Engine light on, lost power, sputtering (4th time 164 miles)

[spdickey]

I had exactly the first thing after my first fill up. In my case it was the gas cap. However, I may have overfilled the tank, too. That would effect emission control equipment like the charcoal canister. Stopping the car, resetting the gas cap fixed it that night. But a few weeks later I got a check engine light the day after a fill-up. Had to replace the canister and another gas tank emissions vapor switch.

Beware of overfilling the tank!

[Smartdavis]

I had a good friend tell me that happens sometimes with his wife. The engine light comes on, then it loses power, starts sputtering and he gets throttled.

I know, I know, off topic...

[anthony94114]

So now they think they think it's the throttle body but won't really know till they try one from another car. They can't get till Monday if they're lucky. Anybody know what the throttle body does?

Also, thank you all for your ideas. I'm forwarding them all to the techs there. I guess the car is so new that there isn't much experience with any problems.. so it's a hunt for the solution.

[JRyan]

If you don't want to continue dealing with the problem, check the Lemon Law (Tanner Consumer Protection Act) in CA. 4 repair for the same problem will qualify you for the lemon law, that means the ability to return the car for a refund, or get another new car.

It all depends on whether you believe a lemon will always be a lemon. If I were you, if your dealer cannot figure out what the problem is and continue to repair by trial and error, I would seriously consider asking for a new car.

[anthony94114]

After owning a decidedly flawed MINI, I'm aware of the Lemon Law..

Nonetheless, the smart hasn't actually had 4 attempts to fix (just four instances of the same-ish problem) .. nor am I interested in giving up on it yet. It's got less than 175 miles!!! It seems smartsf is really giving it their all.. even contacting smartusa for further consult. It sounds as if they're even pulling a part from an incoming car to find a solution. If it goes on.. who knows. I certainly don't want a $16,000 paperweight but I'm keeping a patient attitude and honestly, I knew it wasn't a Toyota when I bought it. That said, I kind of expected more than 9 miles on the odo before the first problem. To be continued...

[JRyan]

Good to hear that your dealership is working hard towards a resolution to your problem. Good luck and keep us posted.

[anthony94114]

Thanks to Kwager and shack01 (and all the rest too!) I'm fetching (or having it delivered to me) my smart tomorrow after almost a week back at the dealer. The shop tore into a million ideas and eventually, they landed on the bad/water gas issue.. and specifically that it's the gas from France.. as the car exhibited the problems before it even had it's first Stateside fill-up. Thank you all for helping. The peeps at the dealer used the forum to read up and it all really was super. Best to all of you!

[JRyan]

Keep an eye on it, I am doubtful of the dealer's diagnosis. First of all, the tank is usually only 2-3 gallon full coming out of the factory, so most of the gas during delivery is not French gas. Second, if it is bad gas from the factory, it would have been affecting a whole batch of their new delivery across the country and this should be a well known issue, and it should not have taken a week to figure out the problem (unless you are the first guy to report the issue).

So I suspect it is something else, the 4 key reasons raised by Jeepster55 could be the real cause. It seems like smart has a much lower tolerance than most other cars if that is the case. It is not a bad thing per se, but it does create headache for people living far from the dealers, or if the dealer does not offer loaners for a multi-day repair.

At least it is nice to hear it is over for you now.

[dennyrex]

I'm beginning to think that my skills in troubleshooting computers will come in handy on my smart ;-)