aderoy

Heard a bit of scraping under the car this morning. Checked when parked and found the replacement intercooler scoup rightside had come undone.Jacked up and removed the old pop rivet, verified the holes as good and replaced the pop rivet with a new one.Guess all the deep snow had caused the rivet to pull out. All better, wish it was not -14c when I did it outside

Guess it was not my day.Driving to do a bit of shopping, heard a crack from the left side of vehicle thought it was a stray stone hitting the side. A few minutes later on the expressway the window started to drop. Pressed the button to raise, no such luck dropped all the way down. Pulled off to side of the road and found the window was not locked into place - pull up and release it would drop right back down.Cancelled shopping trip and head back to home to try and secure the window. Will have to visit dealership to have it looked at on Monday. Most likely a $1.00 plastic clip snapped and will get charged $250 for repairing.Not the way I expected the day to go, hope the window stays up so not to find water/snow in the cabin in the morning.atleast the horn still works

Swapped in the steelies with winter tires today. Thus far only 30mm of snow, none left of course but should be ready in case we actually get some.Alloys stored for the coming spring or mid March since this is the banana belt of Canada.

I have good desoldering / soldering station due to the type of work I do. If the relay is bad electrically would not get the steady voltage at the terminals. Had a friend press down on horn while I measured the voltage going to the horn terminals. Even closed relays can be opened to be cleaned with diamond file or 2000 grit mylar sandpaper. Which I had not done as of yet. May get a replacement relay and swap out get because.

The horn automagically started working early Thursday morning and had not given me any cause for concern since. So this morning lifted the front end and did a visual on the horn. Connections nice and tight, moved the terminals a few times to clean any crud that may be there. tested - horn works, voltage steady.The horn sound is clean, no warble or thin sounds (bad ground or loose connection).Scratching my head so to the root cause. Closed up the front, will test daily for the next few days (have a stretch of back road that will not annoy anyone).Thanks for all the ideas to triple check.

Check if horn relay is working. The relay is inside SAM. You should hear it click.

I hear the click from the relay, will double check again this morning before heading off to work. That was one item I checked but looks as if I did not place on the list. Bad.Will work on it in a heated area later in the week. From the web searches it may be a good idea to swap out the unit for a more 'vocal' one since the under pan will be lowered. Will update when there is a change.Thanks for all the suggestions.

Well did the pull both paddle shifts forward -- no change

[*]Checked the headlights, had daylight running active, then de-activated (so would not be pulling down voltage) no change.

[*]Both headlights are OEM (left side replaced in Sept)

[*]Battery was replaced 1.5 years ago, voltage good.

[*]Checked ebox dry, reseated cables. May have to pull out and open as last resort?

[*]Checked grounds inside near battery and fuse block.

Stumped in Windsor.

Yes it is a Pulse so there are paddles. Will try on the late morning drive over to 4bucks (Starbucks).

Strange problem, tried the horn no sound, was on the 401 so when was in a deserted area turned of my headlights (leaving just daylight running on) and the horn worked. Tried a few times, made sound. Then turned on the lights, no sound, turned off horn worked. Turned the lights on drove another hour then tried again, no sound no matter what. When I arrived home, removed and checked the fuse no problem there. Could not make any sound.When the horn worked the sound was normal and clear, if a bad ground, loose connector the sound would have been 'off' / not clean.Too dark so did not do any more checks. Ideas as to where to look?thanks in advance.

Anyone know how to get the water separator light to go off? We changed the fuel filter, but the light is still on.

I had a problem with the water separator where it was the small 5 or 6 pin black connector in the battery box leading to the ebox. Had to remove the battery to do the visual and repair (make sure you have the radio code). Two pins had corrosion. Cut the cable near the connector and soldered the wires together. Problem gone

Road trip to the east on the 401 to visit Glenn.HalfByte needed attention and asked Glenn to take a peek. Glenn did a quick triage and pointed out a couple items that had been missed some how during the latest dealer B service in August. What started as a short easy day for Glenn and Matt took a bit longer. Sorry guys.In short order the plan to get the little guy up to code was in place and work started. They talked, answered any question and made me feel comfortable. No double speak.Both Glenn and Matt had taken care of the car as if their own.One word of caution... do not ride shotgun in Glenn's Smart, you will beg for his remap to be installed before the first km is done. Yes it was installed and had a bit of fun driving around London - Starbucks can not be found near his garage , and the 401 back to Windsor most 'interesting' testing the ride.Can you say I am glad to finally meet them.Now to wash off all the bugs in the morning. Ready for the next roadtrip to Ottawa while the politicians are away this week.

