Everything will be repaired soon

Just a small update

Tiny update what will be done and what has been done. Basically 170.000km driven and took the car to garage to change engine and transmission oils. Transmission was feeling already a bit stiff so decided that it was time to change the oil. Also asked them to change front brake disks and pads because didn't have time to do that myself.

Anyway noticed how the old gang repairmen know a lot more than youngsters. This garage was next to my workplace and they had never serviced Smarts before but how hard it can be? Not really hard because they managed to do full A-service, change brake disks, check every little detail on the service menu in meager two hours. Other garage that I liked wasn't able to do just hand brake repair in that time. Oh they were cheaper with labor costs also so guess. 

Anyway they also mentioned that driver's side rear wheel bearing is noisy (hadn't noticed) and rear brake disks also are very worn. Well decided to do those repairs myself, so probably next week time to jack up the car if parts arrive on time.

Other than that? Nope it is completely repaired with all hidden problems fixed also. Damn buying used car is not easy. Just need to order expensive spare key and then time to start modding.

Mods? But you fixed your car and now you're going to modify it?

Yup but you spend a lot time inside your car when you commute to work and do nice weekend trips so you probably want to enjoy the ride.

Mods that will be done:

- Mud flaps to front (actually bought already these, just need to think about how to mount these)

- USB charging ports

- Converting to ethanol fuel

- Upgrading radio to multimedia / car computer one

- Changing interior and parking lights to LED's

- Trying to find original center arm rest (TwinFace)

More posts probably coming when I start modding the car.

Smart ForFour - MOT passed, a couple things needed to be repaired.

MOT, most people are afraid this, what is broken / what I need to fix to pass this and drive legally?

Well I knew my car wasn't going to pass at first try (noise from wheel) but I bought this car a half year ago and I haven't yet even looked underneath of it so there could be surprises that need to be repaired. I thought lets go fail once and do after check to pass the car with all problems fixed.

So what did I fail for? 

There was no bite on left handbrake, so over 70% difference fail. Then I got also two warnings. Wheel bearing is worn (my original thought what was going to fail but just warning) and right side lights foggy. The funny thing is I took my car to local garage to fix handbrake (left side!) and now there is no bite. So under warranty they fixed it and cause was jamming brake cylinder (rusty). Next morning took car back to MOT check and passed with previous warnings.

So the warnings

I made a video how the failing wheel bearing sounds inside your car but camera's microphone is so bad that you maybe cannot notice the difference. Basically it sounds like someone is flying a propel airplane next to you. I added text boxes to tell you can hear the sound and what is regular engine noise.

Turns out the failing wheel bearing in Smart ForFour is expensive fault if you repair it at Smart-Center because they want to change whole wheel carrier which takes long and carrier costs over half grand. Cheaper option is to use indies who have SKF 2.1 wheel bearing (hub) removal and installation tool or something similar to take out the hub and put a new one back in. The spare hub costs 60-250€ depending on what you want but the original is manufactured by SKF and its part code is VBKA 6680 which costs 100-300€ depending on seller. I ordered mine from topautoosat.fi and paid 100€ for one. I ordered two because I noticed other one was starting to get bad also. Labor cost was 120€ which I thought was pretty ok.

Other warning was foggy lights because dirt and condensation have made inside the light assembly so I have to take them off and clean them which is pretty simple job thanks to easily removeable plastic panels. (18-26) screws/bolts depending do you have sideskirts installed. After that just unbolt light assemblies and clean them and let them dry well. 

What else?

Well turns out CV-joint is in suberp condtion still and bad wheel bearing was making those clanking noises. And garage told me the other side wheel bearing is still in good condition so they didn't bother changing it thus reducing labor costs 120€ and I have a spare wheel bearing (hub) ready if it fails.

Hopefully no more costly repairs awhile.

 

Brute force and electronics don't get along so well

Okay here is a friendly reminder what happens when you rush when things are not going as planned.

Picture owned by V1N3 @ Murobbs

Ouch... That is a dead graphics card now. Busted screw and tried to use pliers and shit happened. 6 lines broken and very deep scratch on PCB. Dead card for most.

But hey because I read MuroBBS often and saw the cry for help decided to help V1N3 with this problem. He sent that card to me trough postage when I promised to fix it at work during my lunch break.

I took my camera with me but forgot my storage card on my desk so it was not really use. Managed only take one some what good picture when I finished fixing the lines

Picture owned by ME! (yeah wanted to say that, feel free to use when you mention the owner)

And after some make up

Yeah fixed them good and pretty. Nobody will notice

Sadly I wasn't able to test the card because I don't have any spare GPU cooler that fits to HD6970 so going to send it back to its original owner and hear his thanks trough email or grief how I have failed. Did it succeed or not? To be continued

A bad day it was. Front wheel bearings giving up

So dear Mercedes (Smart). WTF?

So you might think wheel bearings die naturally at some point and manufacturers know this so they make changing them a standard job with reasonable prices. How wrong then you and I were, how wrong.

Let me paste here a wall of text.

Send message: (translated for your)

Hey,

MOT inspector noticed some becoming faults and I would like to know what are the prices for the following parts:

- Wheel bearings for front right
- Shock absorber for for front left
- Brakedisks and cylinders to front left and right
- Brakedisks and cylinders to back left and right

Have a nice summer

Received message: (yeah he mixed sides)

Hey,

Wheel bearings are not available (ever) from us because we sell whole wheel carrier. Left wheel carrier (A4543300120) costs 674,99 euros and delivery time is 3 days.

Right front shock absorber (A4543204030) costs 236,00 euros and delivery time is 1 day
Oikea etuiskunvaimennin (A4543204030) maksaa 236,00 euroa ja toimitusaika 1 päivä.

Front brakedisk set (A4544200001) costs 233,00 euros and delivery time is 1 day. Left front brake cylinder (A4544200501) costs 264,00 euros and delivery time is 3 days. Right front brake cylinder (A4544200601) costs 264,00 euros and delivery time is 1 day.

Back brakedisk set (A4544200072) costs 203,00 euros and this item is on shelf. Left back brake cylinder (A4544200701) costs 341,00 euros, delivery time is 3 days. Right brake cylinder (A4544200801) costs 341,00 euros and delivery time is 1 day.

Have a nice day
Veho Autotalot (Mercedes)

So 675 euros for one wheel bearing!!! Oh my god, this can't be.

Yeah it can't be. Okay Smart / Mercedes wants you to buy whole wheel carrier when you can order original SKF wheel bearings from online suppliers. The problem is to find a garage who is willing to change them and has a special SKF wheel bearing removal / installation tool. Which costs as chinese brand around 300€ and SKF branded 1000€. Your pick.

Anyway. I ordered today two new wheel bearings from topautonosat.fi. Original SKF wheel bearings for a bit less than 100€ a piece. And I found a garage who has the special tool and they quoted 240€ for labor. 

So don't believe everything car dealer tells you. You often can get things a lot cheaper. Notice I will change both wheel bearings because usually when other side is bad the other one is following shortly. So I change both at the same time. Googling saves money

ForFour - How to change tail gate microswitch?

My tail gate won't anymore open! How to open it?

How to open the trunk door when microswitch doesn't anymore work please refer to this video:

1st. way: Pick-locking trunk door open from inside without taking off plastic cover

- Get a small flat screwdriver

- Put it between the lock hook and the lock (like in video)

- Push the screwdriver gently until you hear clack from the lock

- Push the trunk door a bit until it jams into second stage

- Put the screwdriver into the lock from inside the hook loop

- Push the screwdriver gently and also gently push the trunk door until it seems to open

- Pull the screwdriver out slowly while also pushing the trunk door

- Voilá!

2nd. way: Pick-locking trunk door open from inside when plastic cover has been removed

- Get a small sturdy screwdriver that doesn't bent or something similar

- Push the black arm towards the white arm

- Voilá the lock opens

3rd way: Jump wiring lock open

- Get a paper clip

- Remove the microswitch plug from the microswitch

- Insert paper clip into the plug's holes

- Push the trunk door open

- Remove paper clip from the plug

How to remove the trunk plastic cover?

