Just my .02 - if it ain't broke, etc..... 
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Again, just my .02 but it appears some new owners are over thinking the car. The Mercedes engineers know what they are doing and the car runs fine as is - if you service it as required and stick to top tier gasoline. Do some more reading, including the owners manual, and you'll find the car is pretty well thought out.
I agree 100%. After 176K miles, if anybody was going to have fuel quality issues, I think I would have... :laugh:Again, just my .02 but it appears some new owners are over thinking the car. The Mercedes engineers know what they are doing and the car runs fine as is - if you service it as required and stick to top tier gasoline. Do some more reading, including the owners manual, and you'll find the car is pretty well thought out.
To the OP: stop worrying about mouse turds, and enjoy the car...
Thanks for all the replies and the fun with the so that I know that it is all in good spirits. And in that same spirit I am replying to some of your answers.
By the way, Kane's site is great and I suggest anyone who does anything to their smart sign up. The information is worth way more than he charges and will save you even more in time and money if you have to do a repair. He also subscribes to the fix it if it is a problem as can be seen in his direction for replacing ball joints. He suggests putting the bolts in backwards so that the next time it is a 10 minute job not a 3 hour job. I don't remember the real times he gave but his pint was it should have been a quick and simple and would have been if they had put the bolts in the other way.
There may have been sediment in the bottom of the tank you are using and it would have been fine but you got there just after the tanker refilled it and caused that trash to be dispersed though out all the gas in the tank. I think it was Amoco oil that for a while installed fillers with a watch glass so you could see what was being pumped into your car. Those have all since been replaced with fillers that do not have the watch glass or in one case I saw the fillers with a new plastic cover so that you could not see the gas. I could see just under the edge of the cover and the watch glass was still there. Gone are the days of pumping the gas up into the transparent bowl and watching it drain into the car. :crying:
Gas evaporates well below its flash point so unless you are checking your engine by candle light or playing with your new stun gun and its pretty sparks you should be fine even if gasoline leaks on the engine.
OK, I know that your saying yeah right just try that in real life and we will come visit you in the burn ward. No you want and YES I have tried that and NOT by choice. There was a factory installed rubber fuel line feeding the fuel rail on a previous car which ruptured as I was driving. The overwhelming smell of gas coming through the vents let me know I had a major issue. I pulled into a parking lot and opened the hood to see a stream of gas about the size of pencil hitting he engine. I turned off the car cut, pulled and reattached the hose tightened the clamp started the engine so the fan could clear the fumes. Closed the hood an drove on.
That said, a fire extinguisher is always a a good thing to have and unlike gas oil can be very dangerous especially if it is dripping on exhaust components. It will reach its flash point before it evaporates if there is a significant amount of oil leaking in the wrong place. So do keep a close eye out for that problem.:|
A few final points. Or here is the problem I have with this setup.
1 I doubt that the filter is much more than a strainer. See comment above. I have changed clogged fuel filters in cars that were bad enough to prevent the car from running. My aunt's Toyota would sputter but not run. Fortunately it had a clear filter and I could see it was clogged. Quick trip to the parts store and she was back on the road. Cars with real filters not strainer have service intervals at which they should be changed. The one in the Subaru I had (and still miss because I ended up selling it due to a bad tank of gas) was twice the size of the Smart oil filter and the one on a Volvo I had was gigantic. Seriously it was like 8" long and 5" in diameter and Volvo expected you to change it per their scheduled maintenance.
2 If it is a real filter and it is on the inlet side of the pump and it gets clogged then you have to drop the tank to fix the problem. Not that big of an issue other than the cost; except part two is that if the filter clogs it will put stress on the pump which can cause the pump to wear/fail and if the pump is wearing or fails where does the debris go. You got, it right up into the fuel lines and into the injectors. Even if the filter is fine the pump can fail and throw trash into your injectors. Thus the possibility that this needs to be fixed.
3 If it is a real filter and is on the outlet side of the pump then is there a strainer on the inlet to protect the pump from trash in the gas? If not the life of the pump could be as short as a single fill up. And the pumps are not cheap.
Again thanks to all and I hope that I have not ruffled too many feathers.>
OH Look I found the Smilies and the option to use quotes.:nerd:
so that I know that it is all in good spirits. And in that same spirit I am replying to some of your answers.Can I get an "Amen" from the choir? Yes I do subscribe to the if it any broke don't fix it; however if it ain't right fix it before it causes a problem and I think this may be one of those issues. Between your .02 and my .02 we still don't have enough to buy an nickle candy-bar Oh wait they don't sell those anymore.
Yes per my above it may need to be fixed.
No filter if it is actually filtering is going to last the life of the car. If you get a realy bad tankful of gas one trip to the gas station could be enough to clog a filter that is actuality filtering not just screening the huge chunks of trash.
