[pwbaines]

Greetings from the UK!, I own a 2010 451 cabrio which I have had for about 9 months now.​

Had a couple of issues, especially concerning the mhd system (DO YOU HAVE THAT IN THE STATES?) not working, eventually had to replace the fuse box under warranty. I had a more serious issue a couple of weeks ago when smoke was entering the car, upon closer examination by a breakdown recovery technician the oil filter had rusted through and a small hole was directing oil under pressure striaght on to the exhaust! This may have had fatal consequences if a fire has started, all this in a car which has only covered 5800 easy miles. All this combined with poor fuel economy makes me question whether the car was a good buy? anyone had similiar problems?
Paul​

 

[jwight]

:welcome: to SCoA!

No mhd for us; have not run into the rusted oil filter issue before. Surprising with such low miles - lots of salt in your area?

 

[kennyrayandersen]

Greetings from the UK!, I own a 2010 451 cabrio which I have had for about 9 months now.​

Had a couple of issues, especially concerning the mhd system (DO YOU HAVE THAT IN THE STATES?) not working, eventually had to replace the fuse box under warranty. I had a more serious issue a couple of weeks ago when smoke was entering the car, upon closer examination by a breakdown recovery technician the oil filter had rusted through and a small hole was directing oil under pressure striaght on to the exhaust! This may have had fatal consequences if a fire has started, all this in a car which has only covered 5800 easy miles. All this combined with poor fuel economy makes me question whether the car was a good buy? anyone had similiar problems?
Paul​

You know this is an interesting post. Quite a number of years ago, whilst I was still at university, I did my senior research project on oil filtration. I tested the medium of several of the popular filters at the time (WIX, Fram, STP, Purolator, Hastings etc.). I also checked out all of the bypass valves and sawed each filter open to inspect the guts.

Shocker -- all of them weren't the same! I remember the Fram in particular had significant rust on the inside -- that's right! the INSIDE! Some of the bypass valves were very flimsy and would open up about 2 psi (pretty much bypass ALL of the time). By pass is OK, as long there is significant flow through the filter, but if the bypass valve is set too low, then hardly any oil goes through the filter! Some center sections had hardly any holes causing large and unnecessary pressure drops across the filter. Some of the media (Hasting in particular) had dirt and grit that washed out! It was a real eye-opener! It doesn't surprise me that you could get a pin-hole in one, and it may not even have been from the outside!

These days I pretty much just stick to the Mobil 1 synthetic filters. They are a little more money than some of the cheaper ones, but the quality appears to be high.

 

[Brabus007]

~The explanation of your oil leak may be explained here~

Inside The Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Filter

 

[kennyrayandersen]

looks like a nice filter! Wonder what they are asking for it. I generally get the Mobil 1 filters for around 10 bucks...

 

[pwbaines]

Oil filter failure

:welcome: to SCoA!

No mhd for us; have not run into the rusted oil filter issue before. Surprising with such low miles - lots of salt in your area?

Hi No salt at all in our area, 20 miles from sea, the oil filter was encapsulated in plastic and i feel that the damage to the canister was done by faulty welding at the factory (I think they use Mitsubishi filters)whcich perhaps cut into the protective covering. I just wonder what Merc would sday if it resulted in a seized engine?
It would seem that it was worth me having a spare filter at home (and not breaking down too far away) saved the day! Perhaps its worth just keeping an eye on the filter (although in 40 years of driving its a first for me!!)
Paul

 

[pwbaines]

Solved the problem!

Hi No salt at all in our area, 20 miles from sea, the oil filter was encapsulated in plastic and i feel that the damage to the canister was done by faulty welding at the factory (I think they use Mitsubishi filters)whcich perhaps cut into the protective covering. I just wonder what Merc would sday if it resulted in a seized engine?
It would seem that it was worth me having a spare filter at home (and not breaking down too far away) saved the day! Perhaps its worth just keeping an eye on the filter (although in 40 years of driving its a first for me!!)
Paul

Eventually solved the catalogue of problems with my smart, SOLD IT!!
Bought a BMW MINI R 56 Diesel hatchback. No more niggily faults, wish I had bought one when I purchased the smart!

I know I might just have had a bad one, but just had enough!
THe mini is far more economical, cheaper to run and actually has put a smile back on my face when I drive it. Something the smart never did"............
Best wishes to everyone
Regards from the UK
Paul

 

[ArthurRW]

Looking at the Bosch distance plus oil filter, synthetic media, .020 case, metal base plate, silicone anti-drainback valve & PTFE synthetic gasket. Sounds a lot like Royal Purple's product.

 

[BB Benz]

and it is available at Walmart.

 

[Uptown Dog Co]

and it is available at Walmart.

What isn't?

 

[smark]

I use Mobil 1. Never a leak.

 

[BB Benz]

What isn't?

I'm pretty sure the royal purple filters are not in stock. The Bosch filters for the smart are, which did surprise me.