- There are two T25 torx-screws behind two small caps. The caps are easily removed with a flat screwdriver

- Unscrew torx-screws

- Pull the cover from top until it you hear 4 clips popping

- Push the cover upwards

- Watch out angry spiders!

How to change the microswitch?

So to remove the microswitch you need following tools:

• 10mm wrench (rear wiper motor, inside bolts)
• 13mm wrench (rear wiper arm bolt)
• 21-23mm wrench (not sure on size, rear wiper motor outside nut)
• T25 Torx screwdriver (tail gate plastic cover)
• T20 Torx screwdriver (microswitch)
• Small paper clip or small jump wire (for testing if the microswitch is faulty)
• Small wire cutter or knife (microswitch)
• wooden mallet, wrench, or similar tool for gently hammering (microswitch)

How to get to the microswitch:

1. Open the tail gate and remove the plastic cover, refer the guide given above
2. Remove the microswitch cable (small one behind the rear wiper motor)
3. Test with a paper clip is the microswitch faulty, if you heard lock opening == faulty microswitch
4. Order new microswitch from Mercedes (code: A), new one costs just 21€, you cannot repair the old one
5. Plug the new microswich into the cable and test does it work
6. Remove the rear wiper motor
7. Unscrew the microswitch (T20)
8. Cut two small plastic hooks with wire cutters. The microswich doesn't work anymore so you don't need those anymore.
9. Gently tap the microswitch a few times at plug area until it starts moving. There is a tiny amount glue / sand etc jamming it in place
10. remove the old microswitch
11. Push the new one inside, the hooks guide themselves easily into correct position
12. Fasten the screws
13. Connect the cable
14. Test
15. Put the rear wiper motor back
16. Put the cover back

A quick update about my ForFour

Good news everyone!

Had to try it. Managed to sell my original ForFour "Strokeline" 15" alloys. 120€ for whole set with minor cosmetic faults. 

As you can see that kind damage is hardly even seen but dropped price pretty much. Asked for 200€ at start, no offers. dropped it down to 150€, one guys applied it to his favorites then I knew there was someone who wanted these. Waited a few weeks to see are there any others then dropped price to 120€. After a week a guy left his contact information and I called him and he decided to buy them and come fetch them a few days later. 

Selling alloy wheels, actually even steel ones is a bit tricky. You see you cannot fit just any wheel to your car. Like how tall they are, wide, bolt size, bolt circle diameter, offset, bolt pattern and centerbore hole. If you're able to provide all of those information you are pretty good to go and sell or buy a set. Mine 15" strokelines were

15" tall, 6" wide, max. 21mm bolt size, 114.3mm bolt circle diameter, 4 bolts, offset (ET): 46mm and 67.1mm centerbore hole.

In short: 15"x6", 4 x 114.3mm, bolt: 21mm, ET: 46mm, CB: 67.1mm

You can experiment here: http://www.wheel-size.com/tire_calculator/

And the bad news

First I told in previous post about clanking CV-joint. It has gone a bit worse and I probably need to fix it as soon as possible. Second problem is that my trunk door won't anymore open. And as you might have guessed right already it doesn't have key slot. 

First way to open:

So what you need to open it is a small flat screw driver, slide it between lock and hook at right side and push until you hear 'clack' and you opened first stage. Second stage is opened same way but if your screw driver is too big it won't open. 

Second way to open:

Remove the plastic panel that is covering the lock from inside. It is hold in place by two T20 or T25 torx screws and then you pull it gently towards you from window edge (you hear four spins napping off) and then you pull it upwards. Easy eh? Then you can either short cut that small green / black plugin that goes to outside switch (if motor works) or you can push plastic slider hand with metal stick to open the lock. (I will post a picture later what thing to push, well there is a black and white plastic arms behind the lock. Pushing the black one towards white opens the lock)

Then you need to figure out what is faulty. In my case it is the micro switch which is dead. And to replace it I need to take off rear wiper arm motor assembly and for that I need to go buy a few tools.

