Rear door hatch ratle, going crazy - 451 smart fortwo

Hi Jose, Great that smart fo…

2009-08-22T22:24:32.383Z

Hi Jose,

Great that smart found the problem and the rattle has been fixed. It's good that you persisted on getting it fixed... often wonder how many cars (any make) are being driven with defects that the owner just ignores.

Most unusual for the roof to be rattling. There was a news item last year about a very small batch of smarts being recalled to have the windscreen (windshield) refitted due to faulty adhesive sealant. The article had read that the sealant could cause corrosion of the frame and the screen come loose. It may have been a side column in the weekend paper.. I can't find the article reference online.

Of casual interest, I did stumble onto an article about the polycarbonate roof and it's manufacture: http://www.azom.com/news.asp?newsID=8481

Hello Ian, I got back my smar…

2009-08-22T15:33:38.684Z

Hello Ian, I got back my smart yesterday, after a 2 and half days of work by the Mercedes Dealer, I was told they adjust the doors handles, latches, they lube them, moved, etc, but the most intriging part was that they had to remove the roof because aparently it was not properlly fixed on one end in the back and that being the reason for a ratle there.
It has improved and I can't hear a mechanical noise, at least so far, although I do hear the glass rubing on the door seals.
I am impresed by the poor french assembly quality of the car, to me looks like not paying attention to it in the prosess, I had other french car in the past like Peugeots, and no this kind of problems, I wonder what Mercedes has to say about it.
Anyway I hope now to star enjoying it, since I like it a lot. Cheers.

There is nothing I know of th…

2009-08-17T22:21:24.481Z

There is nothing I know of that causes rattles from the engine or suspension on a new smart. It would have to be an exception to the build process... It's more likely to be in the body.(?) Engine mounts or suspension noises may be serious build defects... which is unlikely. A novice mechanic dropping something between the muffler and body or engine when the car was being prepped at delivery is more likely. Maybe something was dropped into the heat vents under the tailgate when they fitted the rear licence plate... that I can imagine... a self tapping screw or a screwdriver bit slipped down the vents and the mech didn't go looking for it and it now bounces on top of the muffler or is wedged between muffler and body.

My smart had door latch noises on the day I collected it. The main door latches had no lubricant on them. The "best" I could lay my hands on was "White Lightning" bicycle chain lube. I use it a lot on my bicycles. It is a waxy lube in a fluid medium that dries to a wax; so it doesn't collect dust and grit as would standard grease or oil. Both doors groaned a bit. A squirt of White Lightning on the latches and they stayed quiet for over six months. They recently started up a bit of noise again, so another squirt silenced them again. The doors are big and any movement in the body or door will cause a rub at the latch that can make a squeaky sort of rattle. The door latches are behind the drivers ears, so it can sound like a tailgate noise.

I assume you have checked inside the access panels on each side at the rear. The panels give access to wiring looms for the tail lights. The wires and connectors should come wrapped in bubble plastic. If wires or a connector are in contact with the body panel, they may cause a rubbing or rattling noise,

Hello Ian, going back to my o…

2009-08-17T20:25:32.635Z

Hello Ian, going back to my original question, the noise, ratle or whatever it is, is not gone, are you aware of something inside the engine comparment or in the suspension that may be lose and hit the chasis ? I am getting crazy about it, maybe I will take it into the Smart shop. What about the safety belt mechanism ? or inside the door ? or the door itself, perhaps is moving, is there any log of known problems about it. It is a brand new one less than 400 Kmts on it.

Use of the horn can be a cult…

2009-08-17T02:02:21.625Z

Use of the horn can be a cultural thing. In many parts of Asia, the incessant beeping of tiny horns takes some getting used to. Over here, it would need a front "bull bar" with air horns to get the trucks' attention. Car horns are rarely used and by the time the truck driver figured out what it was, it would be too late.

