potential new 06 smart car owner

[Willys 747]

Good luck, hope it's nothing too serious.
I took mine out for a drive thisafternoon a couple hundred kms.....up north. Frost heaves aren't it best surface to ride on I'll give you that! When they are at the right distance or spacing, WOW...!!!  Shake your fillings bad...lol.  But the rest of the time excellent...!  And when you get onto a smaller back country lane, damn this thing can corner well!...Love it....lol  I can see why people suck them to the ground...brings back lunatic days...lol   No horse power but nimble for sure!  Which makes up for HP...imho......a great drive for sure. Average just over 4 lph so I figure the afternoon's drive cost me less than $5 in fuel!

 

I also found out my phone card is defective thus the reason I couldn't get pics to the site, so wife took pics and sent them to me, so I'll now see if i can get them here.  Later.
Again hoping it's not too bad and easy to repair. Fingers crossed.

[BCsmart 7]

Passenger side ball joint was in rough shape and needs replacement big time! Driver side was not near as bad but still ended up ordering a new one. Parts will be in Monday, Tuesday is the start of the new job and 170km daily commute round trip.

 

Don't have any device to check my mpg, but fuel gauge drops quicker than I expected. 90% of my shifts are done before the arrow indicator. Good thing is though it is a tiny tank so not a costly fill up. will be interesting to see what this tank gets as it is the first tank I filled in the car.

 

 

[BCsmart 7]

So went in to crappy tire quickly today. Looked at a couple diesel fuel additives, looks like you are putting in a small amount when some of you add to every 2nd tank?

 

The 1L bottle seems to do quite a large amount of fuel, just need to add it in small amounts...my brain thought you were all spending $12-15 on each bottle for every 2nd fuel up which to me seemed costly but now reading the label on the bottle I see that all you were do was adding a very small amount, is that true?

[Huronlad 186]

I put additive in at every fill but only the amount needed to treat about 24L.  Have you filled up more than once to be able to come up with a rough MPG average?

[MikeT 744]

170 km round trip!  Brutal!

[Huronlad 186]

At my previous job, a fellow was driving just shy of 190 km a day in a V6 Genesis Coupe.

[Willys 747]

Hmmm....ball joints not that bad and once it's done they should last a long time, I'm thinking....
As for fuel mieage you don't have a tach yet do you? If not it's going to be hard to hear 3000RPM....it's were I shiftup and down at 2000...to get the best mileage ...so I would give up going for great mileages until you get a Gauge or a tach which is both. sorry.   170 isn't bad , the wife does over 200 round trip in the echo and fills up middle of forth day with 50mpgs. machine when treated well. I doubt she's after mpgs...lol.  

I have crested 400kms and still have 2 bubbles left today with watching rpms on the last tank. 

I also thought the same with additives, then saw how much you actually added with each fill up and then couldn't decide with one so walked...lol

I think they must be a good thing simply to keep the system cleaner imho.   I know nothing about dielsels so am all ears on this also.

Today will be the aloted time span the tint guy said to not roll down windows, not being allowed is strange ....knowing all you want is a coffee....lol.    And the wife likes the tint, go figure! Another sign she could start driving it....augh!!!!

[BCsmart 7]

Have only personally filled it the one time, now with new job starting soon that will change though. 

 

I don't have a tach, hoping to go down to the coast on the easter weekend to scavenge some wreckers for a tach and 451 cupholder. Also nab some misc. parts too depending on condition of the car.

 

I am happy it was just ball joints, a german parts place locally had the best price on them. $75 each I believe it was.

 

400km with 2 bubbles left is good, that is kind of what I was hoping for, my brain told be 170km per day x 3 days = 510km. I was hoping a tank would get me 4 full days of driving to and from work and fill up at the station near me. 

 

Since I got the reMap done, I know there is added power there but I still drive it normal, just nice to have the added boost when hills and passing slow cars is needed.

 

As for the additive I might try out a bottle from crappy tire, just need to measure it out into small quantities and find a small container or two I can just put the stuff in for an easier fill up. That is why the Stanadyne was interesting I think it came in a small bottle you dump the whole amount in then it lasted for a couple hundred liters. 

 

Have to wait till next fill up anyway suppose to add it to tank before you fill up? 

 

Car is apart on buddy's hoist so no mileage or use of the car till Monday afternoon.

[BCsmart 7]

anyone ordered from germanparts.ca ?

 

They seem to have an oil pan with a drain plug for $64, which seems decent. Axle seals are on sale for just over $5...mine are sweating so guess they will need to be done soonish?

 

Also, has anyone done this turbo swap/upgrade? http://www.fq101.co.uk/data-and-reference/58-comparing-45kw-and-60kw-turbos  What are the power gains suppose to be, any idea?

[Willys 747]

4 minutes ago, BCsmart said:

anyone ordered from germanparts.ca ?