Welcome to the forum.A nicer group can not be found.

I also had not heard of clay before, but I found this (to me) useful video

Have found using Mothers Claybar twice a year (mid may and mid Sept-Oct), waxing and of course washing helps to limit the 'rust' etc on the body.Canadian Tire - Mothers Claybar system

Update:took out the battery and looked at the connector to the e-box. No discolouration on the outside of the connector or wires, opened connector and one set of pins (white) looked a bit dull. So out came the socket wrench, wire cutters, soldering iron and heat shrink tube.30 minutes later triple check wiring harness, reassembled battery and cables.Start the car... no more caution light for water separator. Replaced the foam insert, enter the radio code and good to go.Even though the connector looked good it was failing and should have listened.Thanks everyone.

(2013-04-26)Well the dealer did a diagnostic check (inspect wiring and Star) - then told me there was water in the separator filter needed to be changed. Did the filter change, test drove it etc took just under two hours of labour plus parts. Ended up being over twice the cost I expected. Dang. Drove it to work (was late of course since it took a half hour longer than promised --- next time will get them to drop me off.Started after work and guess what? You bet the caution light was on once again. Not happy to say the least. Have to reschedule for another expensive service.The last tank of diesel had approx 200 km prior to the light activating... could it be a bad fill? Seems a long shot since if there was that much water would the mileage not suffer or atleast the engine run really rough? Had to do some driving today and added another 125km, wonder if I should get it down to 5l and fill from another station prior to going for service? The station I get diesel from has never been a problem in the 4.5 years of going there (95% of the time).Thoughts?

Will splice and heat shrink the connection in the battery well this weekend. Scheduled a service for Friday am to replace filter

450 Pulse CDi Last night when I started the car for the trip home the fuel water light came on. This morning (work late too dark to really see) checking the e-box all nice and dry, looked at the white connector in the battery well there was no dark areas that could be seen. So I started up the car and no caution light this morning? Will drive to work this morning and if it does not come on, will have to remove the battery and check the both connectors to the e-box more closely, removing the e-box from the firewall also. My thinking is the connector may be starting the flake out.If the caution light activates then schedule fuel filter replacement as soon as possible (Friday or first of next week).Only 66700km and first time for the filter change.

Replaced the tires on my CDi. Old Conti's no longer safe imho.Bridgestone B340 took a week and half to come in, installed now to see how they handle.

@aderoy: so you got the new design latches? That's great! What does it say on your paperwork?Bil

Here is what is on the invoice:Campaign 2012100005 replace L and R door lock assemblies1 450-720-01-00 Lock Door LH1 450-720-02-00 Door LockFC: 072910477 PDoes this help?

Mine had been changed on the 30th of Jan. Dealer stated that the new latches had been released and scheduled me for installation and B service in the next day.Could that mean the rollout has started?

Going in for a scheduled A service, received a call yesterday from the Dealer stating the Door Latch should be available today. It will be installed during the A service so I would not have to make a second appointment.Glad to hear, door has stuck a few times this month. Will report if the install is completed today.Work has been completed. Door latch does sound different. Took longer than expected, Paperwork was not ready and was late for work so will be a few days to see part numbers.

Today did the swap out from summer for winter tires. Noticed the summers are getting low on thread so will place on the list to purchase Jan 2013. This should give me the time to find better than stock 450 tires.

Anybody who claims they get reasonable FE (<5.5 l/100 km) in a cdi at high freeway speeds is selling (or smoking) something. I went Montreal to Hamilton and back on the weekend -- exactly 600 km each way -- at the flow of Autoroute 20/Highway 401/407 traffic. In other words, steady 130 to 135 km/h. I managed a 7.9 l/100 km up-wind (west-bound) and 7.5 down.

On the 401 and some 403 can not complain.With the 450 CDi during trips to London (monthly) and Toronto (every few months) FE is 3.3 to 4.1 with summer being the best of course. This is over the last 3 years. Heck of a lot better than my last car which was in the 10.5 to 14 range for the same trips, and right foot.

Other manufactures have height adjustable pedals for tiny people. One of those may be a better match.

5ft != tinyI am 'only' 60 inches in height yet not tiny. May be shorter than average (or normal height in land of giants?).Yes it is a challenge for anyone to get into the car who just does not happen to be my height (work vehicle or when bringing into the shop for repair). There are some challenges for the non adjustable pedal. Lucky for me there is not a problem with my hip, just a bad knee to content with. If the seat height could be changed it would make a big difference. Wonder if this would be a better avenue to investigate? By changing the seat height is how I adapt cars to my situation.

During the mindless surfing came across this: