While driving today my smarts engine just cut out and I drifted to a stop on the side of the road. Good thing I was on the back roads and not on the highway. Everything electrical seems fine, radio, windows, instrument panel, alarm et cetera. After having it towed home after calling smarts roadside assistance I hooked up my Actron code reader and got the following code: P0336 "Crankshaft Position Sensor A CKT Range/Perf". Has anyone gotten this? At any rate, they scheduled a tow truck to come to my house in the morning and take me and my smart to the closest dealership. Less than a month and a half old and already left stranded and a day lost. Doesn't make me feel so confident about my purchase :(
Replies to This Discussion
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yeah I do not trust the car anymore. I've had to cancel a trip to central FL this weekend. I can't keep losing time and work over this, I have appointments, clients, responsibilities. It has become a serious impediment to me making a living this last week. I'm having one of my other cars driven down from Gainesville FL because I do not trust this car anymore and can not be without transportation. It is just not dependable atm. I should not have to go to such lengths after shelling out almost 17 grand! If they fix it right, fine, I actually love the car and want it keep it but it if this keeps happening I will pursue getting my money back.
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yep,
I'm off a 300 mile trip tomorrow... if mine dies I'll call smart assist and ask for an ambulance with padded interior. But it's not missed a beat in over 5,000 miles; runs as advertised.
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Mine had run as advertised up until I hit about 4,500 miles, that's when the trouble started.
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did you get a rental from smart???
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nope! I asked and got nothing. They do not provide squat! My opinion of this company is losing points daily.
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Hi Seumas,
Umm... errr.... I've been having cold start problems for the past few weeks and the prime suspect was the battery. It did have loose connections and was not fully charged. However, after charging it over the weekend, it still had problems with a dead cold start. There has not been any problem once the car has been started the first time. No problems after even a 15 second first run... Umm!
No obvious ignition or timing problems. No error codes reported on the ScanGauge.
I left it with the smart centre yesterday for an overnight cool down and cold start check. It failed to start first time this morning and their diagnostics indicates that the Crankshaft Position Sensor is faulty. Replacement part is on order from Singapore. It will not be here before next week. I planned to do a 800 km round trip this weekend. After your dead stop experience, I'm feeling your nervousness... Errr..
Cheers, Ian
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well I am happy to say that since my incident I have had zero problems with the car after they replaced the Crankshaft Position Sensor. Sorry you missed your 800km round trip. Seems like this is not a very common component to go bad so they do not stock a lot of them at the dealerships. I only had to wait 3 days here in the states for the replacement part and have done 5,000 miles since it was fixed. Hope you get back on the road soon.
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Good to hear that yours is now running without fault... as it should be.
It is something that should not fail. No moving parts; not exposed to engine oil, etc. But without it, no ignition timing, so no go.
I reset the Scangauge so that it had no diagnostic history - read "Not Ready" - meaning a full diagnostic had not been reported this morning. Turned the key and the smart started first instant. ScanGauge then read "Ready" and no error codes found. Darn thing is behaving itself... do I trust it for a trip this weekend?
The smart centre said it should be ok. The car is putting on a happy face... how can I resist... it's too much fun to drive.
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Dear, first happy new year. Is your problem fixed? On the Dyno now we have 130 hp and my garage builds a new 180 hp kit.Uwe
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Permalink Reply by george bertero on -
I read your discussion with interest. My 541 died on New Years Eve. I have 5000miles on the car. I was told by the dealer that the connector to the crankshaft position sensor was corroded and had to be cleaned to get a good signal. I wonder how such a new car, never in snow could have a corroded connector?
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smart cars are built in France, then shipped to the country of delivery... there's no telling what happens during that journey. I once bought a demonstrator car that had odd noises in the rear quarter panel and suspension.. turned out it had been damaged on the ship and not properly repaired.
TV news this week has shown footage of M-B and VW cars being driven onto ships for export to the US. The cars were covered in snow as they were being driven onto the ship... lot's of chances for corrosion to get started.
No troubles with the crankshaft positioning sensor since it was replaced. The starting problems plagued me for another month or so until I discovered that firmly pressing the brake pedal before turning the ignition key enabled a first touch start. Um... weird... gremlins?? My hypothesis is that the ECU needs a complete check from the braking and ABS systems before releasing the immobiliser and if the brake sensors don't report an in range condition, the car won't start until circuit pressure is up. Holding the brake pedal down hard when starting works (it's sort of written in the owners manual to press the brake pedal to start... it's the pressure needed that is not stated!); once the car starts, the brake pedal can be felt to rise back as the circuit pressure is boosted.
And for the weirdest effect of all: pressing the brake pedal hard when starting, then pressing it hard again before driving off, improves fuel economy (on my turbo 45). The car has varied between 5.6 and 6.5 lhk since new (19k kms / 15 months ago). I'm now seeing averages more at the 5.5 lhk... even a possible 5.0 lhk; all since adopting the heavy brake pedal press when starting. Dunno.. it may be that a sticky brake circuit sensor has been confusing the ABS and ESP systems and they have been applying some unecessary brake drag. Not an easy one to test on the road, and certainly not one that the service centre would ever pick up... except to note that brake pad wear was excessive!
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Permalink Reply by David Cooper
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6 months 3k dollars it was fixed
harnass starter etc
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