Guinness

What Did You Do To Your Smart Today?

5,057 posts in this topic

Here's where we are at the moment....

 

 

I wasn't happy at first with rattle can paint job, but after all said and done....turned out not too bad.  Considering no real attempt at dust control or correct prep work was maintained.  It even has a decent shine to it.  Surprising...No runs, sags or imperfections to speak of.  I'm so tempted to sand it down a bit and blast another coat of clear on it.....but......augh!   Murphy's law states I'll mess it up for sure!
Now wait a few days then install new windshield and firmly install rubber around it....no leaking allowed!

Then it'll be re-wiring ready for new fuse panel and stereo, speakers and all relay mods done.

 

It would be so easy to add in a 2" lift into it while in this state.....add spacer for front steering assembly  and suspension etc then simply add spacers to sub-frame and leave suspension alone at the rear....simple.   Hmmmmm....? What to do......???

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1 hour ago, kyo19 said:

Bought the Uproad app  https://www.uproad.com/toll-point/robert-f-kennedy-tribough-bridge-toll-info-rates-cost-prices-and-how-to-pay for my spring trip, there will be quite a lot of toll roads and I don't want to think about it much.

Summer trip planning....love it..!

Are you taking the Smart Car or  something else?  The fuel savings alone should pay for more than all the tolls combined compared to a larger vehicle.  

As for trip planning I use Garmin Earth or at least that is what I used on my 2012 trip across Canada and up the Dawson City. 

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Started her up and let her idle for an hour, have to keep her running until the engine's back in the Peugeot 404C, at which point the smart goes to the rear of the garage and stays there for the foreseeable future.

Edited by MikeT

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7 hours ago, MikeT said:

Started her up and let her idle for an hour, have to keep her running until the engine's back in the Peugeot 404C, at which point the smart goes to the rear of the garage and stays there for the foreseeable future.

you should sell it to me :)

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Ehh no, it's next to worthless now but might be a good future wedding gift (once fixed) for one of our three kids - already gave a car to one of them as a wedding gift), or worth more in 10 years' time.

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Well today I took the beater into town to pick up a curbside purchase for the new Cleaver End top hinge bushings. Time to rebuild them with better than new parts.

Well the reason for this post is, I now have a slightly over boost issue and no real forward motion acceleration being experienced. It can still do highway speeds but takes a much longer time to get there and won't hold it if any slight incline or oncoming wind is present. My normal boost is maxed out around 14.3 psi and now it gets up to 18 or so psi and no real push forward. Also my fuel economy has doubled because of it. Best i was getting was 5.7 KMs per hundred driven where normally I can hover around the 3.5 or less  numbers.

So my initial thought is a stuck waste gate lever or maybe the foot peddle accelerator is fried?  I'm in no shape after yesterday's work re-installing new doors and front clip onto the good car. So repairing the beater for daily driving isn't my top priority today. It may be a rest in bed day but thinking about what this new issue could be...day...lol.

So folks.....what's your best guess on why...?   I'm all ears and am looking for an answer.

 

Thanks.

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I wonder if the map sensor has gone for a crap.  If the boost is too high the engine management will go to limp and we know boost can’t be that high because you have reduced power.  What boost or map readings are you getting at idle?  When we spoke on the phone you mentioned spraying water under the engine compartment yesterday, maybe the sensor or wiring has gotten wet.

 

Just throwing out ideas

 

Nigel

Edited by Nigel

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Normal readings at idle and it idles perfectly.....The only water I sprayed was basically into the vents on top of the back bumper, which is why I was thinking stuck waste gate...?  Mainly from possible surface rusting if at all possible on shaft of waste gate from the small amount of water sent into that direction...?  As I said, no real interest in working on it today....I'm off back to the horizontal life after lunch I think...lol.

But keep the ideas flowing as one just might be the solution when the time comes...?

Thanks.

 

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Well, job done, at least I think it is. Went for a 1000 yard dash just to see boost and all is back to normal...fingers crossed.  I took back bumper off and took a 9/16" open end wrench and worked the waste gate arm. Didn't seem stuck but was easier after a few twists.  Hmmm...?  I didn't have anywhere to go today, maybe tomorrow and I'll see for sure if it's better or not.  But the boost came right up with even the short distance I did go.  Also didn't go over the usual numbers, not like the 18 plus it was running up to.

