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TheBestJohn

Looks Like This Is The End Of The Road For Fortwo $6500 Repairs

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I remember going to MB Markham ready for a fight...and did not get one. replaced no problem just before warrenty was up. I was surprised.

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Thanks for stopping by Troy! I called your shop about a week ago but you were busy. Just had to figure out what I was going to do myself before contacting you again :) I'm definitely going to do the tone rings myself. I have access to an indoor shop with a drive up lift. I'm going to try the fuel pump myself as well.... If i can rebuild it and make a good video then perhaps I'll be able to help others. From now on I am for sure using you for services that I can't do myself. Now that you're here though, what type of remap do you do on smarts? Any more details on those?

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The tone rings are pretty easy, I have a piece from a front end kit that is the same size as the ring and a cap to fit it. Clean the axle well and lubricate it with krown T40 or something like that. Then I use the axle bolt to press the ring on. All the heating and cooling options people have mentioned work well too. I would be interested in seeing the pump rebuild I you don't mind. Best advice there is Cleanliness is Godliness. I use upsolute tunes, I arrange 5 or 6 people and get a discount from the guy to help you guys save money. So far so good with the remaps. They claim 18hp gain. I love the way they drive with the extra power, you can actually maintain speed on inclines in 6th gear.

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I plan on doing it submerged in diesel so the air can't blow anything into it. I haven't been able to get in my car for a while to poke around... Waiting on warranties, and whatnot. Where exactly is the fuel pump located on the smart? Not to worry I'll show the video I take weather it was a success or failureWith the remap, is the throttle and shifting a lot more responsive? I feel as though that is what would make me a lot happier with it. Also I pretty much max out at 120... It'd be nice to be able to improve that a bit too.

Edited by TheBestJohn

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Both of mine have had the remap. An immediate difference was noticed in the shifting points and the increase in power.Before the remap, the shifting points (in auto mode) were anywhere between 3,000 and 4,000 rpm, even with a light application of the throttle. The shifts were slow and the power was .... ok, but not exciting.After the remap, the shifting points (again, in auto mode) were down around 2,500 rpm unless you were really leaning on it. The shifting was also considerably quicker, although still not like an F-1 car. (people not used to the smart still think the shifts are slow). The power increase was noticable, but again, not terribly exciting. IMHO, getting the remap is worth it. It makes a big difference in where the power seems to be available. Most places where you needed to drop to 5ᵀᴴ from 6ᵀᴴ to climb a hill could now be done by leaving it in 6ᵀᴴ.Even before the remap, both of mine were capable of running at an indicated 140 kph on a level stretch of ground, even in moderate to strong head-winds.

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I have FastEddy's 65Hp remap. Shifting and throttle response were instantly and geatly improved. Top end limiter is gone - I have had the car up to 175+km/h. Once. Yes, that's 100mph - could have held out for more but I chickened out. Closed course, flat, straight, well-maintained road in excellent summer conditions, no wind, unlimited visiblility, Ultra High Performance tires, lowered adjustable Bilstein sport suspension, new brakes. Do no to try this at home ;)

But I didn't get the remap for racing, I got it for more pull on the hills and better fuel economy. Remapped, the cdi drives like it should have done from the factory, IMHO.

Bil :drive:

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You did 175 km/h a flat road? Sounds too fast! Sure it wasn't coming down Pennansk Summit? I've done 240 there, just not in a smart ;)

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Yep, flat. There'd be no point making a silly claim running downhill with the wind behind me. Took a long time to get there, but there it is. And yes, it was too fast - never want to do it again in a smart - I'm too old and slow-witted for that kind of speed anymore.Bil :sun:

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I'd love a fast eddy remap.... When I first got here I tried to organize a group buy but there weren't that many people interested.I'm not planning on racing it down the highway but you kinda need a bit of power to get out of certain situations. It feels a little unsafe with such a slow response sometimes.

Edited by TheBestJohn

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That's interesting because Gent had the same remap and could not exceed 160.

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I have done other stuff too - shorty intake with tri-foam racing filter, custom spiral scavenging exhaust, fresh high-performance fluids in engine & tranny. And the run was at about (guesstimating) 1,000m ASL. And I think I'd just washed the car and had a haircut that day too ;)In any event, I am not about to replicate this and have no records or stored data for proof. No speeding ticket or anything else. Take it or leave it :dunno:

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So I spoke with Kingston Mercedes, the dealership I get all my parts from. I asked about the catalytic converter issue and they contacted the warranty center. The deal is this "130,000 kms or 8 years mandated by the government. The failure has to be catalyst ineffeciency (which this cat is not monitored so you probably wont get a code for that), loose catalyst (rattling inside the exhaust), or failed emissions test. The lower seam of the system being rotted open does not qualify. As a long time dealership tech, this all makes sense to me. There could be AWA (after warranty assistance) that could apply but typically you have to be a long time customer of the dealership either service or sales for the manufacturer to do anything for you. So lets say you did all maintenance with me since new, you are up the creek :) As for dealerships, I have tried both ottawa dealers and hate dealing with them. Kingston Mercedes always returns my calls and do what they can to accomidate my needs. Its faster for me to get Auto parts extra to pick up parts in kingston, ship them to the cornwall store, to the Winchester store and then to me, than it is to order from ottawa!Hope this helps

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Above makes no sense to me since it is usually the shell that houses the CAT that fails. The fact that same shell also houses non CAT parts of the exhaust should make no difference. I would certainly pursue this further. Checking the applicable Canadian regulations would be a start.

