won't go into gear

[promoz 0]

I just got a 2004 (yesterday) I parked it about 2 hours ago. I was going to drive it some more just now, and it won't go into gear. Instead of "R" it says "O" WHAT'S UP WITH THAT??? Please Help.Thanks!Joey (In Tulsa, Ok)

[bilgladstone 13]

I just got a 2004 (yesterday) I parked it about 2 hours ago. I was going to drive it some more just now, and it won't go into gear. Instead of "R" it says "O" WHAT'S UP WITH THAT??? Please Help

Hi Joey,

The O means the transmission is not properly in a gear. Switch off, then put your foot on the brake, switch to 1st position select N and start the car. With your foot on the brake, select 1 or R. Off you go!

Easy to forget at first that you must have foot on the brake.

HTH

Bil

[promoz 0]

THANKS BILL!I AM NOW ROLLIN'! WELL... AFTER I SHUT MY MAC NOTEBOOK. I TRADED MY 1975 AUSTIN MINI DELIVERY WAGON FOR THIS 2004 SMART AND HOLY COW, I DONT' THINK THEIR COULD BE ANY MORE "COOL" STUFF THAT THESE CARS COULD HAVE.THANK YOU!JOEY

Edited August 24, 2008 by promoz

[yolanda 0]

Oh I can't tell you how often this one has tripped us up! The worst is when I slip into my old habit of putting her in neutral at stop lights, then forget to hit the brake before going back into gear. there's me panicky fiddling with the gears and brakes while the impatient troglodytes behind me start leaning on their horns. For the record, around here they honk you if you're less than a second late going at the light.

[promoz 0]

WELL... I'VE ONLY HAD MY SMART FOR 1 DAY AND ALREADY PULLED OVER BY THE POLICE. THE FUNNY THING IS... I WAS PARKED. HE HAD TO CHECK IT OUT FOR HIS WIFE.

[bilgladstone 13]

Haha! get used to it, Tulsa. And welcome to the wonderful world of smart!B

[SmartieParts 12]

I was born in OK! Interestingly enough, now I live in the Okanagan, often abreviated OK (never thought about that till just now).A 2004... neat. Curious what kind of a price point those are going for in the states now that the 2008's are available. At one point, the '03 to '06 imports were going for $30 to $40k. - Steven

[Fred J 0]

Yolanda - When you are stopped or moving slowly in Neutral, you don't need to put the brake on to engage First gear . . . . just tap the shifter to "+". That way you don't annoy the car following by coming to a stop again and saves looking like a novice driver.

[yolanda 0]

Yolanda - When you are stopped or moving slowly in Neutral, you don't need to put the brake on to engage First gear . . . . just tap the shifter to "+". That way you don't annoy the car following by coming to a stop again and saves looking like a novice driver.

It's a 2006 so neutral is actually a slide sideways and to get it in gear again you have to slide it to the left. I have this habit (quickly vanishing) of putting my automatic into neutral, because my last couple of beaters had trouble idling in gear. They'd run rough and sometimes even stall, and the creep meant sitting on the brake. So I learned to put the car into neutral (a slide to the right in the case of my rabbit) then into gear, and on those cars you didn't need to hold the brake when going into gear. In the smart 450, however, the car puts itself into neutral when sitting on a light, and until you apply the accelerator pedal, stays in gear, but clutch let out (neutral) without needing to brake on a level surface. However, if you do move the lever to the neutral position (to the right) you will have to put your foot on the brake before moving it into reverse (back one) or gear (to the left). then it's a tap forward or backward to move through the sequential gears.As I understand it, the 451's gear system is distinctly different, more more similar to conventional north american automatic gear shifts.

[MikeT 744]

To clarify: the 450 does not go into neutral unless you shift it into neutral. At a light it stays in gear with the clutch disengaged.

[Fred J 0]

To clarify - My interpretation was that the driver had manually put the car into "N" at the stop light i.e. moved the shifter to the right. When the light changed to green she then put the shifter to the left without having the foot brake on, assuming the transmission would be in "1st". Then the "panicky fiddling" (her terms, not mine) with the transmission shifter and the brake pedal began. At that point a simple tapping of the shifter to "+" would engage the transmission without any "panicky fiddling". No brake pedal required. Mike is correct that when the car downshifts to 1st at a stop, the transmission is in gear and the clutch is engaged and running on the throw out bearing rather than being in actual neutral. Same as holding the clutch pedal down in a conventional clutch set-up.

Edited August 24, 2008 by Fred J

[MikeT 744]

Right, I think that covers all the bases!

[Francesco 71]

Well, just to throw my 2¢ into this: I've never had a clutch fail on any of my manual cars, and my habit was to sit at lights in first with my foot on the clutch. We're talking cars with over 100,000 Kms on them (one had 320,000). That said, I don't understand the need to pop the fortwo into N at a light, unless you are in a 451 and detest the "creep," or know how long a light is and wish to turn off the engine. Even so, I'm with Fred J on this: if you're at a light in Neutral, just move the lever back to the right. Your foot was on the brake anyway, wasn't it? The only reason it would be "jiggly-fiddly" would be if you're doing things you shouldn't be doing.

[promoz 0]

I was born in OK! Interestingly enough, now I live in the Okanagan, often abreviated OK (never thought about that till just now).A 2004... neat. Curious what kind of a price point those are going for in the states now that the 2008's are available. At one point, the '03 to '06 imports were going for $30 to $40k. - Steven

THIS ONE WAS GOING FOR 21K (6 SPEED TURBO)

[Speedie 4]

Promoz - sounds like you didn't get an owner's manual - here is one for the european gas model - much the same - hope it helps -

Fortwo owners manual

Save it to a file - so I don't get clobbered for bandwidth usage if you access it a couple hundred times.

Cheers,

Cameron

[promoz 0]

Promoz - sounds like you didn't get an owner's manual - here is one for the european gas model - much the same - hope it helps -Fortwo owners manualSave it to a file - so I don't get clobbered for bandwidth usage if you access it a couple hundred times.Cheers,Cameron

No. I have one. I only had my smart for less than a day when I posted this. I was like a little kid at Christmas with a new toy, and I wasn't using my brain. I also own a VW Jetta and you have to do the same for it. I just don't drive it to often. I like drive my 70's muscle(s)... and my smart, OF COURSE! But Thanks for the link. I know the guy I got this one from has another "Euro", so I will send this info to him. (just in case).Thanks!JOEY - TULSA, OK.