HELP diagnose Smart car issue

[chief916]

Hope someone here can give me some Insite on what might be going on with our Smart Brabus.  the DW, took the car into town for a medical appointment. When heading home she stopped for gas and filled up. 15 miles down the road the car cuts off and she parked it in a church parking lot. the car would crank but not start so I had it towed to my mechanics shop. he checked it out and told us we needed cam crank sensor. so I purchased one and gave it to him. After about a week he calls and tells us he installed the sensor but it still wont run. The motor cranks and he has spark but it wont start. we asked if he got any codes and he said no.

Could this possibly be a bad fuel pump?? its only got 40000 miles on it. Is there anything else I can tell him to check to get the car fixed?  Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

Thanks in advance

Ben "chief916"

[Lloyd]

If your "mechanic" is relying on you for tech tips find another mechanic. If he is not competent enough to check fuel supply, or do other simple diagnostic steps tow your car away from him. 

 

Sincerely,

 A professional mechanic

[Darryl&Rita]

Agree with Lloyd. The days of putting a hand on the valve cover and diagnosing problems is long gone. Your guy needs to be able to basic diagnostics. Having Mercedes software available wouldn't hurt, either. Does the fuel door smell like gas, or diesel? Basic troubleshooting still has a place, but electronics definitely help.

[GlennWest]

It sounds like bad fuel. 15 miles down the road would use what fuel is in lines. That less than half a gallon. 

[DJW]

Was it raining at the time?  What year is the smart.  On our 2003 smart car.  Yes it was one of the original 1342 smarts brought into the US by C&K out in CA and converted to US spec.  I had traded my sister the smart for her RAV4 for a week so we could haul my Father and my MIL to our sons wedding.  Anyway she was driving the smart and it was raining and she thought the wiper controls would make the wipers go faster using the intermittent or what she thought was the intermittent wiper control and rolled it counter clockwise 4 times.  Well MB had built in a security feature that if you rolled the wiper control 4 times counter clockwise it would not allow the car to start.  It was raining cats and dogs and she was stopped at a major intersection when she did it and the car shut off.  She was a block from her office and had to call for help.  3 folks from her office came to her aid and pushed it around the conner and into a parking lot.  She called me in a panic and back in 2006 when this happened there were not very many smarts around.  I put the problem on the smart forum and within 30 min someone gave me the answer. We were the 4th folks to put a smart on the back of our Volvo 770.  Anyway try rolling the wiper controls end 4 turns clockwise and see if that works.

 

Dennis

Edited July 29, 2023 by DJW

[chief916]

On 7/28/2023 at 3:29 PM, Lloyd said:

If your "mechanic" is relying on you for tech tips find another mechanic. If he is not competent enough to check fuel supply, or do other simple diagnostic steps tow your car away from him. 

 

Sincerely,

 A professional mechanic

Thank you Sir, I appreciate your input.

[chief916]

18 hours ago, Darryl&Rita said:

Agree with Lloyd. The days of putting a hand on the valve cover and diagnosing problems is long gone. Your guy needs to be able to basic diagnostics. Having Mercedes software available wouldn't hurt, either. Does the fuel door smell like gas, or diesel? Basic troubleshooting still has a place, but electronics definitely help.

Thanks Darryl, will tell him what you had to input on monday.

[chief916]

8 hours ago, GlennWest said:

It sounds like bad fuel. 15 miles down the road would use what fuel is in lines. That less than half a gallon. 

Glenn I am inclined to agree with you. I will talk to my mechanic on monday. Thanks.

Ben

[chief916]

7 hours ago, DJW said:

Was it raining at the time?  What year is the smart.  On our 2003 smart car.  Yes it was one of the original 1342 smarts brought into the US by C&K out in CA and converted to US spec.  I had traded my sister the smart for her RAV4 for a week so we could haul my Father and my MIL to our sons wedding.  Anyway she was driving the smart and it was raining and she thought the wiper controls would make the wipers go faster using the intermittent or what she thought was the intermittent wiper control and rolled it counter clockwise 4 times.  Well MB had built in a security feature that if you rolled the wiper control 4 times counter clockwise it would not allow the car to start.  It was raining cats and dogs and she was stopped at a major intersection when she did it and the car shut off.  She was a block from her office and had to call for help.  3 folks from her office came to her aid and pushed it around the conner and into a parking lot.  She called me in a panic and back in 2006 when this happened there were not very many smarts around.  I put the problem on the smart forum and within 30 min someone gave me the answer. We were the 4th folks to put a smart on the back of our Volvo 770.  Anyway try rolling the wiper controls end 4 turns clockwise and see if that works.

 

Dennis

No Sir, there was no rain but I will ask my DW if she messed with the wipers on the way home. Thank you .

[DJW]

Chief

I don't even know if that security feature is still used by MB or if it was used on the smarts made for America.  I am assuming your smart is a made for America smart which is different from the original MB Smarts in several ways.

Dennis