 

They seem to have an oil pan with a drain plug for $64, which seems decent. Axle seals are on sale for just over $5...mine are sweating so guess they will need to be done soonish?

 

Also, has anyone done this turbo swap/upgrade? http://www.fq101.co.uk/data-and-reference/58-comparing-45kw-and-60kw-turbos  What are the power gains suppose to be, any idea?

Damn you.....lol.....now I'm thinking again!

 

Hmmmm......damn I lasted all of what 2 weeks.....augh!

 

[BCsmart 7]

Anyone changed the fuel filter? Think I saw it under the plastic splash guard on the driver side just in front of rear wheel? Seemed like online with a quick search maybe it was a euro model but it identified it being near the alternator

[Willys 747]

Don't worry everything will get changed as soon as the warmer weather hits so I can blast off the oil undercoating I have everywhere, no offence Glenn, everytime i touch something I get covered in it....augh, but it's doing a great job stopping any rust....! Will re-apply Rust Check in the fall!

I'm a firm believer in knowing exactly what you have and when it was changed and not be like, oh it stopped because it was full or clogged....augh...why wait, get to know your vehicle and service it often...is my moto.

 

 

[LooseLugNuts 557]

59 minutes ago, BCsmart said:

anyone ordered from germanparts.ca ?

 

 

 

ive ordered from there a few times...they are very fast at sending parts out

[BCsmart 7]

Good to know looselugnuts! I will have to order stuff from them before hand to have it on hand when I want to do things. Fuel filter price is quite good compared to what I could source. I think that might be my next maintenance work I consider doing. See how fun/frustrating taking that undercarriage panel off is...or how frustrating it is to put back on haha.

 

I was surprised that site didn't sell an oil suction device, I bought but returned it before using. Probably going to get the one from princess auto...Although this oil pan https://order.germanparts.ca/product.html?part_number=00411MS&manufacturer=9&modelyear=2006&model=277&modelengine=1857&application=14&subapplication=132&search_type=APPLICATION

 

Seems to have a drain plug on it, and the price is good. Anyone bought this from the site, or plan to now? Pan is cheaper than a good quality suction device it seems.

[Willys 747]

I'll try my sucker out next week as I have put 2000kms on my smart since owning it, so I'll let you know how sucking is compared to crawling under and droping the oil....lol.  Even though I'll still need to crawl to get to the filter.....but we'll see. People say it works well ..I don't know....The only issue is the power cords are too short to get to battery so I'll have to see what else has 12V  on it near the engine...lol.   or extend them some....

[BCsmart 7]

Ya with the setup of the smart the 12v is not super convenient like it would be on most cars. Could just use a spare battery though or maybe even a booster pack?

 

I think that draining the oil would be more ideal, but that is only cause that is how I have always done it. You still have to go underneath the car to replace the filter so its not like your completely staying off the ground.

 

Don't know what prices for parts are back east but that germanparts.ca seemed pretty reasonable when I looked up a few parts. Fuel filter was cheaper than I could get from a parts store.

 

 

[Willys 747]

I'll try it  and see, if it works well I'll set up a power point type thing maybe in the engine compartment, for that and a spotlight etc etc just a power point to feed anything off of.  But we'll see.....I agree it's not what I would even think about doing normally, and you still need to get at the fliter.  Just another thing to get used to I guess.....maybe wednesday that'll be done, going up to plus 7......almost summer...lol.

[Henry 40]

About milage

Driving around in the summer at 70 to 80 k delivers about 3.2 litres per100k.  Coming home on the I5 at 130+ kph delivered 5.8 litres per100k.

I used almost twice the fuel during the high speed run through California where the speed is posted at 70mph.

Going a little slower is both easier on the little car and pays dividends at the pump.

Alan

[BCsmart 7]

Henry- Yes I wish I had a commute that didn't have to highway speeds. For the most part the drive will be done at 100-120km/h. Driving through a couple towns I will go between 60-70km/h.

 

The mpg wont be as good as some around here but it is still a cheap tank to fuel, as long as no major repairs are needed I think it will do the job.

[MikeT 744]

The oil filter can be changed without getting "under" the car.  Just need a couple of extensions on the 27 mm.

[BCsmart 7]

interesting idea MikeT, 27mm sounds damn big but I have never looked at the oil filter closely. Is it not a twist on and off by hand style?

[BCsmart 7]

Can't wait to drive the smart without the loud clunking noise! Parts are going to be delivered in a couple hours...missing the heated seat!!

[Nigel 287]

No you have to undo a cap and the cartridge is inside.  1 1/16” will work also.

 

Nigel

[tolsen 630]

Cartridge filter is better than spin on. Makes it easy to inspect for metal particles. Also less waste. Use your old filter as fire starter. 

[Nigel 287]

No you have to undo a cap and the cartridge is inside.  1 1/16” will work also.

 

Nigel