[Treefrog]

The fuel pump on my 2009 smart car quit. I puled the pump and checked it out to verify that it had actual failed. It had but the car still would not work so i started looking at the SAM unit. Sure enough the pump relay in the SAM unit had failed. I did some checking and a new SAM unit will cost $1500 plus the cost of reprogramming the car to accept the unit. The car is only worth $1500. I have a rule that i will pay no more for repairs than the car is worth.

I have made the decision that as the current SAM unit is worthless as is i decided to open it up and see what is inside. I removed the circuit board and found the relay. The relay is a $1 item ($16 plus shipping in the US). The problem is with removing and replacing it. There is another circuit board mounted directly over the top of the relay. It looks like the only way to remove the upper circuit board is to un-solder it.

Has anyone else worked on a SAM unit and have information on how to remove the upper circuit board.

 

[DreamCarOwner]

At the Evilution site there is a good reference of the relays and pin outs. If you aren't a member of Evilution I think it will still allow you to see part of the article.

https://www.evilution.co.uk/index.php?menu=info&mod=539

It does appear to be labor intensive to remove the top board to gain access to the fuel pump relay. The SAM is so expensive and if I were on your shoes I think I would solder wires to the underside of the fuel pump relay pins and run them outside the SAM unit. Then I would attach a new relay to the wires, in essence piggy backing a good relay to the old one. That would work if the old relay isn't in some manner melted to the on position. If the fuel pump isn't powering on with the old relay, chances are the old relay isn't melted into the on position and a piggy backed relay should work. Anything beats the cost involved of another SAM and programing. DCO

 

[toaster]

The Evilution reference is not very clear on which relay is for the fuel pump... it actually references two relays, and indicates that they also operate a number of additional items.

Check these two references, as I think they are a bit clearer (note this is for the MHD model and may be slightly different):

SAM unit relay configuration

Inside the SAM

How comfortable are you with working on circuit boards? If not, try contacting SOS Diagnostics (S.O.S. Diagnostics - Automotive Programming and Diagnostics) and see if they can repair your SAM. They do have experience programming the smart SAM and could alternatively program a used one for you.

If you want to try repairing it yourself, I can see several possibilities here...

One would be to try working under the edge of the microprocessor board to extract and replace the relay. From the pictures it looks like the clearance may be sufficient.

Or remove the microprocessor board from the SAM. There appear to be 24-pins involved which need to be unsoldered... I'd suggest using a solder-sucker and a good iron.

A third possibility is to bypass the fuel pump relay on the SAM entirely by running the pump from one of the auxiliary fuse positions along the left-hand side of the SAM (as mounted in the car). The top 4 fuse locations are switched with the ignition, see R1 - R4 in the following:

Fuse arrangement

If you need the part number for the fuse holder which fits into these positions, I think I can dig it up. One downside to this last method would be the loss of the ability of the SAM to automatically shutoff the fuel pump in the event of an accident.

~toaster

 

[Treefrog]

Thank you this helps.

The Evilution site shows a 450 SAM and doesn't help. The FQ101 site does provide the correct SAM unit and identifies the correct relay. There is not enough room under the processor board to remove the relay so the options are to remove the processor board or sister a new relay outside of the SAM. Removing the processor board is the best option but i have never had good luck removing parts from a circuit board. I don't like the idea of a second relay. I am giving the Smart to my granddaughter and a loose relay could cause problems that i could live with but don't want to place on the granddaughter so that leaves me with removing and installing parts.

Another option is a $350 replacement SAM from S. O. S. Diagnostics. Thanks for the reference. They are just down the road and actually look like the best option at this point.

 

[toaster]

Having SOS Diagnostics practically in your backyard makes it the best choice by far.

They can copy anything needed from the old SAM to a replacement unit along with programing your keys to it. Should any issues arise from the SAM transplant, they are nearby to rectify them.

Good luck and let us know how things work out.

~toaster