Category: Maintenance
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Test equipment for Smart cars
With the right test equipment, you can hook up to your Smarts computer. Here you can see live information, read/erase error codes and in some instances program and change the cars parameters. Simple OBDII testers With these you can read error messages, sometimes erase them, and see live data like RPM and turbo boost levels.…
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Biltema’s Lithium Grease – 400 ml spray
I have a Biltema’s Lithium Grease Art. 36-4578 spray can in my garage. It’s my go to product, for a series of tasks, and I so far it’s the best product I’ve found for lubricating the cabriolets side rails, which is an essential task on a Fortwo cabrio.
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Lubricating the Fortwo cabriolets side rails – soft top maintenance
I noticed that it was time to lubricate the cabriolets side rails, when I raised the soft top yesterday. It’s time for maintenance. This is a well known issue on the Smart Fortwo Cabriolet. The soft top frame slide in the removable side rails, on plastic blocks. If the plastic blocks had a Teflon lining,…
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TurtleWax ClearVue Rain Repellent
There is a long list of Rain Repellent products that all do the same. TurlteWax ClearVue is only one of them. My TurtleWax ClearVue Rain Repellent is probably more than 5 years old, but still works.Very little is needed, so I think I will have it for several years more. However I do feel that…
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ValetPro Drop Top Cleaner for your soft top cabriolet
ValetPro Drop Top Cleaner removes all the dirt, bird poo, grime and algae from your cabriolets fabric roof, before you treat and seal your soft top from the elements. I use it to clean the fabric before applying ValetPro’s Drop Top Protector.ValetPro recommend that you buy a special brush for scrubbing the top, but I…
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Sealing your cabriolet with ValetPro Drop Top Protector
ValetPro Drop Top Protector is used to seal your cabriolets soft top against dirt and the elements, and thereby prolong its life. Before applying the ValetPro Drop Top Protector you have to clean the soft top fabric, preferably with ValetPro’s Drop Top Cleaner, or a similar product. When the soft-top has dried, or almost dried,…
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Optimize Chenille Wheel Brush
The Chenille Wheel Brush from Optimize was a huge upgrade compared to the old one from Biltema. Chenille (which comes from the French word for caterpillar) is what does the magic here. The brushwires on the previous one needed to be scubbed far harder and longer, compared to this brush, which almost feels like a…
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New front suspension arms, new car
My Smart Fortwo has yet again, visited the Smartcars garage. This time after failing the vehicle inspection (as expected). It needed two new front suspension arms, and at the same time one of the engine mounts was in need of replacement. It felt like a dream when I got it back. The new rubber bushes…
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Visiting the vehicle inspection centre
I’ve been at the vehicle inspection centre today, or “Synshal” as they are called in Denmark It’s always “interesting” to get a new car inspected, without fully knowing it’s history. I didn’t expect it to pass, because the last few weeks, I have had a suspicion, that one of the joints on the sway-bar needed…
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Visiting the Smartcars workshop
I’ve previously bought spare parts for my old Smart Fortwo coupe, from the garage smartcars.dk, but this is the first time I have used their garage. Actually I tried to contact them, back when I had issues with my Lambda sensor, but I couldn’t get hold of them by email. This time I had better…