Jeffbeck

This came out of a 2005 smart fortwo 0.8L diesel CDI engine with 89,000km. Head has been inspected and rebuilt. The valve and valve seats have been resurfaced, and installed with new valve seals. Comes with camshaft, rocker arms, and caps. Thought I would use it on a project car but canceled those plans. $800obo bechven@Hotmail.com

I have come across an interesting problem. Which has proved to be more expensive than I imagined....Back in July, the smart CDI would fire up, run for about 10 seconds then stall out if you didn't keep on the throttle. With the accelerator to the max, the RPM could only get up to 3100. This has been the saga since summer:1. Check Turbo - creates boost ok, boost leak found on intake to sensor line. Replace and reset. Same condition. 2. Check for clogged exhaust, loosen exhaust to muffler bolts, retest. Same condition. 3. Check EGR, found stuck partially open. replace and retest. Same condition. 4. Perform injector balance test... Failed, 2 of the three injector quantities are maxed out in opposite directions. Cleaned and Swapped injectors to see if the quantities follow. Same readings a before the swap. 5. Perform compression and leak down test. Compression at 400,390,420psi (way too high), leakdown 20-35%. 6. Remove intake plenum, tons of carbon build up (1/2 the diameter is coked oil)7. Remove head and inspect. Multiple valves not sealing and look burnt. Tons of carbon build up on head and in piston cups. High evidence of oil aeration and blow by. 8. Remove engine, disassemble, and inspect. Piston secondary compression ring is installed wrong side up on each piston (chamfer up), pistons heavily carbon deposited with burnt oil. 9. Send block out for machining. Replace pistons, rings, pins. Replace cylinder head. Since I am into it now... timing gears, chain, tensioner and sliders, all new orings and gaskets. 10. Install the rebuilt engine, hand crank until oil is pumped through all the oil galleries and turbo. Cycle the key to prime the fuel system and purge all the air by opening up the injector fuel rail lines. Start car, runs for a 5-10 sec then stalls out. 11. Re-purge the fuel system, retest, same result. Check rail pressure 300BAR, ok. Check the injector quantity, will stall out when the system begins to lean out the mixture (only notable on two cylinders). Pull the injectors, 2 of the 3 are wet and 1 is black with carbon but dry. Swap injectors around, same result, but does not follow the cylinder the injectors were swapped with, and is not the same cylinders as before (good numbers on cyl #1, so moved injector to cyl#3... but then #2 shows good numbers!). 12. Spray a little brake clean in the intake and start the car, runs a bit longer. Injection quantity goes to zero, spray more brake clean and it stays running. If I push the accelerator pedal the car revs up (not going to push it too high because of engine needs to be broken in still). Seems to stay running, idles smooth, injector quantity levels out and seems within spec. I shut it off and restart, it stalls out like before. Feel totally lost, not sure what to do or where to start next! Has anyone else had this symptom? Any ideas?

Just installed 3 new injectors and the smart runs great! Who would have thought that there would be 6 bad injectors between 2 smarts!I got the injectors from Fred Holms in Vancouver, BC. Great place to deal with! Raj there said that the Canadian diesel is brutal on the high pressure pump and injectors. He said that I should expect 100-150K before the injectors will need replacement again. He suggested using a fuel conditioner to improve lubricant properties of the fuel.Horay! The problem is solved! Will add pics once I am completely done with the repairs

[Omg! I thought that the metal was from the fuel pump! I have swapped the high pressure pump already. I hope that there is no more bits left in the system! Thanks for the info! Will let you know how it goes

I suspect the same things... I just wish that the injectors were serviceable. I took out the new (known good injector) and replaced with the best looking injectors I had between the 2 cars. I added a lot of cetane booster and the car started and stayed running (like a stuck egr), but struggled to get up to speed. I then filled the tank up with fresh diesel to dilute the boost/cleaner... the car had a severe lack of power within a block (2x worse than a bad egr). Was able to limp it home, and tomorrow I am going to order 3 new injectors.

Thanks for all the ideas . The ECM needs to be coded with the SAM and then with the remote keys. I spoke with Raj and Fred Holmes in BC and he recommended that I replace all injectors because they are very common to all have problems at the same time. I think he is right! I tried the cleaner in the tank and it has gotten better, but the car still runs poorly with very little power. I am surprised that such expensive components are worn out so quickly. Is it typically a 100k service interval for injectors and timing chain/sprockets?

I'll pick up some cleaner and try that out. With the new 1 new injector it will rev to max, but it is slow on the climbing rpm and smokes lots! Not much power either, will barely make the climb up the driveway (which is a lot better than barely running. I am wondering what would take out 3 injectors... Debriefs and soot, or possibly the over compression of the previous engine caused the injector failure....

I have been able to borrow a new injector to replace the wet tipped one and the smart started up and revved up better, but still not right. I just thought that the chances of having six bad injectors between two cars would be close to impossible. I guess I was wrong! If anyone knows where I can buy these injectors please send me a link! On the injectors that I suspect as the worst, they come out of the cylinder wet everytime... and the exhaust smells very rich.Is leakage the most common failure? Has anyone ever done these tests at home before? How do I do them?

Yes, that is correct, the chain and sprockets are new. The oil jet on the tensioner was free of debris when I checked on assembly. I rechecked the timing and it is good.

I put a new turbo on the car as well.... yes, more parts. I was wondering about a blocked intercooler so I have the inlet to intake manifold pipe off currently. I pulled the exhaust pipe off as well and it was the same running feeling.

