43scabs

hi gang, a while back i had this issue of a flickering oil pressure light in the instrument cluster. it was very random, and it got me very worried. i stopped driving it and had a shop hook it up to their computer and the oil pressure was reading normal. so not a failing oil pump. with the help of MikeT and Fasteddy i did some poking around and found the lead that goes to the oil pressure sensor just above the oil filter housing had too much slack and had come into contact with the axle. it had rubbed the insulation off the wire in one spot and when accelerating, the flex in the engine would allow the wire to contact the axle and it would ground out- causing a false oil pressure light.so i wrapped the wire and zip tied it out of harms way. a quick fix for what was causing me a major stress headache. thought i should pass on the info. -find the wire feeding the oil pressure sensor. its located right above the oil filter, just forward of the rear axle.-inspect for damage and excess slack. -fix any insulation damage, and zip tie out of danger. hope this helps.it was a huge weight of my shouldersthanks for all the help on this site!-scott(2005 fortwo passion cdi)

had this wierd thing where the oil light flickered very faintly for a sec after all the other instrument lights turned off after a startup. it only flickered for a little bit then stopped. oil level was great, no abnormal operating temps. everything seemed normal. today, drove to work this morning, everything was great. got to work put it into park (reverse) was about to shut off and noticed this faint flicker started up in the oil light again. very intermitent. weird. oil light has not come on while driving. the only thing out of the ordinary that i have done recently is add a small amound of diesel kleen to the fuel.oil is not very old at all. oil pressure sensor? loose wire?could it be related to being in neutral or reverse. i will do some tests with this. thanks in advance-scott

you are correct, i have a canadian spec CDI. on this engine, some sensor must monitor the flywheel position so that the ecu knows when to tell the injectors to open. right? where would this one sensor be? i wish the pump and injectors were all operated in the old mechanical way, cause then i'd be running. well, i think.-the fuel pump is giving me lots of pressure, the injectors just arent opening. my scangauge is giving me no codes. -all systems seem to be functioning normally, with one exception: my engine cycles but never fires. could someone please give me a MB star diagnostic system for my next birthday?

hi alli'm trying to gather some info on the cdi's injection timing.what sensors are responsible for injection timing and where can i find them in this little nest of an engine.is there:- a cam position sensor?- a TDC sensor?- does the engine rotation sensor do more than calculate RPM's for the tachometer? finally, short of replacing sensors with a known working one, is there a way to test them with a volt meter?thanks in advance

hi there,so my little smart is still dead in the driveway- see old post about cdi fuel filter for back story. i am starting to suspect the worst. can anyone give me info on the SAM unit. symptoms of it failing. possible recourse if it has failed. recall?have the ECU's been known to fail?also, i read some posts in other forums about flywheel position sensors failing on MB's and causing similar problems. does anyone know where that is on this little guy?any direction you folks could offer would be great. i am in a bind, because i dont have a dealer to take it to as it is a US registered cdi.thanks in advance!

thanks for the reply.i thought about the battery, but when in there, everything is totally dry and cleani have never done any modifying or drilling.and perhaps the most troubling, this is a U.S registered car-so i cant really take it to the dealer, cause we dont have a dealer that deals with the cdi.i like the idea of a bad ground. you have any particular grounds in mind that i should check, and where they would be? thanks!

my cdi still wont start and now i've ruled out the fuel filterso i checked fuel pressure at the top of the injector and i have fuel. diesel fuel. not water or something weird.i have air. i have battery power. but still, the engine cycles but no fire. by some freak incident i suppose all my injectors failed at the exact same time, but i highly doubt it. this really seems like something electrical, considering how immediate my car's stall was.i have no codes in my scangauge either. so i have a new idea, please give me input. the accelerator pedal? unless i am mistaken it appears to not be a cable driven thing, so could i have something messed up in the actual pedal assembly that is sending a weird signal to the injectors. part of my reasoning is that when i stalled, it was when the car was going into a coast, and unless i am wrong, does this car not close the injectors during coast as part of its fuel savings? could the pedal still think it is coast and is thus not telling the injectors to open????i'm just throwing ideas out there, but would love to hear some thoughts.thanks so much

thanks for the replies!i do have a scangauge and what was weird was that no codes were detected. it was the first thing i checked. also, the water sensor light did not come on......well, at least in that very quick few seconds between totally normal function and being stalled i didn't notice it. but from what i understand, you could get a clogged filter, completely independent of water build up, right? i figure i will start with the filter first, because in my past experience with diesels, that seems like a good place to begin. i have been switching back and forth between bio and dino lately, so some extra crud wouldn't shock me. i will also disconnect the battery and see if that resets something. what is so frustrating is that nothing looks wrong, so its hard to put my finger on it..... i almost wish i had some catastrophic leak of some sort so i could at least be like "theres the culprit!" (well, maybe not a catastrophic leak)thanks againi will find the closest sprinter parts supplier tomorrow- that is a great tip! thanks

so my 2005 cdi has had its first incident. it died all of a sudden as i was pulling away from a stop light. i was heading down a hill so i was not really on the accelerator, and i didn't even notice that it had stalled until i saw the lights in the cluster come on. i coasted to the side and turned the key off. no weird noises, no weird performance issues. it was almost as if i had bumped the key somehow. tried to start it and it cycled the engine but it never started. all the fluids and temps were good. i was very displeased. once i finally cooled down (i was on very little sleep and was convinced it was gonna cost me a ton to fix, it was late, had to wait two hours for a tow, ect.) i thought about it and decided that what it is doing is sure a lot like when the fuel filter on my 82 MB 300td got clogged. it wants to start, there's just no fuel getting in there. i think. the only thing i dont get is that it seemed just fine before the incident. i had been on the freeway, it was being a little dream right before it ruined my night. i did try it today, and it sounded the same. cycled, but no fire. so, assuming that the tolerances on the smart are just very tight as compared to my old benz and that when a clog occurs, it shuts things down in a hurry instead of stumbling and slowly dying, i have decided i need to replace my fuel filter. if anyone has an alternate theory, please chime in ( unless its expensive).now i just need to track one down. i live in the states so i cant just hit up a dealer. also, can i get one that is just the filter and not the water sensor gadget? or do they only come in a bundle?my smart has 84000km on it. thanks a bunch