quality bit of rubber on the car as you couldn't wear the tyres out and people would joke that it was a shame that the seals wasn't made of the same stuff.

 

But I think it was due to the weight of the little smart though that the tyres lasted so long but I must say I never had any trouble with the handling or grip on the car but maybe I just didn't drive it hard into the bends but I've lost my Z3 in the wet in ford capri style on its mismatched rubber.

 

My mate had a Brabus coupe exclusive and scared the life out of me in it and he hit a nasty 90 degree bend at over 60 just to prove that if you get in trouble the computers will take over and get you out the other side ok and I'm sure it was that and not his driving talent that saved the day but his car did have the large bendy Brabus wheels on but he changed to standard wheels at a later date as he was fed up with having to replace them or getting them repaired due to running over potholes or cigarette packets but they did look nice when they were round.

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The Spikeline wheels on mine are my favourite and actually was something I was looking for on one! I'm not a fan of the brabus monoblocks tbh and they're obviously not the strongest either. The rears that I replaced where date coded as original to the car - even after nearly 100k.

 

Mines currently sporting 4 brand new Goodyear F1s, so plenty of grip now. Just need to get that tracking sorted.

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Taken it into garage this afternoon to get the wheel alignment done. A rather nice P6 V8 is sitting outside too.

 

Irritatingly the smart has rewarded me on the drive to the garage by not boosting at all. Boosted fine on the way in. Suspecting boost control valve may have heatsoaked and died. Ffs :(

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Well that'll explain the lack of boost. Nice easy one this time.

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A quick run down to the local independent motor factors for some overpriced e clips. Still, at least 6 quid is funding local business and is far cheaper than paying someone to fix it.

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Then 5 minutes of faffing around under the car trying to avoid the hot exhaust.

 

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Fixed! Boosts back. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Changed the thermostat in the Smart yesterday. My god was that hard work. Hardest bit was trying to get the pipes back on and the replacement jubilee clips done up. Internet says should drop one side of the engine to do it. I didn't but kinda wished I did. Managed to get more room by removing the intake manifold and injector assembly.

 

No pictures as most of it involved swearing. Oh and I dropped a wrench which fell down the back of the engine bay behind the alternator. Que 45 minutes of reaching around underneath to try and retrieve it.

 

The reward was the satisfaction of having the temperature gauge sit at 90C now - instead of 80C to 95C before. The old one worked ok (in that it didn't overheat or overcool) but was lazy in its operation. Original part was date coded 2003, so original to the car. Glad I took internet advice and bought genuine, as I don't want to be doing that job again!

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Finally got the 4th fan speed working. Interesting reason on this. Turns out that the wiring becomes burnt/damaged over time from dirty connections. Official fix is a replacement section to the wiring loom. It's £20 for an official part from a Mercedes dealer which is quite reasonable as these things go.

 

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After a bit of wrangling of the connector, I managed to get it down to the drivers footwell area. Usually I'd solder these type of things, but as the loom and working area was pretty tight I decided to crimp. To be honest, crimping actually makes a better contact - especially for high current and automotive joints. Most important thing is using a decent crimp tool that puts enough pressure on the contact to crush it properly but not too much that it damages the metal. NASA actually specify in their ground and flight equipment to crimp connections rather than solder. Wires at the solder joints can work harden and snap through vibration.

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Wasn't a too difficult job, just very tight working area. Satisfying that it now works on all the speeds.

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So as mentioned previously, due to the acquisition of my MGB GT, this has to be up for sale on the wife's orders. Also it's now kinda in the way of my MGB. Once it stops peeing it down outside, I'll give it a quick wash get some better/recent photos. Probably put it up as a separate for sale thread too.

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I love these things, I have been looking to buy one for ages now but never seen one in my price range that isn't millions of miles away or for sale just after my pockets have been emptied by something else. Interesting to read your various fixes of the issues. What do you think to the build quality overall?

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I love these things, I have been looking to buy one for ages now but never seen one in my price range that isn't millions of miles away or for sale just after my pockets have been emptied by something else. Interesting to read your various fixes of the issues. What do you think to the build quality overall?

I don't think they're bad at all to be honest. Yes they do have their issues but don't all cars? Those they have seem to be either from owners neglect or problems that can be sorted. Vast majority of the issues can be fixed cheaply too.