The chain and the cam sprocket looked worn, teeth starting to curl and spread open.

Thanks again for all the new ideas of checking things. I have a feeling that the parts vehicle I swapped injectors with were no good. All the tests lead me to believe that the injectors are no good. After running it for 15min, I pulled the injectors out and 2 had carbon on the end and were dry. I then swapped them around and the same two injectors were dry with new carbon build up. I tried swapping the other 3 injectors from the parts car, and they came out wet everytime but the car ran a bit better or worse with each one.... Dealer pricing for an injector is an insane $850/ea.... I suspect that just the tips need to be replaced. Does anyone know where the tips can be purchased or a place that is setup to bench test the injectors? I am in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

That is an interesting idea! I have already checked the grounds, but not the power supply. I will get the multimeter out and check into this!

NEW INFORMATION!!!I decided to try to keep the car running with by spraying brake clean in the intake when it was about to stall. I was able to nurse it to stay running past the 6-10 seconds then I was able to get it to stay running. I let it warm up to the first bubble then tried to rev it up, but it would start to shake and smoke when I did this. I added more engine load by turning on the seat heaters, defrost and blower motor.... this would practically stall out the engine. I was able to restart the smart, but it still wouldn't allow me to rev it up. The exhaust was thick, my eyes watered terribly. It was like it would begin to misfire as soon as throttle was applied, the best I could get was 12-1500rpm.

We just had our first real snow of the year here (Calgary, Alberta, Canada), so I left the smart to soak in the hot tub. I began thinking about the injection timing, and how that relates to the ECM, which is signaled by the crank sensor. I have seen intermittent crank sensor problems but they typically get better with higher speeds (maybe with a few misses). Anything is possible, so I swapped the crank sensor over with high hopes.... but the same condition persists. Prolonged cranking, rough start, begins to idle normally, accelerator pedal hardly responsive, begins to shake alot then stalls out. I more thing to mention, the exhaust is very smoky at the startup, gets clean at the idle, then gets smokey at the end. Maybe good info, maybe just more confusion.

Soooo.... I swapped out the high pressure pump and nothing different. The only thing left is electrical issues, I took the wiring loom apart that connected the injectors... all looked good...I am at a complete loss! I am unfamiliar with how to graph the hipressure pump, but will see if I can get it and post.

Tolsen, You are so right about being too quick on the draw for replacing parts. But its not my fault! ...I was trained as a mechanic at a dealership! . LOL!. Which clearly isn't paying off very well!I forgot to mention that it takes many cranks and is difficult to get the car started initially. The metal bits are from the previous fuel pump, the metal housing was bulging on the one side... but was pumping...With the new fuel pump, the low fuel supply is good. 35-40PSI at prime, crank, idle and stalling condition. Once the engine stops, the pressure falls off quickly. The feed is continuous. I don't have access to the scan tool to do a graphing function, but the pressure at cranking it 300BAR, at idle it is 280BAR, the pressure then rapidly drops off as it stalls out. As well, the injector quantity begins to adjust just before it stalls out. However, I noticed that the refresh rate of the information on the scan tool was delayed by approx 1.5-2 seconds (shows 0 rpm for a while even once the car is started.There is only one ecm fault for a glow plug failure (tested #1 as bad), but after fixing, it didn't make a difference to the running issue. I swapped the rail with the regulator and pressure sensor. I installed the engine control unit in another car and the other car ran good.I drained the fuel and got new fuel.I checked the connector on the back of the SAM for the fuel pump (have seen those get burnt and have intermittent problems). My next plan is to swap out the high pressure pump (I have a second smart to steal parts from), but the symptoms don't seem to indicate that as an issue, I just can't see anything else being left to do!

Thanks for all the great info!I was thinking that perhaps the 3rd pump is the only thing keeping the car running at startup, then is shut down and the car stalls. is this possible?I also saw posts about injector cleaning, are the injectors able to be disassembled?

So I have tested the low pressure fuel lines, at 35-40PSI (2-2.5BAR) with a new fuel pump (because I broke the old one when inspecting it). The high pressure fuel system shows 280-300 at idle, but I am wondering if the DAS read out is just not fast enough to show a drop off in pressure because the car stalls out. I have swapped injectors, fuel rail w/sensors (possibly no good, from a parts car. Still having the same type of issue. Totally thrown off by the smooth idle for the first 5-10seconds. The only thing left that I can think of is the high pressure pump, and (god forbid) the fuel itself (which I have overlooked). I can't think of what else it could be if these things don't fix it....

I wish I read your post before I snapped a plastic clip off my old (and still good) fuel pump!

Thanks! I am still going to replace the pump, but will check the pressures next

Great link, Thanks!

The hose loops towards the drivers side under the seat area where the larger fuel filter is located.

Thanks!I am still surprised that the high pressure shows up despite the lower pressure side cutting out/adding air...

When I pulled the fuel filter I noticed metal sparkles in the bottom of the drain bucket. I cycled the key and found that the fuel pump would run good and pump out alot of fuel.... however, but the 5th key cycle I found that the fuel was foamy and when running continuous the flow would cut out briefly (but the pump was still running). I pulled the fuel pump and found bigger metal chunks in the fuel pump cartridge, all the lines looked good and held pressure in the tank. It is likely the fuel pump, but it is possible that the metal chunks are interfering with the one way value that allow fuel to flow into the pump cartridge. Will get one on order and let everyone know how it goes!