Excessive soot on garage floor

[Chili Palmer]

Hi everyone. I'm new here and I'm writing this because my wife's Fortwo 450 61CV petrol car leaves a lot of soot on the garage floor. I understand these are not the cleanest of engines and that condensation might cause a bit of soot to build up, but I think it's excessive. Apparently it only happens when the car is started in the morning, but I'm not 100% sure. So far I've had the oil, spark plugs and the air filter changed but none of this remedied the situation. The car is lively and pulls very well. It has no codes. Could the problem be something like the turbo seals or worn piston rings?
Thanks in advance for any bit of help you can provide.

[heinkeljb]

Take it for a fast long drive i.e. motorway speeds, that should clean the CAT properly. When the car first starts from cold, the CAT is not up to temperature and so any extra fuel that doesn't get burnt will coat the inside of the exhaust system and contribute to the soot on the floor. Do you allow the car to idle until the choke comes off? If you put you foot down immediately the engine has started in order to drive, then it will still be running very rich and that will produce your sooty exhaust.
John

[Chili Palmer]

Do you allow the car to idle until the choke comes off? If you put you foot down immediately the engine has started in order to drive, then it will still be running very rich and that will produce your sooty exhaust.
John

I don't usually drive this car. It's my wife's daily and she's gentle on it but she only drive very, very short distances, albeit uphill, with a very steep gradient. So there's engine stress from cold. I don't think she lets the car idle, she sets off after she starts it. I drive it once a week or every 2 weeks to give it the old "Italian tune-up".

[Thrumbleux]

Mine did the same. Just rich when cold.

[2fortwofamily]

Not had this problem on ours, but then again we always try to warm the engine on idle for a few minutes before leaving the village & entertaining motorway speeds / fast back-roads.
(maybe we are a bit precious) cars are getting on & it seems preferable to another garage bill.

Perhaps tell your wife that if she "loves" her smart, that a brief engine warm up (couple of minutes) gives oil a chance to coat moving parts potentially adding longevity & perhaps reducing sooty crud before she puts it through the hill road travel stress on that short run, but the same again in context if she uses it as a mere "work tool" ...less likely to cr@p out if treated with a modicum of care.

Engine idling is not legally allowed on a public road, so on your drive / garage open & breezy (pollution) ..as we have EV's as well the pollution aspect plays in our minds, but the longer you have a car & use it the lower the overall carbon cost (of production).

(looking forward to a "back home" Highlands trip this summer & comparing our tesla to our old Bedford rascal motorhome on the same 1 in 3 ? incline ..shame its realistically too far to drive the smart)