 

Also forgot to mention Nigel and myself humped the doors back in place and also the front clip the other day. So now I have a navy blue with silver cage....not bad.....????

I did notice also that the wiring was already in place it seems by the number of possible pins in the main wiring harness to simply swap out doors that already have electric mirrors etc in them over swapping out just the guts into your original doors. Far easier to swap the entire door.  I'm sure I'll probably need to tell the SAM it now has electric mirrors.....I'll just add that to the list of STAR checks and balances I may need to do once it's all together.

Next will be the new windshield with stuck on windshield rubber, not just stuffed around the glass.  We were looking at it and if the glass is correctly glued down in the first place there is no way it should leak. The rubber is strictly for cosmetics.  I'm so tempted to add a smear of the black stuff before the dash goes in just for good measure...lol. 

 

Edited by Willys

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Installed the new modified fuel cooler today and wired it up and tested it, Now I waiting on an  AC line modification and then the front end can go back on. One week at a time.  

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About three weeks ago, I had an "A" service done on the Cab.  As always, the service was done with quality and care, in a timely fashion and yet another satisfied customer leaves the Uncle Glenn shop. :)

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My purpose in life appears to help subsidize Glenn’s post retirement, retirement fund.

Had a full ‘B’ service on the GrandStyle about 3 weeks ago.

Had a full ‘B’ service on the ‘05 a couple of weeks ago, as it was coming out of 18+ month in storage.

Kept the car on a battery tender, started it and drove 50’ish km every 6 months or so.  No trouble.

I’m in the final stages of selling the GrandStyle to a true Smart car lover.

All that’s left is to convince him of the vehicle’s worth.  We’re only a few million $’s apart.😛

I’ll keep everyone posted.

Also…. tune to the Southern Ontario Smart Car forum for some happy news !!

 

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GrandStyle cabriolet # 61 now resides in the caring and loving hands of Glenn.
It will reside in Lambeth, ON and ride herd over all his other vehicles.

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Thanks Bill!  I've maintained #61 since new and am VERY fortunate to be the hew owner!!!!

She was cleaned and hand polished yesterday!

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OK, finally some forward motion on the car in the shop......Nigel came over a week or so ago and we installed the freshly repaired and painted cleaver-end onto the shell.  Thanks buddy. Yesterday I totally rebuilt and repaired the rear tail light housings and painted then. Today's job will be to find the wiring to get the lights wired up to the new restored Cleaver-End . Also to seal it to the shell so there will be zero leaks in the future. Maybe do a final clearance check on the rear hatch hinges before final tightening and locking in position. Then assemble the rear hatch locking mechanism. Install new lift cylinders, shocks to keep hatch open. I also need to spray foam the inner cavities to sound deaden it as it's slightly hollow sounding when you tap on it....? Thinking of all possible issues now before it's finally assembled and I have moved to other areas of the car. It also has a hidden cubby hole and a shelf to install. This should keep me busy for the weekend along with normal yard work......grass is growing like crazy after all the rain!

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Rear wheel bearings on order for the 451 and discovered at least one of my rear BRABUS springs has failed.  Back to the OE springs in the rear, I guess.

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obviously not something i did today but i just came across this old pic of the led light bar id added ...i had it wired up so high beam would trigger the relay to power it 

 

 

 

fit perfect in there ...it wanted to squeeze out forward due to the slot being wider at the front but the side brackets kept it secure ..didnt even have to use the screws

 

 

 

Photo - Google Photos (19).png 

 

 

 

 

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After replacing the passenger rear wheel bearing, had to diagnose a no start.  Glad I have a STAR.  Isolated to an ignition issue.  No previous running issues, so started with checking engine ground.  A temporary ground quickly had the engine purring away. 

 

A replacement engine ground is about $23 from M-B. The replacement cable appears to be 2 AWG and the OE feels like 8 AWG at best.

I will have to get under the car to access where the cable attaches to the engine and I suspect the plastic guard with have to be removed to get to the bolt.  Replacing the ground on the 450 was much easier.

 

Making use of the new cable, an alternate bolt location on the top of the engine and jumper cables, I have a temporary solution for a couple of days.

 

Also the secondary air injection pump is in the way to get at the chassis mounting point.  So the non functional pump may get the old heave ho.