Australia only gets the smart pulse. Only black with silver trim interiors. I once bought a Honda Civic with red interior... I never got used to it... Honda never tried that colour again in Australia... and I doubt if any car maker will try anything but black and greys for the Aussie market... except maybe MB with cream / white leathers. I ordered the black leather seats on my smart pulse and I'm almost disappointed because the leather is very plain, no grain. Looks like plastic, smells like leather. But very comfortable - I have driven a few trips of over 9 hours in a day.

One thing I learnt about the smart:
They are quick to assemble but not so quick to dis-assemble... It took me hours to pull the switches out of the dash and get the shroud panel to popup at the front just so I could get to the pods and swap them over from left to right. Re-assembling was very quick and easy. Can almost imagine the factory where snap, snap, snap goes on all day as panels are put into place.

If you pull the front off.. allow plenty of time and coffee.
Cheers.

Yea Ian, I know what are you…

2009-08-17T01:31:41.164Z

Yea Ian, I know what are you talking about, by the way, here yellow is still a valid option, Smart does thing differently by country I guess, marketing geniuos I would say, I had mine in Silver, at the begining I wanted white, but silver got me, also my wife wanted the interior in Red, God helped me, since we could not locate one in a timely maner, so it was black inside, at the end Silver/Silver/Black was the result, and I was facinated.

I will use it mostly to conmute to the office, I had to go through the City belt, where there are lots of trailers, an even when the Smart is taller, I doubt they can see me through the mirrors in their backs if they go back for a reason, so I want them to hear me loud and clear.

I will get the horns and do the job properlly, just wanted at this time to drive it, but I do enjoy disassembling the stuf, just for the pure plaesure of seen how is made from the inside.

See you.

Hey Thanks Sato, that sounds…

2009-08-17T01:14:29.895Z

Hey Thanks Sato, that sounds like an alternative, although removing the front doesn't look like big deal, after all is just the antena the triangle side covers the sills side panels and finally the the front, just kiding, probably I will do just for fun, eventually, I just wanted to look for a quick solution, at this time, but if it has to be done, it will. I'll get the horns and be ready, when I feel like doing, I will go for it.

Hi Jose, The small size of th…

2009-08-17T00:29:03.875Z

Hi Jose,
The small size of the smart is a bit "overstated"... if you park next to many other small cars, the smart is actually taller. But to be safe, I ordered mine in bright yellow... sort of: "what do mean you didn't see me?!"

Why, oh why, did smart discontinue the yellow body panels and substitute grey is one of those deeper Teutonic mysteries.

The most frequent use of a horn in Australia would be on the bush roads, trying to chase kangaroos and cassowaries (big birds) off the road. In the US it would be deer. In some countries it may be moose.... in those situations the bigger the horn the better. Nothing short of military issue would scare the big trucks here. Ever see the opening scenes of Men In Black 1.... splat!

From the Evilution site where removal of the front panels is shown and Sato's comments, it's one of those jobs that you either do in detail and pull the front off the smart, or take faith in Velcro self adhesive strips.

I have enough troubles keeping the Velcro strip holding the ScanGauge stuck to the dash to make me wary of relying on it too much. The adhesive goes gooey in the heat. There is an auto body double sided tape that I used for exterior trims that really sticks for years. It's thin, grey and made by Norton.

Cheers, Ian

Thanks Ian, I don't like to u…

2009-08-17T00:00:53.477Z

Thanks Ian, I don't like to use it, frecuently, however for safety reasons and the Smart being so small, compared to an 18 wheelers, is wise to be heard, when you can't be seen, that is when the horn comes in handy. See you.

Jose, removing the grille is…

2009-08-16T12:35:11.333Z

Jose, removing the grille is done from the inside... so if you want to do that you'll have to remove the front for that too. and when you do, you will find that the horn is NOT accessible through the radiator grill opening. there is a shroud around the perimeter of the radiator that channels air through the radiator. I have discussed the horn upgrade elsewhere, but as you don't want to remove the front, all you can do is remove the OEM horn wires off of the existing horn and as luck would have it, they are long enough to be pulled up near the service flap. this allows you to just plug in a "bad boy" horn and velcro it secure. if you need more info PM me.