The lock is easy to take off from trunk door. It is hold in place by three large T30 torx screws and two cables go to it. First one is easy to take off and second one needs you to take the lock outside first and then you have enough room to unlock the holder. The opener motor is held inside the black plastic box which is hold in place by two small screws. Inside you can find very average DC motor, two sprocket wheels, a spring and a screw bar. Simple design, almost impossible for it break down. More of this in later post when I open the trunk again to remove the microswitch.

Smart ForFour - repairs & mods to be done

Repairs to be done

• Fix paint on windscreen wiper arms (looks ugly)
• Remove rust from roof's cross bar (behind trunk door)
• Fix passenger side paint with good waxing. Classic "f*ck you" scratch with key
• Brakes overhaul (new discs, pads and calipers). Probably painting calibers also so they don't rust.
• Fix clanking CV-joint. (not so bad yet). 
• Buy new rear wiper arm

Total cost: 500-600€ for brakes overhaul DIY, other small repairs less than 100€, 150€ for used/new CV-joint?

Planned mods

• Two USB charging ports on dash. 
• USB charging port to each rear door (why not?)
• Lounge Concept mod, basically front seats fall completely flat
• Coffee maker for "Lounge", what would be a lounge without coffee maker?
• OBD/II Computer for better mileage (Android head unit with touch screen and Torque App, and Bluetooth OBD-II scan tool)
• Stickers? At least removing Advertisement stickers that are blocking rear view
• New shorter radio antenna? Stock one is guide long and it is stuck. Well the problem is you should remove it when you drive into automated washing machine
• Mud flaps, all that mud flies up to the window... Have to install these even though they create some drag
• Install heated mirrors. Seriously, You would thing you get these as standard item when they bring cars into Finland but no. Veho is certainly doing bad job selling Smarts to be used in Finland
• Modify engine to use E85 meaning 85% ethanol, 15% unleaded benzine fuel. Costs about 1€ litre and increases consumption by 30%. Yearly saving with my yearly driven distance is 300-400€

Mods/repairs I have done

• Underseat subwoofer, for that vocational college feel! No, just because two-way speakers were not doing so good job with bass so decided to install one small subwoofer. Have to thank NedCar assembly line doing fine job. Nothing is resonating with subwoofer which was really surprising
• Fix two-way speakers that are making cracking noise. two out of four were broken. Managed to fix one with some hot glue but other one wasn't fixable so silenced the mid-woofer. (just tweeter works)
• Used dielectric grease used on engine compartment plugs, battery and light bulb plugs etc etc.
• Cleaned! Vacoom cleaned, cleaned windows by hand and washed exterior by hand. Rubber mats just need to be power washed
• Fixed handbrake that didn't return (cables were the problem) and changed rear brake pads

I will make posts about mods / repairs that I have done in future. I will not post about mods/repairs that I have done unless somebody asks how to do it.

Smart ForFour Snow tires

Scandinavia Snow tires

Quickly put: 6 months of the year Finland is covered by snow and ice so regular middle-European winter tires are not enough for our winter season. Those tires are for wet asphalt conditions where some snow might fall on the ground but would melt on roads thus never freezing it. And here again roads are in constant snow or ice cover so driving those tires are very dangerous and you most likely crash into something. 

So now we need to start looking for snow labeled tires which are studded or non-studded. Because currently I live in in southern parts of Finland studded tires are over kill for road conditions that warmer parts of Finland has so I want to look for non-studded tires.

So we know what we need now lets find good snow tires for ForFour

So Smart Forfour Pulse and Passion models comes with 15" alloy wheels as standard but Pure model comes with 14" steel wheels. Now the ideal tire size for my 15" alloys would be 195/50 but there are no "snow" labeled tires available for this size. Going up increases tire size to 195/55 where we have some but they are 30-50% more expensive than 195/60 but this later size won't fit under ForFour. So lets try go for smaller sized 15" tires and we see same problem repeating again that there is little to none trust worthy Snow labeled tires.