By the way, Kane's site is great and I suggest anyone who does anything to their smart sign up. The information is worth way more than he charges and will save you even more in time and money if you have to do a repair. He also subscribes to the fix it if it is a problem as can be seen in his direction for replacing ball joints. He suggests putting the bolts in backwards so that the next time it is a 10 minute job not a 3 hour job. I don't remember the real times he gave but his pint was it should have been a quick and simple and would have been if they had put the bolts in the other way.
Well though out?? Maybe but there are some pretty stupid things as well. Your suggestion about top tier gas may have some merit but I'm assuming you have x-ray vision at your gas station. How else do you know what is actually going into the tank.
There may have been sediment in the bottom of the tank you are using and it would have been fine but you got there just after the tanker refilled it and caused that trash to be dispersed though out all the gas in the tank. I think it was Amoco oil that for a while installed fillers with a watch glass so you could see what was being pumped into your car. Those have all since been replaced with fillers that do not have the watch glass or in one case I saw the fillers with a new plastic cover so that you could not see the gas. I could see just under the edge of the cover and the watch glass was still there. Gone are the days of pumping the gas up into the transparent bowl and watching it drain into the car. :crying:Thanks for the safety advice, oh wait no it is not needed.
Gas evaporates well below its flash point so unless you are checking your engine by candle light or playing with your new stun gun and its pretty sparks you should be fine even if gasoline leaks on the engine. OK, I know that your saying yeah right just try that in real life and we will come visit you in the burn ward. No you want and YES I have tried that and NOT by choice. There was a factory installed rubber fuel line feeding the fuel rail on a previous car which ruptured as I was driving. The overwhelming smell of gas coming through the vents let me know I had a major issue. I pulled into a parking lot and opened the hood to see a stream of gas about the size of pencil hitting he engine. I turned off the car cut, pulled and reattached the hose tightened the clamp started the engine so the fan could clear the fumes. Closed the hood an drove on.
That said, a fire extinguisher is always a a good thing to have and unlike gas oil can be very dangerous especially if it is dripping on exhaust components. It will reach its flash point before it evaporates if there is a significant amount of oil leaking in the wrong place. So do keep a close eye out for that problem.:|
A few final points. Or here is the problem I have with this setup.
1 I doubt that the filter is much more than a strainer. See comment above. I have changed clogged fuel filters in cars that were bad enough to prevent the car from running. My aunt's Toyota would sputter but not run. Fortunately it had a clear filter and I could see it was clogged. Quick trip to the parts store and she was back on the road. Cars with real filters not strainer have service intervals at which they should be changed. The one in the Subaru I had (and still miss because I ended up selling it due to a bad tank of gas) was twice the size of the Smart oil filter and the one on a Volvo I had was gigantic. Seriously it was like 8" long and 5" in diameter and Volvo expected you to change it per their scheduled maintenance.
2 If it is a real filter and it is on the inlet side of the pump and it gets clogged then you have to drop the tank to fix the problem. Not that big of an issue other than the cost; except part two is that if the filter clogs it will put stress on the pump which can cause the pump to wear/fail and if the pump is wearing or fails where does the debris go. You got, it right up into the fuel lines and into the injectors. Even if the filter is fine the pump can fail and throw trash into your injectors. Thus the possibility that this needs to be fixed.
3 If it is a real filter and is on the outlet side of the pump then is there a strainer on the inlet to protect the pump from trash in the gas? If not the life of the pump could be as short as a single fill up. And the pumps are not cheap.
Again thanks to all and I hope that I have not ruffled too many feathers.>
OH Look I found the Smilies and the option to use quotes.:nerd:
Sensei, if this "design feature" keeps you awake at night, sell the darn smart.
You flat wore me out with that response . . .
Some people are lucky.
Others might not have such good fortune.
More than just "some" people: http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f4/who-has-most-miles-who-s-over-50-000-a-29591/
Gotta ask, did Uncle George drive a smart?
Dylan may have said it best back in the 60's, The Times They are a Changing'. That applies to even the engineering and manufacturing of passenger vehicles. Heck, "it's not your Father's Oldsmobile" because the brand is dead and gone!
When I go out to my 2008 smart and put the key in the ignition I never "hope" it will start and get me from point A to point B. I just get in buckle up, put the top back and GO!
Oh and when I go road trippin' in my smart ED, GOT NO STINKIN' FUEL FILTER!
Murphy happens, you deal with it and life goes on . . .
Now go out and check the air pressure in your spare tire . . .
opcorn:
Exactly how much more proof do you need? I have put every single one of the 176K+ miles on my smart. No additional filter, no issues. And trust me, I've gotten a few "bad" tanks of gas in that time. One on the way to the Kansas City Nationals that netted me a whopping 24 mpg!!!
I think I could have pee'd in the tank and had better fuel!!!No issues, no side effects. I come from a long line of mechanics as well. I've been wrenching on cars since I was 8 or 9. Always worked on my own vehicles, always will. But if it isn't broke, don't fix it...
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