Checkling out the new traded in car, a 2009 smart fortwo ... never had anything to do with these cars so gave it a once over and replaced the front lower suspension arm and gave it a service.
I always find it interesting how many parts on a car have different names in the UK than what we call them here in the US. And the same thing applies to tools. I've had my Smart car for 7 years and I totally love it. More fun to drive than any vehicle I have ever had. It is a playtoy and I could never get rid of it. And lastly I am a retired mechanic and do all my own repairs and I find the car easy to work on unless you need to do something up underneath the dash. Then you have to remove a seat. It is hard for an old man like me to get in that position and when I do I can barely get back up. Loved your video Alan. You are very good with videos. Cheers!
I had nothing good to say about Smart cars until I drove one and now I can honestly say it's the most fun I've had in any of the cars I've ever driven. It's economical, great to park and drives like a go-cart. I'm truly shocked you didn't get any comments about saying it's for the fairer sex...why should they have all the fun! 😂
I had a 2011 smart car come in as a part exchange on a van. It sat for a month and then I had no vehicle to get home in 1 day. And it converted me from laughing at people driving these cars to me getting 3 as courtesy cars. Yeah shocking. The paddle triptronic gearbox was fun it was like a go-cart. It's only a 1.0 engine but it happily sits at 85 Never got to see the fuel consumption as it was flat out everywhere lol. But great little cars. Great video 👍👍
I’ve a Smart Brabus in stock. The ForFour. Which isn’t at all the same. No smile. Other than for the performance. I have a 96 CappuccinoSuzuki for smiles per mile lol
So torque specs for that control arm is long grunt for the inner bolt and short grunt for the outer. Understood! 😁 Now, _aluminum will be very susceptible to galvanic corrosion in contact with copper, assuming that the two metals are also in contact with a common electrolyte (such as water with some ionic content.)_ . Eg. I've seen brass eat away on stainless - no less. But it took a long time. Perhaps that washer isn't OEM and could be the cause why the oil plug was stuck. And btw. When oil filters are fitted like that, it is a good idea to fill it with oil before screwing it on. In case you didn't know that. 😉
Loved the video, I have just got rid of my 08 Smart car and bought a 2013, however, the 08 had 97000 miles on the clock when I did the trade in, the 2013 had 25000 when I bought it and since May, we have done over 3000 miles. The wife and I live in Somerset and we are out in the car most days I tend to get around 60 to the gallon and although we have a top speed of 81, it's nice when we do go on the motorway to watch all these high powered car owners faces when we overtake them, B.M.W. drivers hate it, and tend to make it known that they have a car that can do a ton plus, but for the wife and I its mainly country roads where this car comes into its own, and of course the weekly shop, Parking in a supermarket car park gives you plenty of room to park the trolly behind the car and not block the road for other shoppers. These are great little cars and to be honest, if they were to bring out a Smart electric with a range of 150 miles, I would jump at the chance. But for now, with road tax a zero and petrol at around £1.50 a ltr, I cannot complain, i don't even have to pay to go into London. So a good deal all round
Bush did ok across 15 years !!! Did enjoy that Alan. May have sold cars 18 years but I’m a noob trying mechanics. Helped. Thanks as ever for content. One day may tackle this level of job.
Remember doing loads of brake pedal switches and covers on the Mk1 version, they made the cover seal out of wotsits so it used to let water in and kill the switch
You are correct. Sump cracks around oil drain plug well known for it. As you have it out, always replace copper washer as new they are softer copper which makes it easier to remove Had my smart 9 years, and I always use a vacuum pump to extract oil, as the sump is a nightmare to replace. Also noticed when you opened engine cover the insulation is hanging down can drop down on engine causing fire also well known, i like video keep up the good work.
The oil drain plug is a new feature, as the original series 700cc engine did not have one and the oil had to be pumped out via the filler point! Great cars for towns...
I can't believe it was only £40 for that full built up arm. If it were mine I would have changed both os and ns just for extra peace of mind, that's just a personal choice though. Cracking video 👍
Official MPG is always different from real world driving, and it depends on how the car is driven. The Smart Club organised a drive from London Bridge (?) to Edinburgh Castle on one tank of fuel, the cars driving in convoy, and there was some fuel left. I have the next version of Smart, and the display gives an MPG readout, with 70+ for some complete trips with gentle driving (aircon turned off).
Hello Alan , quite nice to see something different. Not sure about these but they do look easy to work on. One thing is for sure i would rather drive one of them than a electric car. Can we see more of the mx5 please 😊
Hi Alan glad to see you back on the channel.A different car on the channel for a change.l personally think that this car is both unsafe and ugly.A very informative video as usual.
Go like sh*t off a shiny shovel! I used to do a countryside paper round in one, I opted for one of these to do it in, 300 papers, 30 miles and could do it 40 minutes quicker in this car rather than a ford fiesta! great little car!
