Smart Roadster Engine Problems and how to solve them (Scroll to bottom of page for item listings)
"My dealer has said that my Smart Car needs a new engine”. How often have we heard that? Most of the time it simply isn’t true!
When the 599cc and 698cc Smart petrol engines start to use oil it is a sure sign that the piston oiler rings have become gummed up with oil and carbon. (The original cause of this could be the prolonged use of the wrong specification oil, or the failure of the little non-return valve in the crankcase breather pipe). The oil that gets into the combustion chambers increases the heat of combustion and this not only burns away the spark plug tips but also the exhaust valves. When the first exhaust valve fails, compression is lost on one cylinder. Continuing to drive the car can cause very severe engine damage.
Although it might seem simpler to simply buy and fit a reconditioned engine – beware! Unless you buy from a reputable company, that is prepared to provide you with a list of the parts they have fitted, and warrant that engine for 12 months, you could soon be back where you are now. Since you know the history of your own engine, it might be better to have it repaired or reconditioned. Any competent mechanic should be able to do it.
Smart Tune can supply all of the parts that are available to repair or rebuild a Smart engine. They are all listed separately in the Engine section of our website, but in response to requests from customers, we have put together kits of parts to deal with the usual problems
For the 599cc engine, oversize pistons of .25, and .50 are available. For the 698cc engine, oversize pistons of .25 are only available.
These kits use a combination of Smart and Equivalent parts. If you prefer to use all genuine parts please ask us to quote, but please note that genuine pistons are not available. New crankshafts and con-rods are not available from any source as far as we know, but if you know otherwise, please let us know.