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[Mick H]

Hi, everyone, I've now become a proud owner of a Gen 1 (2006) Smart forfour.
I've carried out some work on it already, replacing the rear brake drums and shoes, cleaned up the subframe and treated it with a rust inhibitor and sealed the leaking engine oil pan and carried out a full service.
I'm now looking for information on 2 points.
The first is the steering seems a little heavy compared to other cars I've driven, I've sprayed the universal joint with lube accessible in the drivers footwell with no change, any info on this would be much appreciated.
The second is the aircon, it is fully based up but does not seem to be cooling the air in the cabin, the dials are set to cold aircon button illuminate, the recircle button illuminated and fan on full, but nothing even sitting for 10 minutes.
Any ideas how this can be rectified.
Thanks

[herx]

Funny you say that - I have the exact same main issues with mine bought weeks ago

In my case I think it is the compressor for the air con - will let you know how I get on once the replacement arrives.

Steering-wise, still reading around the forum. Perform a search, there are many people in the past with the same problems.

This is a good summary https://www.forfour.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=3981.msg74263#msg74263

Let us know how you get on

[mr singh]

steering could be down to several issues. tyre pressures, wheel alignment, a poor battery or a failed or failing steering rack (mainly the motor)

A/C, have it regassed.

[Mick H]

Thanks for the advices and links (re-the steering)
Tyre pressures correct, tracking appears correct (no advisories on the MOT).
The air-con has been regassed, I've yet to check the electrical connections (fuses, relay etc, etc. I currently can't tell if the AC clutch is engaging, although there does seem to be a drop in revs when the AC switch is switched on.
I'll report back my findings once I've had chance the investigate futher

[mr singh]

just because there are 'no advisories' doesn't mean that the wheel alignment wont be out.

how old is the battery that is fitted?