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You do not need to use the same grounding points simply any good solid spot on the body and then a clean bolt on the engine head or block. Just leave the old wire there as long as it's not hanging down or in the way of anything. Especially of you have to crawl underneath car.   90% of all electrical issues seems to be because of bad grounds......or corroded connector pins.

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Not exactly *my* 451, but I worked on a friends 451 today... Took off my skinny wheels set and the rear Eibach spacers, and reinstalled the stock alloys with winter tires and cleaned up the wheels pretty good, meaning I had to get rid of caked on brake dust etc....

 

But prior to that, it was my intended task to physically adjust the clutch actuator position. Which I did. I moved it 2-3 mm closer to the clutch. This car has had issues in the last 10k or so with less than ideal engagement. It's even on a replacement, but non-OEM actuator..... anyway, despite trying to get a clutch relearn TWICE, it failed to relearn with fasteddy at the controls the second time. I decided to physically reposition the actuator, and knock on wood - it was flawless today - the best it has ever been in this car actually. So hopefully this holds up.

 

Also picked up a set of used steelies with burnt off tires and 4 wheel covers.... super cheap! So tomorrow I will get a couple rear tires mounted that are sitting here loose, and then the car can have a set of summers on steelies with wheel covers, which is good enough for now! And alloys with snows... why waste money on swapping!

 

After a couple weeks of driving and seeing how the actuator is, it'll be time to deal with the exhaust. Flex pipe went - a new one got fitted, but too many cooks in the kitchen (owner removed, shop cut and welded with no reference, ie: no car to fit and tack weld a couple spots before buttoning it up tight) and it's out of alignment enough that the exhaust rattles. I have watched the video how to fit in a new flex pipe the proper way, but it might be too late to get someone to assist and do it right, as there may not be enough clean pipe to work with. So it'll be the owners call whether they want to do. 

 

Other than that, 2010 passion cabriolet with 104k, and running quite well except for typical gremlins. I should go into the actuator adjusting business if this holds - there are parked cars listed all over the marketplace that need actuator help.

 

I had been suggesting to Izzy that I didn't want the maintenance hassles of a 451, but actually, they don't seem that bad overall. Maybe I will pick up a cheapie this winter. There's enough around. Good grief.

 

 

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Well, the actuator wad doing great, until I intentionally tried to fritz it out today - forced a downshift in auto followed by a really late shift after that in manual, basically "italian tune-up style", and the actuator decided to go back to a bit of judder here and there with unevenness in low gears immediately following! So back to the drawing board I reckon. Is it a clutch fork problem? Actuator? Clutch itself? Why is it intermittent? Car would be so nice if it didn't have this issue.

 

Meanwhile, the steelies that were picked up yesterday got the Kuhmo KH16 tires put onto them, 32 PSI front, 35 rear, and I took home one good rear winter tir4 that was on one of the four wheels as a future spare... I clean up the wheels and the wheel covers and put the Solus HA31 on the alloys in the corner for another day... here is the car this afternoon. I don't mind the full wheel covers. Wheels and wheels covers need to be clean though! Took the top all the way down for test drives and a few pics. David has my Volvo C30 right now for a few more days. So I will still try a few things with this actuator, or maybe even try to use the original one after a proper clean and lube of it.

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I have the original OEM actuator opened up and on a table - and it does not show any significant signs of wear - there is a little bit of black paste from gear bits and grease, but not in any amount that would make me think this thing has issues. It will get cleaned up and lubed properly, and then it will get switched into the car - and be moved the same 2-3 mm closer... if that resolves issues, great, and if not, then we'll try to have it re-taught.... and if that fails, well.... all bets are off! But I think this will work out in the end. Except I gave the car back to David last night and am back to my Volvo C30 - so I can't change it out in the daytime today.

 

Will post a few pics later, though I suspect anyone reading this forum has seen the innards plenty of time....

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Started the car, drive it a bit, washed it.  To be returned to stock suspension (BRABUS shocks are blown up) and have clutch issue repaired.

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Yesterday Glenn took time off  from his busy week to help me with my 09 Brabus. We replaced all the front suspension control arms, shocks and springs, bushings etc.  It was getting to the point of having the bearings replaced after 180,000 km before they fail and also had some bad front end noise that needed attention. I had all ready replaced the back ones 20,000km earlier.  My bearings failed around this time on my old 09 so wasn't going to take any chances. So thanks again Glenn for the help!! 

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