Source studded: 195/55 15" studded

Source: friction "nordic compound": 195/55 15" nordic compound friction

source: mid-European winter tires: 195/50 15"

Now lets see some quality brands that I would trust I have to pay at least from 110€ up to 150€ for one tire. With 195/60 size the price comes down about 30€ for one tire.

Now lets have a look at 14" rims.

For 14" the best sizes are: 185/60, 175/65 , 165/65, 155/70 where diameter difference is close to 1%.

185/60 14" nordic 70€

175/65 14" nordic 70-90€

165/65 14" nordic no trustworthy options

155/70 14" nordic none available

Lets increase our difference to 2,5% and we get also these sizes:

195/60 14" nordic none available

175/60 14" nordic none available

165/70 14" nordic 110€

So we our choices are 185/60 and 175/65. In snow tires the narrower tire is better choice because more pressure on smaller area and we know grip increases when contact area gets smaller. So it is matter of personal taste do you appreciate more grip or better handling. Well anyway as you can see quality brand which has performed well in Finnish Tekniikan Maailma magazine only coming second to Nokian and costs 70€ less than Nokian for 15"? That is why I decided to buy 14" alloys for winter use and sell my second set of 15" alloys.

Lets find 14" alloys that fit

So we need 14" alloys with 4 x 114.3 mm PCD (pitch circle diameter), 46 mm offset (ET) with 67.1 mm center bore. Easy eh? Well as it stands out 4 x 114.3 mm PCD is commonly shared by Mitsubishi and Hyundai and they both often have same offset and center bore size.  

So because I didn't want to pay 150€ for one new rim I started searching used ones. After a month of searching and waiting I finally found a complete set with minor paint damages. And the price was only 40€ for whole set! Almost free for alloys because you can only find steel wheels for that price. 

These used to be old Mitsubishi Galant 1996 wheels but now they are in storage waiting for new snow tires and next winter. You want to look for simple design because otherwise snow won't fall off the wheel.

Smart ForFour Passion and 3rd owner problems

Hello, I am Smart ForFour

The Smart Forfour is a supermini car produced by the Smart division of the German manufactuer Daimler AG, between April 2004 and June 2006 and available only in Europe. Unlike the other models of the marque, the Forfour was a more conventional five-door hatchback with a relatively roomy interior, available as a four/five-seater.
[source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Forfour, 3.5.2014 18:59]

Lets talk about a bit first about my needs and how my old car was

Okay, because I have owned Smart ForFour for 5 months now and I have hopefully found out what things were broken and what is in superb condition. But lets talk first a bit first about my old car

My old car was Nissan Primera P12 2.2 Tdi Sport deck 5D 2005 which I bought from my parents as my first car. Well quite nice car other wise but too big, tax was too high and turn radius was gigantic. It had almost every factory option but in Finland those don't matter. Most of the cars here are sold as we say "karvalakki malli" meaning minimum amount of factory options. Well I started a search for my new car with following criteria

• Consumes less fuel than my old one (5.8l/100km average)
• Is smaller in size (therefore turns in smaller radius)
• Feels good to drive and is comfortable
• Doesn't look too bad
• 2000€ exchange payment
• 4 people inside and has enough room to move stuff around when needed
• Rear wheel drive if possible

Well then I asked around and they said Smart ForTwo is rear wheel drive but holds only 2 people. Then someone remembered Smart has also four seat version but it is front wheel drive. Well started to look around it, saw tests of it and so on and went to drive one. Felt absolutely marvelous. Almost perfect.

Then to find best deal around Finland. Around Christmas I finally found 1.3 liter version with good kilometers and price. How horrible wrong I was. I found after deal following things:

• Extra 50 tkm on total trip
• No another key (old owner had lost it)
• No service done in 50tkm
• Broken rear wiper arm (saw that at park but thought it was just removed because I saw arm inside but it is broken)
• All tires in very bad condition (though it was expected) but other wheels had missing parts: missing center cap and bore reducer spigot missing also these weels are slightly bent (based on my ass feel) and they have pretty a lot balancing weights
• Almost not any factory extras. Just automatic air conditioning and rubber mats. (there are over 10 pages of factory extras, well this was expected for Finnish car)
• Handbrake cables in very bad condition
• two speakers broken (blown)
• Rusty brakes

So I think I personally paid at least 500€ too much for the car. 300€ for key and 200€ for missing service.