Ref sump plug…. The very early versions didn’t have sump plugs. So later in life no one knew how to drain the oil, so it got missed and caused early engine failures, mainly due to chains failing. So I’m sure they’ve made up for it with a massive sump plug on a tiny engine.😂😂
Good to see you dismantle stuff that is rusted. Gives us amateurs hope. What a strange trade in a Smart car for a Mondy Mk 3. I have a Mk3 estate which is about four times as long as that car. I would not look at that pile of crap.
I have to admit. I'd like to try how these drive. Reminds me of Suzuki Carryall Van I once drove. Scary and funny as sh*t and felt like your feet are in same place as headlights. He had to align our shoulders to close doors. Tried to clock 0-100km/h, but we shutdown to clock at around something like three minutes and 95km/h and concluded that it's best it doesn't go any faster, what deathtrap. It was easy to change tires though as other could just lift it from the wheel arch for the job 😂 I don't know, I have some twisted perversion for Japanese Kei cars. They're....hilarious, though I've never actually owned one 🙂 Back to this Smart. That fuel consumption is quite disappointing as that thing can't weight that much. Though I suppose it has quite much squares looking from front. I wonder how much speed affects consumption. Likely quite much.
my friend had just been promoted to service manager at a posh garage, +she had just started a new mechanic that week. she gave him one to service. 3hrs later, nobody knew where he or the car were. turned out they do not jump very well, he was dead in the upturned wreckage in a field on the back-road of the dealership, next to the dip/hump bit. he was found by another mechanic she had sent out to look for him, that poor sod was off work for weeks. not the best start to your new position...
I live in Central london , my 2008 Smart 451 does 10 miles per ltr including 50% of the time I am not moving, on the motorway 15 miles per ltr @ not hanging about, although the 999cc engine slows on the hills.
Awful things Alan I had a pizza delivery job over 20 years ago and we had two of these I could never get on with it, I remember the boss reversed and hit a lampost one evening and he repaired it with expanding foam 🤣🤣🤣
Alan where i work we just replace the arms, for easier and the OEM arms are cheap anyway, not worth just changing the ball joint. we also re track them after wards. and yes the back bolts are a pain in the arse sometimes. wow 45-55mpg, my 2019 Mazda 2 1.5 sky active is getting 44.1mpg and it is thrashed to an inch of it's twice daily coz it's gutless (90bhp and 85nm of torque) but it's my baby and i actually love the little car coz it's handling is actually pretty good.
I love them when they first came out but I have heard that the automatic gears are a bit Jerky it would be good if you could take it for a test drive and give us your opinion of how it drives
My dad always told me to put grease on the oil filter rubber seal, but i only put oil on. But i might try grease because ive had a few get quite difficult to get undone
A friend of mine had one and gave me a lift one day , I can honestly say it was the most uncomfortable car I’ve ever been in , with the seat all the way back I still had my chin on my knees almost... 😳
Of course you are right @@GrimDollLotus. I am 6.1 and for a Dutch male that is not too tall, but I ft very well in my awesome little Smart car. You know who else fits n? Shaq, one huuuuge man, ... yes, he drives a Smart car too.
I've always wondered on smarts as most cars they say undo the wheels by going opposite to the wheel nut youve taken off, but on a smart is it clockwise or anti clockwise?
Nice to see Moni making an appearance she would have cracked that sump plug off with a proper bar Mmm I wonder whom has a young teenage so for ideal first car Ideal for tip runs. Someone must have made a camper car on RU-vid
Alan old version mk1 smart i t was better with mileage semi 6 speed gear box, ;-) You drive this car like on the horse ride ;-) always lifted front up 😂
When you said smart car I thought until seeing the engine, it was going to be an electric vehicle. Given the state of the vehicle I hope you didnt over pay on the trade in.
You would think that, but no they do wear suspension components out pretty quick; well here in good old London they do because of the many many pot holes and rubbish roads in general.
You think the NA is funky? Better drive one of the rockets with 120hp :D Knocks down the clutch in no time and without a limiter good for almost 200km/h :D I call mine the „cannonball“ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You have never had anything to do with these cars? Piece of advice. Keep it that way. They are bloody awful. Reliability isn't their strong point. I bought one for my daughter and it had horrendous CANBUS issues and kept cutting out. No one could resolve it and having done some investigation online it appeared to be a common problem that no one had fixed so I got shot of it
I remember these when they were fairly new and I share youre sentiments I worked for a pizza joint and we had two,electrics and a horrible snappy gear change is what I remember and not brilliant on fuel either which was the point in getting them, some may love them it wasn't my cup of tea I stuck to my MK2 fiesta back then a much better car
The ground strap from the engine to the frame is the most frequent cause. The SAM relies on the most excellent ground. And did you check for solder bleeding on the SAM? A bad ground can cause solder points to actually 'evaporate' their solder. Remove that "earth" ground and polish up nice and shiny both the eyelet and its contact point on the frame and then the eyelet and contact point on the engine. Simple corrections, but very little room to work in. Now if you know how to use a 10 amp 1 Ohm resistor, you can delete all codes. BUT you will have to go through a relearn of the system
@@gigmaresh8772 The first thing I did was replace the ground strap and cleaned all the areas around the fixing points. I also added an additional strap.
