[hms6744]

I've been having lots of issues with my smart since this cold weather has struck.
I live in northern Canada and temperatures around this time are fluctuating. For example 2 days ago it was +2 Celsius and within 12 hours it went from that temperature to -23 celsius.
So my smart (2010 80000 km) has always had winter issues. Last year I had an engine light issue. The engine light would blink then remain solid and I could hardly accelerate. I would shut the car off turn it back on its fine. Paid $1500 out of my own pocket and was carless for 3 months while they tried to figure out the issue and still no solution. Told it was a fuel injector sensor issue, had 3 different parts replaced. Was fine all summer until temperatures dropped. I've decided its just how my car is when its cold. Issue only persists in -8 or colder. Anything above that and it drives normally.
Now since these temperatures are being so silly its giving me another issue!! Now its not allowing me to shift into drive, and the ABS and ! light are on. Putting a car in a heated garage or leaving the defrost on for half an hour seems to allow me to drive car and run fine. Anytime its in the cold it acts up.
Now Im extremely hesitant to take it in to get looked at because of its history with acting up with the cold. its not supposed to warm up until next week back to above 0 temperatures so Im going to wait until then to decide if there is an actual problem.
Anyone else experience cold related issues in their smart? Is this an issue I shouldn't be attributing to the weather? Thinking about selling it come spring time since its not a solid car for the winter unlike i had anticipated :crying:

 

[Miss Mercedes]

So, it’s well documented here that my 451’s engine suffers the same exact symptoms yours does. When it’s 20 degrees (-6 C) or lower, my engine shudders like a person not wearing a coat in cold temperatures.

It’s happened to my car since brand new and numerous dealer visits under warranty haven’t turned up a single thing. I have an UltraGauge connected to my car. In cold temperatures the car struggles to reach operating temperature. It seems my thermostat is stuck open.

The result is that the engine misfires and every once in a while triggers a cylinder shutdown. Your car sounds to be experiencing the same.

Once I hit 50,000 miles (end of warranty) I just stopped pursuing a fix. Obviously the dealerships didn’t want to find the true reason. I’ve found using hotter than stock spark plugs does help winter operations.

This isn’t normal, every other 451 I’ve driven doesn’t do this. However, the dealers said I was crying wolf. My money’s on the thermostat, however my car is almost 100,000 miles out of warranty and it’s still chugging along, so oh well.

As for your other issue, how’s the battery? It may be time to replace it. A flat battery will cause a lot of electrical issues.

 

[jwight]

Any OBD codes. That cold weather missing and lack of power could be the burned valve issue.....

 

[Miss Mercedes]

Mine's been happening since new. Any CEL it throws is for cylinder misfire: P030x (where "x" is 1, 2, or 3) Funny, my car wouldn't throw a CEL while in warranty, then as soon as the warranty ended it kicked up that CEL...and about once or twice every winter it'll give me the same CEL.

 

[DreamCarOwner]

I don't know if Canada recieves the same 10% ethanol fuel mix that we do, but it does seem to cause some issues in very cold weather. Lately we have been experiencing very cold snaps for several days. The Smart seems to be really sensitive to the very slightest engine misfire and it seems to me that cold weather increases the odds of a misfire. Sometimes I think it "cries wolf" when it shouldn't. A misfire, a CEL and then a cylinder shuts down when we can't afford to run on only 2 cylinders.The 3B21 engine is noisy in operation and a little on the sluggish side. I note mine loses some power when the outside temp is around 78 or above. Max seems to run the best when its on the 50's or 60's outside. Then in below freezing temps he seems to run sluggish again. Maybe not indicative of all Fortwo's but it is the case with mine, and mine is a healthy engine. Lol. DCO