Now what were good things in this car?

• No useless features == less maintenance / broken parts
• Almost no rust on body. Only rust I found is behind trunk roof pillar which I fix later in this summer.
• Engine sounds good despite lack of maintenance records
• All things were in car work! Radio works, air conditioning works, wipers, 2 speakers that work sound good, rear seat folding system works, very clean and no smell of chemicals == not cleaned chemically == no barfs on seats (no traces)
• Damn fun to drive
• Transforms from 4-5 people car to mini van! You can probably can put a fridge in the car

So now I have driven it for 8tkm already and totally love it. I just hope nothing big breaks that cause me to do expensive repair.

So in other words the car is just perfect?

Yes and no. Sometimes it feels it doesn't need more power but sometimes it does that it needs a turbo or something. But again turbos might be from very reliable to very very cranky things so I am avoiding those for just purely "Smart" driving meaning low driving costs (fuel, repairs, taxes etc).

Another fault for car is the very expensive tire choice. The standard tire size is 195/50 15" which is not so common size for summer but it is still being made. In other hand then when winter comes and it starts snowing you don't get 195/50 snow tires labeled "nordic compound" which are a must here so you need a little bigger 195/55 which are 30-50% more expensive than next one step bigger size but they are too big for '44'. More about this in other blog post.

Philips Electronic 202 [22 GA 202/33T] turntable refurbishment done

An apology to anyone who became interested

Alright this was finished many months ago already. About a half year but for some reason I forgot to update the blog. Well anyway the sound is awesome and I am in complete awe how things were designed before I was even born. Totally unbelievable experience if you ask from me.

What was done:

• Replaced main power button, old one had fried probably thanks to dust and other litter inside of it. Sadly original button cap couldn't fit on new one so it doesn't have a cap at this moment.
• Took off whole circuit board panel off and the plastic cover under it. The plastic cover or what ever it was was crumbling off so replaced it with thin new brown plastic cover. This is insulating the circuit board from aluminium casing.
• Replaced both motor bands. Finding the correct band wasn't easy. First tried ebay and trusted a turntable dealer with replacement band for 22 GA 202/33T but it was totally wrong. I tried to stretch it with heat but in the end it snapped when it was starting to be correct size. Then back to google and after rigorous searching with different terms, registering to different forums and checking their posts I ended up finding this store Svalander Audio. Down below are links to find correct bands faster for anyone who needs them. I guarantee they are the correct ones.
• Motor band: Motorrem till Philips 22GA202/33T
• Disc band: Tallriksrem till Philips 22GA202/33T
• Fixed automatic LDR based stop function which jammed the needle arm to 3/4 length of LP. The casings holder legs weren't installed properly so they blocked the blinder arms path thus jamming the needle arm. Legs simply weren't bent at the factory.
• Replaced original wiring inside the casing which was falling apart and used common color coding. (Red for positive low power, black for negative low power, brown for high voltage "line", blue for high voltage "null".
• Re-soldered cartridge because the old one was poor and one of the cable was actually not soldered.

• I Didn't fix speed fine tune slider because the spring had lost its tension and replacing it would have been too much hassle. It pretty much does nothing at this moment.
• Bought 5 din to 4 rca adapter so I don't have to cut original cable off. (just to preserve it properly)
• Also bought an adapter to fit old euro style power plug into new schuko type socket. Not perfectly save solution because voltage might get leaked on the casing even thought all parts should be "floating" but accidents can happen. Thus why I never let anyone else use device or touch it.

How it looks after refurbishment? 

Pretty much to original just power button cap missing. Have a look:

My current amplifier doesn't have phono input, so bought Cambridge Audio Azur 551P Phono Pre-Amp

How it sounds?

See and hear by yourself: