My wife owns a 2003 odd fortwo with 160 000 km. On average these engines needs a rebuild at 100 000km. Hers were done at about 110 000 a few years back for R11 000.00.
A few months ago the car suddenly lost power. Se took it to the same crowd and they 'just fucked around'. We eventually got the car back a few WEEKS and R7000.00 later (Overhauled the head due to burned valves. 600km later the car overheat and they gave us all sorts of stories, from no oil to turbo failure. No compression etc etc.
At this stage I decided that I will do the job myself. At least then I will know what I did or not do. It seems as if the valves were burned (again)
A little research and I realized it will be possible to do the head (again) just by lowering the motor slightly.
On inspection it turned out that all three cylinders were heavily carbon ed up. The chance of an oil leak via valve stem seals are thus excluded. Will have to go deeper.
Damages:
almost all valves was burnt, pistons had normal ring gap wear for 160 000km. No wear on the skirt. The barrels were 'glassy' but still on std size. All valves was burnt and the wear were much more than what I expected. They said they replaced the valves 600 km ago ??) I don't know how but the one follower fell out (see pic) Luckily it stayed clear or the cam lobe!!. Big ends was still in perfect condition and still on size. the cause for the oil consumption was collapsed oil rings on all pistons
I bought std pistons, rings, full gasket set, full valve set, plugs and big end bearings. Total cost R 2 800.00 Even Merc does not sell the rubber tappet cover gasket anymore. 'You must seal it with gasket maker. (there are a recess for the original gasket that does not exist anymore.)
The tappet cover and sump were 'glued' together. It took almost half an hour each to remove. Rest came out fairly easy. The one big end bolt heat was already stripped and it took some effort with the impact wrench to remove. Somewhere along the line the valves also hit the pistons. (see dent on pic)
Ok, the head received new valves, stem seals and the 'lifters' were 'squeezed' to take new oil. We also lapped the valves to remove the pitting. fortunately most of the damage was on the valve itself and not the seat.
The small end on the con rod had to be heated to fit the gudion pin. The little 'lip' on one big end bearing had to be ground away as it seems they do not sell a 'left and right hand' set anymore. We tried to replace the big end bolts with allen caps (10.0). These things are specially made with a 6.35 dia thread. Ok, we then welded an allen cap head on the tbolt to replace the damaged Torx. Worked like a charm. that was also the only bolt that could be tightened to the correct spec. All the torx started to slip due to prev damage.
With great anticipation we assembled the rest of the parts. At the end I sat with 3 plugs on the wiring harnass with nowhere to go. After a thorough we realized it is for the injectors. Now this is a problem. The motor is now fully mounted again and these little buggers are underneath the inlet manifold. NOO WAAI will I lower the motor again to lift the manifold. I just loosened the bolts and could lift it high enough to squeeze the plus through. With the help of welding rod I hot them on the plugs.
OK, ready to start.
I first cranked the motor a few times without the second set of spark plugs untill the oil light went off. Once all spark plugs was fitted she fired up first time. Due to the 'squeezing' of the lifters the motor was noisy and I intensely waited for it to quiet down.
Bled the water and let her get up to temp to see if there are any oil or water leaks. The one banjo bolt on the turbo cooling line leaked some water. As I 'wanted' to tighten it a bit more it just broke off. It seems that it was an old crack. Replaced the banjo and re-test.
She is as quiet as an electric motor now and all seems OK.
The next phase is the plastics. There are a few cracks and broken pieces. (these things just snap and crack.) Will put a fibreglass tissue inside once I've glued the cracks to align properly.
Think of selling it but hey, for less than R3000.00 she can live another 100 000 km.
Will follow up on the body panel repairs soon.
Adie
Topic: Smart car (Read 2334 times)