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But the converter has not failed, the casing of the exhaust system failed. The converter itself is intact and functioning. I know this seems like a legal loop hole, and that is exactly what it is.

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But the converter has not failed, the casing of the exhaust system failed. The converter itself is intact and functioning. I know this seems like a legal loop hole, and that is exactly what it is.

That is why you must check what the applicable regulations say. Perhaps there is no legal loop hole.

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That is why you must check what the applicable regulations say. Perhaps there is no legal loop hole.

Agree. It's not an M-B warranty definition that's needed - you give them too much authority where they are just interpreting the regulation for you through the lens of their own business practices. What's needed is to discover what the pertinent Transport Canada or Environment Canada vehicle emissions warranty actually says.

Bil :sun:

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That's what I'm hoping will come around.... If i wrap everything that is warrantied by law in something that will absolutely fail before it then that is abusing the spirit of those laws.... I'll go to arbitration if I need to.

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Troy you just answered the question to warranty for a cat converter. Take the cars in for an etest, make it fail due to exhaust leaks, then provide the paper to Mercedes. They cannot pass a vehicle with a leaking exhaust. Perhaps the exhaust is leaking around the catalyst also, which is certainly a cause for replacement. I have never read anywhere EGR is covered under the extended emission warranty, could be forgetting something though but it is very clearly written in Mercedes warranty book that the ecm, catalyst and I think instrument cluster are covered and nothing more. Not glow plugs (which certainly are emission related) and not egr. I have to read it again today to understand better...The law also states that all catalytic converters are made out of stainless steel which is clearly not the case here, it rusted out and hence did not last the length of the warranty. Smart has skipped some canadian laws before, they are probably skipped here too. The car is NOT infact OBD2 compliant as we all know most scan tools cause all sorts of problems when plugged into the port. Since this car was not sold in the USA nobody seems to care about this obvious miss and the dealer certainly does not understand the implications either they completely denied that the odometer could infact add mileage and got veeerrrryyyy upset about it. I even left the car with them while it was jumping kms and they still denied it after it happened. Star Motors is not well run when it comes to customer service and keeping customers happy with warranty or other concerns. I gave up and went with another dealer far away in the eastern townships, they have some difficulties too but atleast they did follow through and not tell me to go away and leave them alone. They also really responded to complaints to head office, where Star did nothing when it was escalated above them, zero customer service and a don't care attitude. I have since upgraded to newer Mercedes product despite all this, and refuse to bring it to Star. Its too bad the Cornwall dealer does not do smarts, they seem very personal and straight forward with many long term clients and run a diesel truck shop also so diesel is not a mystery to them. I have bought parts there and talked with service, they seem very good and upfront.In the meantime look for a used muffler, they have no value on the market (kijiji etc) and parts cars are coming up often now. I have seen them for $60-100 but not local usually Quebec somewhere. The reluctor rings thing is a funny thing at the dealers, they always jump to conclusions that is must be that when I had an ABS light on, I kept telling the service advisor it was impossible as my car is not exposed to salt and has no rust anywhere. It was infact in dyno test mode from using an Autel computer like a scanguage, pile of junk! The scanguage went back into the car. I sometimes have to refuse signing the work order as they don't write the proper language that I am telling them and they have to rewrite the work orders before I will sign them, they just assume or only write down a quarter of the info. Working as a tech has taught me many things, there is no such thing as too much info so long as it is written and not a lengthy phone call!

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Unfortunately, I suspect the failure would have to be directly attributed to the cat; not just a "you've got no muffler"...I'm not sure there are any "regulations" concerning the cat warranty. From what I could find, it seemed like they had some form of requirement in the US, and the Canadian vehicles simply followed along. But there was not legal requirement for the extended warranty.

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Are there any other cars where the catalytic convert pack is built into the muffler like this, or is it unique to the smart?Bil :sun:

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E-Test can be run with exhaust leak....it's up to the inspector's discrection. Rules changed January 1st 2013. But if the Cat is not there then we can reject the test...but we're also not asked at anytime during the test if it's there...it's a new game, enter mileage and GVWR take some pictures and plug in the OBD plug. My personal best is 5 mins 20 seconds. Hourly best is 11 in 61 mins.As for M-B not replacing cats through warrenty, I bet they can afford better lawyers so why not deny you...

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