ZeroGravity

Thanks for all the replies guys... I just got home from XMas with the family... i am working all week but I will post once I get this all figured out more... Till then, the car is parked and I am carpooling to work.

Is there a difference between winter and summer diesel? or is it just because it is older?I will pick up some fuel conditioner... Should I even try driving it on the highway again? or should I just drive it around city streets?

I know, it was bad to do. But when i spoke to mercedes they said it wasnt THAT big of a deal... Ive had the appointment booked a couple times, just always busy...Where can I find a scanner? and approximate price?

- oops -

So, Merry Christmas to everyone, and not so much for me... :(A bit of background first... My car is about 1000Km over its service (I know, I know, but ive been busy, and then I spent all my money on Christmas for my daughter... Anyways!). The car has been parked for about a month or so, and has not been driven... I went to start it a week ago, and it wouldnt turn over, so I checked the battery, and it only read 11.6 - I bought a trickle charger, and charged it for a few hours, turned it over, it fired up no problem... I drove it around for 30 min, parked it, and went in the house. It sat for 5 days, I started it last night, it turned over no problem... I drove it again for about 30 min, and parked it... I was just trying to make sure my battery wasnt dead this morning.SO!I get in this morning, she starts no problem, I start driving to work, everything is okay, I stop at a red light, and it hesitated before it took off, i thought that was odd... Then it did it again at another light... I get on the highway, and once it hits 80km/hr its like it just doesnt want to go any faster... if I continue to hold my foot on the gas, the rpm will slowly climb, and so will the speed to about 95km/hr, but the car isnt reving up really high at all, or anything... I thought maybe because it sat so long that maybe the diesel had an issue and it had some water or something... But I added some more and started heading home... When I started my car, the orange engine light came on in the dash. The speed problem persists. When I got back into Hamilton it is driving perfectly fine below 80Km/hr... The hesitation at the red light only happened the 2 times right at the begining, and then not again.I got home, checked my oil just incase... its pretty black, and is sitting just above the min line... I was reading on here and am thinking possibly the EGR valve, or the turbo?I am NOT a car guy unfortunately... Money is pretty tight right now im afraid... is there anything I can check here at home? any way I can narrow down the problem?Any help would be appreciated... Thanks guys and gals!

yes, the performance mercedes delaership in st catharines.... and Ryan said if it was the wiring harness other things would be happening too... I took it in today, and it wasnt acting up... so they put in a ticket to Mercedes to see if others have had the same thing at all? the guy at the desk said it sounds like a voltage problem?

But should u really have to buy a special tool to keep your car clean?Im sorry, but Ive had a lot of other cars and ive never had to steam clean my seats before when water dripped on them.

I did see that, my problem is that MB told me that they know its a problem with the smart seats, and that it is NOT just the pure, you can just see it a lot more in the Pure. The problem according to them is that the chemical foam inside the seat is soaking in the water and secreting the yellow/brown chemical into the fabric. They told me that it took them 8 different chemicals to get the stains out, and all of them made the problem worse. In the end they took it to a third party, professional car cleaners, and they steam cleaned my seats. In my opinion, cleaning the seat is not a solution, just a band-aid fix... What they should be doing is, A, recall the seats and replace them, or B, reupholster the seats with leather.

So this morning I drive my gf to work, and I check my headlights are no longer blinking with my turn signal... the horn still sounds weaker and hollow... and the backlight on the radio is flickering like crazy... as if someone was turning a dimmer switch on and off rapidly... The Smart specialist at my dealer is great, his name is Ryan... But the service dept ive had a lot of problems with, they seem nice enough, but man... I am going to call head office of MB on tuesday, they are only open 9-5, mon-fri

So the day I picked up my car, 2006 Smart Fortwo (pure), I got a call from the dealership, letting me know they forgot to lazer etch my windows, so... they picked it up while I was at work, and I went later that night to go pick up my car. The next day I was having problems with my radio, I called the dealership, and the techs had no idea what was going on. Eventually I found out the reason it was changing stations on its own was some european setting in the radio that needed to be shut off. No big deal, but I think the MB techs should of known about this. Fast forward to the first rainfall and I notice the water has stained my seats a bit. Just a few droplets... umm... ok, wtf im thinking... So, I get a clean wet cloth and try to clean up the stains, made it 100 times worse. So i decided to just put towels over my seats till I get a steam cleaner or something... I take my car in for its first service... They washed the car, and my rubber floor mats come out light grey with black spots on them... I didnt notice till after I left though because they were still all wet when I pulled out of MB. I asked them to fix it the next time I was in there, assuming they would just replace them. So, my next service comes up... My first B service... Which I find to be very overpriced for what they did. My floor mats, they sprayed them with some kind of grease to give them a "wet" look all the time... WTF? okay, whatever... Then I see the big red blob on my driver seat... I complained and told em to get the stain out... Then when the guy is standing next to me I see the small chip they took outta my paint. AWESOME!! They bring my car in to put some touch up paint on it temporarily till I can get to a third party place that they offer to pay for. (I still have not been able to get ahold of them, its been a couple weeks now...) they also left a huge water mark on my seat while trying to clean the red stain. Soooo... They tell me to drop the car off to them the next week and give me a rental car. They set me up with an SUV. WTF? I commute 45 min to work everyday... So, I tell em I want a different rental the next day... They give me a chevy cobalt... Car was filthy... Had a rotten tomatoe in the back seat! I go pick up my car the next day, and I had to pay for one of the days on the rental car !!!!! Also, my dash backlight blinks when I put my turn signals on, I was told by MB that this happens with all the smarts, and is 'normal' Now for the reason I am posting/bitching about all this... Tonight on my way home I noticed that my headlights are blinking when I have my turn signals on... ARGH!!!! also noticed that my horn sounded... funny... hollow sounding almost... I am assuming that the problems are connected... Battery maybe?? Really starting to hate MB, and my Smart... PS: MB says that all the Smart seats have this stain problem, and that it is a problem with the foam in the seats... when wet the chemical in the foam seeps out a bit... I asked why this was not considered a defect and why they are not FIXING the problem rather than cleaning the problem temporarily. I was informed that the seats only do it f I get it wet, therefore it is MY problem..... Any thoughts? ideas? suggestions?

ya, i tried the tape thing before the channel locks, and they wouldnt budge in the slightest.

I had a hard time removing my orange slices. so, I just used a pair of channel locks to grab the edges of the light, and turned. Was very very easy once I used the proper tool for the job. I did not use anything to put between the pliers and the light tho, and still, no scuff marks at all.... They are installed and working great!

i was honestly shocked to notice that the smart only had one 12v socket to be honest... i called mercedes and asked how much to have a second installed, on the top of my dash, for my GPS, and they said "its not possible, the fuses would ALL blow" - I decided not to argue, but im sure it must be possible. lol...

whats ryans nick name on here anyways?

thanks for the welcomes.