I have a no start problem...

[sportsmartcar 0]

Well, here goes.I put key in ignition. Turn key to position 1. I get all normal dings, flashes and warning lights. After glow plug light goes out, I turn key to start car. Nothing happens. No clicking, or anything. Battery is fully charged and at 12.7volts with car off. Could this be a worn out ignition switch? 339,000km on it. I try moving gear shift around and juggling key in ignition to no positive results.Hmmm. Any ideas?

[MikeT 744]

Starter motor failure? Wiring issue between switch and starter?

[Leadwing 565]

You've obviously had this car for a while, so I can only presume that it isn't something as simple as forgetting about the ignition-disabler. I thought I would mention it anyway, because I have had a couple of 'experienced' smart owners with this exact problem, and that's all it turned out to be. They simply forgot about the disabler.

[smart142 605]

Altenator would be my guess.

[Huronlad 186]

If the car has not been sitting for weeks, I would think either wire harness/bad ground or starter.

[sportsmartcar 0]

If the car has not been sitting for weeks, I would think either wire harness/bad ground or starter.

Nope the disabler is disabled. The car has run 200km today stop and start with no signs of problems. I stopped and turned off car. Got out to go into building. When I got back in that is what I was greeted with. Thanks for all the prompt replies

[Tardis 3]

I had the same problem, it was the starter motor.Got the old one back and what had gone was the copper braid from the solenoid to the starter motor.It had corroded thru and MB does not fix but replaced, I will fix the braid and have a replacement starter.

[tolsen 630]

Could also be bad contact on male spade connector to starter solenoid. Wiggling the cable may help. A permanent cure is cleaning and greasing the connector.

[sportsmartcar 0]

Could also be bad contact on male spade connector to starter solenoid. Wiggling the cable may help. A permanent cure is cleaning and greasing the connector.

Dumb question, but... Where is the starter located?Debbie

[Alex 21]

Dumb question, but... Where is the starter located?Debbie

Precisely where you can't reach! In front of the engine, up a bit. And you can reach it with skinny arms, an extra elbow and a bit of skin gone.

[sportsmartcar 0]

Precisely where you can't reach! In front of the engine, up a bit. And you can reach it with skinny arms, an extra elbow and a bit of skin gone.

Can I see it if I am under the car? I need to check the cables. Still won't start for me.Thanks for that! Looking for the first aid kit as I type. LOL I don't like the sight of my own blood. hehe.Debbie

[sportsmartcar 0]

If you could look at your engine from where your passengers butt sits , it would look a bit like this.This version of our engine is used in light aircraft, so the transmission which would normally appear on the right of this picture is replaced with another gizmo.1. is the starter2. is the solenoidvirtually impossible to get at unless you know what you are looking at, or feeling for.the cables mentioned are on the left end of the 1 and 2 elements in that picture

Sigh... thanksDebbie

[amr530711 1]

