2009 Questions for all other cars Smart Car at dealership be

JOYCE UTTERBACK

MEMBER
2009 ALL OTHER MAKES ALL OTHER MODELS

2009 Questions for all other cars 6300 miles

I own a 2009 Smart car Passion Coupe. It is a 3 cylinder engine with a dual transmission. I was driving on April 5, 2010 and the car stopped. The fluid came out of the radiator. I had it towed to the Smart dealership and they claim that the radiator cap was off. I last checked the fluid in October, 2009 and added some fluid. I had back surgery and did little driving during November and December and spent January and February in Florida and did not drive it at all. From March 2 to April 5, 2010 I drove the car quite a bit locally and on short trips. Would it be possible to drive as much as I did and not have a radiator cap on? I wouldn't think so but I would like your opinion. The dealership claimed that they tried to get the cracked cylinder replaced and the repair done with warranty coverage but that they weren't successful. Altogether the maintenance bill is $3,200.

1 Reply

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

Hi there,

You would loose a good quantity of coolant early on then the loss would taper off, with out the cap you would see hotter than normal coolant temps and the system would boil with out the cap fitted, as the coolant evaporated out, you would eventually reach the stage where serious damage would take place, this would depend on the distance traveled and temps reached, you could in theory do a number of small trips with out seeing any problem but eventually it would catch up with you and do the damage that you have now.

Mark (mhpautos)