 

For example the engines are putting a lot of power out for their size but then that's why they have 6k oil change intervals. If owners skip them, then it can cause trouble. Also being a turbo small engine need to be run on full synthetic oil - which garages don't always do as they get older. However it's the same basic engine as in the ForTwo Smart, just with upgraded parts as boosted higher. Incidentally it seems the Roadster engines last longer. It's suspected because owners tend to drive them harder and thus don't varnish up inside.

 

Gearboxes themselves seem tough, but the clutch actuator doesn't auto adapt as the clutch wears. This causes crappy changes and kangooring. If serviced at a specialist or main dealer then they should do it every service. Once out of that, they tend not to be done as garages don't know too. However a knock off Delphi DS150e can recalibrate the clutch easily enough though and takes less than a minute. When I did it to this, it transformed the gear change and slow speed handling. Before it was very hard to move forward slowly without jumping and changes were hard + slow. After you can quite easily feather the throttle and it'll slip the clutch as needed to crawl along. Changes became a lot crisper too. Certainly no DSG (similar operation), but I reckon faster than I could change myself.

 

The big bad reputation they got for electrical trouble is the SAM (Body Computer) getting wet. When it gets wet, it corroded and kills it. Like Laguna, et al, the body computer does the lights, indicators, central locking, wipers and engine starting. So when it gets wet or corrodes it goes a bit bonkers. Replacement is around £750 + programming from Mercedes. It basically lives above a container that catches rain water and drains off. Unfortunately the drain can get clogged and the crappy foam seal at the top fail. Daft thing is, an hour of labour and a tube of Tigerseal can solve this problem entirely.

 

So easy to sort, but so many people don't know or don't do it. It was the suspected fault with this when I bought it. Luckily it was perfectly fine (pics somewhere previous on this thread) and the gear change fault was a chaffed wire. Again a common fault but easy to fix. Just most people and garages don't have a clue. I found it on Evilution.com where it showed the part of the loom that chaffs on the intercooler duct. Just moving the cable another way (don't know why Mercedes didn't do this anyway) sorts the problem.

 

Speaking of which Evilution.com is an excellent site and well worth the £10 per year fee to access all the articles. Much better than any Haynes manual. He's also responded quickly to questions I've had too before I tackled stuff.

 

So yeah, they have their issues but they're almost all known now and can be fixed reasonably. Some areas on the engine can be a real pain in the arse with access (like the thermostat), but then most moderns are anyway. Doesn't make it impossible, just makes the job a bit longer. Luckily most fastenings seem decent quality and come off easy enough. When they get to 25+ years old (i.e. classic) and the fixings are worn out, they could be a different case.

 

The only real issue is they let in water, no matter how hard you try. When previously looking and shopping around I didn't find one that was left outside that didn't have water in somewhere - including ones where the seller has said they're leak free. Even Mercedes later admitted that in heavy rain they will all leak. The key thing is to make sure that the SAM doesn't get wet. The rest of the floor is mostly electronics free. Plus regular use and getting the car warm will evaporate any water that has got in. Keeping the rubber seals clean helps massively too.

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He pays top dollar, spends time and money on them and sells at a massive loss.

Can't go wrong.

It is a bad habit this. However to be fair I usually buy cheap but broken. Fix the problems and end up wanting everything sorted so ending up spending far more than I should! Oh well. It keeps me entertained! :D

 

I don't smoke, rarely drink and sit at a desk during the day. So in my spare time I like to fix and fiddle with stuff. :)

 

I probably could get more money by selling on eBay or Gumtree, but I'd rather sell it cheaper here. Not only massively less hassle, which the money lost makes up for that, but I also get to see and find out how they are getting on. Sold 4 cars on here over the year and half or so I've been on here and every sale has been stress free and a pleasure.

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It is a bad habit this. However to be fair I usually buy cheap but broken. Fix the problems and end up wanting everything sorted so ending up spending far more than I should! Oh well. It keeps me entertained! :D

 

I don't smoke, rarely drink and sit at a desk during the day. So in my spare time I like to fix and fiddle with stuff. :)

 

I probably could get more money by selling on eBay or Gumtree, but I'd rather sell it cheaper here. Not only massively less hassle, which the money lost makes up for that, but I also get to see and find out how they are getting on. Sold 4 cars on here over the year and half or so I've been on here and every sale has been stress free and a pleasure.

 

That's what I said in one line.

 

Can't fault you.

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