smart Car - Faulty Fuel Pump

[rioku]

I am starting to suspect Smart Car's are sold with a faulty fuel pump. The fuel pump in my Passion went bad after 5,000 miles and they originally told me it would take a month to fix because the part was on back-order. Normally, parts go on back-order because they are in high demand.

I was lucky in that my Smart was still under warranty but these people do not seem to be as lucky: (sorry as this is my first post it will not let me post links)

• smartcarofamerica.com SEARCH:fuel-pump-repair-cost
• Yahoo Search: In need of a smart car person to answer question?
• smartcarofamerica.com SEARCH:cranks-but-no-start

I know this is not very scientific but it does seem to be a trend starting here.

Has anyone else had fuel pump problems? Or know of someone who has. It would be smart to exchange this information to protect others who might have to pay $700 for a new fuel pump.

[forestacademy]

Fuel pump repair cost ??

Looking over the above thread it was one of the first we had heard of here
And at $650 to replace out of waranty it was expensive. But we never found out if that included the tow. We also only heard from a friend of an owner, so it was a second hand account.

smart traditionaly has not kept a lot of spare parts in the country. Especialy if they have not been needed yet. So to me that "shortage" you speak of is due to a lack of supply not an excess of demand.

I had to have my fuel pump replaced twice in my Versa under waranty, so this kind of thing comming from suppliers is not uncommon, but it is uncommon in a smart.

Remember, you only hear from those that have a problem, not the 20K= owners in the US who don't.

[Godfather]

I mean no insult, but there's another angle to consider here. Smart owners seem to be a bit anal about mileage, and are more likely to run the tank WAAAY down to stretch it as far as possible. This is going to result in the pump running a greater percentage of the time without fuel to cool it, and there's less fuel to start with. Fried pump..........

[SmartDigger]

Good point, As a rule I never run below reserve. I figure the reserve will get you to a filling point, but it is not meant to be used all the time.

[krassegrand]

Originally Posted by Godfather

I mean no insult, but there's another angle to consider here. Smart owners seem to be a bit anal about mileage, and are more likely to run the tank WAAAY down to stretch it as far as possible. This is going to result in the pump running a greater percentage of the time without fuel to cool it, and there's less fuel to start with. Fried pump..........

I have to disagrea. without having any fact to back it (exept that I allways run it lower than 0) I would say that those eventual air bubbles that might come in to the pump when You after 600 km (400 miles) have the very last liters in the tank does not make any difference.
It might be working a little harder for some kilometers but I realy think You would have heard it, on the Roadster the fuel sender is sitting not more than 40 cm from the drivers head.

Jörgen

[Old smart]

Originally Posted by krassegrand

I have to disagrea. without having any fact to back it (exept that I allways run it lower than 0) I would say that those eventual air bubbles that might come in to the pump when You after 600 km (400 miles) have the very last liters in the tank does not make any difference.
It might be working a little harder for some kilometers but I realy think You would have heard it, on the Roadster the fuel sender is sitting not more than 40 cm from the drivers head.

Jörgen

The service tech at my smart center said that the fuel pump will be turned off before running dry.

[Big Panda]

Originally Posted by rioku

I am starting to suspect Smart Car's are sold with a faulty fuel pump. The fuel pump in my Passion went bad after 5,000 miles and they originally told me it would take a month to fix because the part was on back-order. Normally, parts go on back-order because they are in high demand.

True, this is ONE reason. Another is that there is such LOW DEMAND that the parts depot hasn't had a reason to stock many.

With someone else posting that this was the first time they heard of this issue, my guess is that it's due to LOW DEMAND rather than high demand.

Also, keep in mind that smart or even MB isn't the actual manufacturer of the fuel pump or many other parts on their cars. Like all manufacturers, parts are supplied by independent vendors and the manufacturer, in this case 'smart', covers the part under their warranty.

[krassegrand]

Originally Posted by Old smart

The service tech at my smart center said that the fuel pump will be turned off before running dry.

That sound resonable because I did not hear the pump at all the one time I drove it until it stopped. And it can allso explain why it differs so much how much one can get into the tank after driven it "dry".

Jörgen

[T12121]

I normally fill up when I have one bar left on the gas gauge. I had a mechanic buddy of mine tell me to never let the gas get that low while driving. Normally I when I fill up I put between 6 and 7 gallons of fuel.

[Old smart]

Originally Posted by krassegrand

That sound resonable because I did not hear the pump at all the one time I drove it until it stopped. And it can allso explain why it differs so much how much one can get into the tank after driven it "dry". Jörgen

The fuel pump can readily be heard by removing the fill-cap and listening down the pipe. It is a soft "tump-tump-tump-...," about three times a second.