Dealer over-filled the oil on a first service..

[beejum 0]

On the recommendation of a couple of smart owners I had the first service done at MB, 4844 Taschereau, Greenfield Park. Got home and noticed I was billed for 3 litres of oil. The dipstick indicates above the max line.The dealer says, "Bring it in, we'll check it but I don't think it's going to cause a problem."Any comments?

[Duck 16]

Good god. That's the main reason why everyone's having their turbocharger's replaced. "don't think it's going to cause a problem" says "Hi, we have no clue." Argh!! This makes me mad.-Iain

[beejum 0]

I have maintained a rampant distrust of dealers doing services and this caps it! Question: can I siphon off 300cc's of oil at home? How? Or do I drive it 15 kms back to the dealer, put up with the attitude and let them do the work?

[MikeT 744]

The operator's manual itself, in the oil checking section, says:

An oil level above the MAX mark may result in engine damage. Oil quantities above the MAX mark have to be siphoned off.

Your dealer is idiotic.Take it back and rub that page in the dealer's face. Put them on notice that you'll be expecting an apology and compensation for the extra time you've had to take to have it rectified, caused by THEIR stupid mistake.

[beejum 0]

So here it the follow-up to the MB Greenfield Park dealership overfilling the oil in my smart..Deciding that I will never again darken the doors of a dealership for a service, unless accompanied by a neutral inspector, I siphoned off the excess oil using a 3/8" tube and doing a lot of sucking and spitting. To get the room-temperature oil level down to the max mark on one side of the dipstick and 1/8" below that on the other, I removed over 500cc. The oil that came out was quite dark and sooty - odd since the new oil only had about 30 kms on it. I've kept the oil, just in case someone wants to challenge these allegations!So my conclusion is that a) the old oil wasn't completely removed then, a full three litres were dumped in and, finally, the mechanic never checked the dipstick.This text will also be sent to MB Canada for their records.Happy motoring, everyone, and thank you for your comments!

[Speedie 4]

Actually the oil will turn black in a diesel almost the instant you turn the engine on. The overfilling is not excusable though.Cheers,Cameron

[smartcruzin 0]

If it's at the max mark at room temperature then it will surely still be well above the max mark when the engine reaches operating temperature at 3 blobs on the guage. Your level may still be too high and more may have to be siphoned. This is my one and only complaint and it's not the car's fault. MB needs to address this well-known problem of techs overfilling and causing expensive failures of turbos, intercoolers and egr's. I'm in the process of writing MB about this issue myself.

[beejum 0]

The sump has a block-heater tap so why did they decide not to have a drain plug? My problem in siphoning was not knowing how deep to push the tube down the little hole (hm..) and finally used the length of the dipstick as a guide. With gravity there's no mistaking when the sump is empty.

[beejum 0]

A little delay getting back to you - just back from Paris where I saw hundreds of our brother and sister smarts.. many billboard ads for the new smart, too.MB Canada has replied to me saying they will look into my concerns and will report back once an investigation is complete. I have to confirm that reading that dipstick is not easy. After siphoning all that oil and with a hot engine, the level reads anywhere from 2/3 between min and max to max, depending on when I pull the dipstick.

[MikeT 744]

Leave it in for a minute, at least!

[beejum 0]

Above is the thread from March 19, 2007, when MB Rive Sud overfilled the oil on a first service. Last post was April 7 when I told you that Louis at MB Canada was going to look into my complaint.

Now it's May 7th. Nary a word. Do you think MB Canada has put a letter into the sack on the donkey yet? How long does one wait for customer satisfaction? You give them your $22,000 + and they treat you like scum. Or redundant oil!

Here is what I am posting on the US page of this forum, and I will post it on various US automobile sites, such as Car and Driver.

"Glad to see that our neighbours to the south are going to get the smart car. Take it from this Canadian owner that the machine is solid, well-designed and fun to drive. My 3-cylinder 800 cc Diesel starts easily in cold weather, and I am getting the equivalent of 40 to 45 miles to the US gallon at highway speeds.

But buyers beware: if my experience in having the car serviced at a Mercedes-Benz dealer is anything to go by, don't do it! It seems that the service people are unfamiliar with the car. On page 206 of the owner's manual it says, "An oil level above the MAX mark may re

[MikeT 744]

....?I assume that is a work in progress?Also: You get 45 US MPG at highway speeds? Is that 135 km/h?

[beejum 0]

Sorry for the cut-off text. I was pasting, not typing. I have posted the full text (typed in a hurry) on the US forum - go to http://www.clubsmartcar.com/index.php?showtopic=9173

.. and the highway speed that I referred to is a constant 110 km/h

[MikeT 744]

That's shabby mileage. My car would be at about 55 US MPG at that speed.

[SM4RT_JMC 0]

Man I did A and B service at the same time, we buried A LOL