I've experienced a similar problem many times over the past few years. The really frustrating thing is having it resolve itself when you do absolutely nothing.1) hop in car, turn key, engine doesn't turn over. oops, maybe I forgot to a) put it in neutral, step on the brake, or c) push the button on key fob. ReDo all these things (mostly subconsciously) and it starts.2) drive to car to Tim Hortons, go to leave 10 minutes later, car won't start. ReDo all the starting sequence things. Turn key, get N on the display, bells, chimes, and clicks, but engine doesn't turn over. Try is several times, finally give up and go and tell the Tim Hortons' people that I will be back after work to get my car. When I go to get my lunch pail, I try it one more time and it starts!3) drive to car to breakfast, go to leave an hour later, car won't start. ReDo all the starting sequence things. Turn key, get N on the display, bells, chimes, and clicks, but engine doesn't turn over. Give up and go home to get tools. Come back a couple of hours later and test battery voltage, and tighten connections that I can reach. Still won't start. Sit in car quietly and turn key and listen for clicks and other noises, turn key off and listen to those noises as well. Repeat, and draw a map. Repeat, ignore first noise, map the second. Repeat a whole bunch of times, suddenly it works!4) drive to car to museum, go to leave three hours later, car won't start. Turn key, get N on the display, bells, chimes, and clicks, but engine doesn't turn over. No tools, wiggle wires, poke at starter wire with a stick, still won't start. Finally call a flatbed for a $150 ride home. I don't try it as soon as it's home, that would be too frustrating to have it work! Try it next morning, still doesn't start, relief that I didn't get it towed for nothing. Try it next evening when I get home from work, and it starts! Grrr.Not exactly sure what prompted me to do it, but I connected a jumper wire and push button switch between the starter solenoid and the battery - then when the car won't start with the key I can manually activate the starter and it will start. Turning the key appears to be initiating all of the necessary functions, it even turns the heater fan off, but is won't engage the starter. The car won't start unless I initiate with the key, and won't start if I don't activate the starter soon enough, either.At the time I didn't think they were related, but the alternator started squealing for about 5 seconds, usually as soon as I started the car but not until I started moving forward if it was really cold outside.Eventually the alternator died. The shop that sold me a new one tested the old and said it was "fried". When I installed the new alternator, the "won't start" problem went away, at least for a year or so. It started acting up again a couple of months ago, but I had my manual starter so it was no big deal (or so I thought). However, rather quickly it got so that I had to use the manual method nearly every time. At roughly the same time, the alternator started squealing again - I attributed that to the bitter cold, and I'm not sure which happened first, the squeal or the no start. Anyway, last week the squeal persisted, then quit, and so did the alternator.Not sure if the two are related, but I'll be putting in a new alternator next week and see if the no start goes away.PS - the SAM has no signs of any corrosion, all connections appear clean and secure, I've never even blown a fuse.Any thoughts?

[dmoonen 54]

My bet is that its the copper jumper on the starter that goes to the solenoid, For what ever reason the leads/jumpers aren't sealed so they'll rot away over time specially in salty Ontario roads. As they deteriorate you'll be able to start some times and sometimes not depending is its making contact, once in rotten all the way through then it simply wont engage.

I had it on my coupe and seen it on a hand full of others. . but its a pain to get at. Clicky

[smart142 605]

I would call:Troy Wilson4349 County Rd #31 Williamsburg, ONPhone: (613) 558-4742He's 130 km away, but it would be worth the drive!

[dmoonen 54]

+1 Call up Troy

[TroyNilson 0]

Might be a bit late to chime in on this, but I had the exact same issue in January. Once it didn't start the second time, I got it towed to RCTS in Calgary. It turns out in 2006 certain types of solders were banned, making them quite weak. Anyways, the solder that powers the high pressure fuel pump had come out, causing the engine to get no fuel. All it needed was a new solder! It's a long stretch, but it sounds like it's possible.Best of luck,- Troy

[dmoonen 54]

[Woudln't make sense in his case, if it were the SAM with the fuel pump the car would still crank but wouldnt fire because of lack of fuel. From amr530711's write up it seems the car doesn't crank at all which is commonly starter related.

[amr530711 1]

[note: the car won't crank using the key. It will crank if the solenoid is activated remotely. The problem exists somewhere between the key switch and the solenoid.Does anyone know which wire exiting the SAM is the one that activates the solenoid? or activates a relay that activates the solenoid? or is it a wire running directly from the key switch?

[kdubya 34]

How did this turn out? I'm having the same problem now. Car was running awesome, parked outside a store, came out and it wouldn't turn over. Odd thing is, I changed the starter only a couple months ago, along with a bunch of other work.....

[dmoonen 54]

Check the grounds first of all, then if that doesn't solve it check the wiring on the starter could be loose or corroded. The spade connector is known for this.

[jletual 0]

We had the same issue- we managed to get at the starter without taking the engine out though. had to replace the connector as it was corroded (used a mirror jigged to a rod and was able to see around things), and then also noticed that the connection for the fuel pump was loose so we fixed that and now all our issues we had regarding intermittent starts and no cranks, as well as the fuel pump problems have gone away... fingers crossed i didn't just jinx it!

[sportsmartcar 0]

[i had RCTS in Calgary troubleshoot my problem. They ended up hot wiring the starter to the sam. They ran a separate wire from starter to sam, and it worked.Debbie

[MikeT 744]

How many km does your smart have on it now?

[sportsmartcar 0]

[i sold it to DieselDave 2 years ago... It had 342,000km on it then. He still bombs around in it.. I would love to get another one..sigh..Debbie